Visit 12 new places in my city in 2007

elephant bar (lakewood?)
la traviata

You can find better versions of these elsewhere, but i really liked it. Besides, i heard it used to be bigger before the construction that is going on downtown. I always love these things, with such cute things to buy and lots of food. I didn’t buy much, except a hot dog and chips. I ate that while listening to some live music. I had planned to go there for lunch every Friday, but i think i’ve only gone 2-3 times. Oops.

Now my entries are a little out of place because i forgot about some new places i went. I had never been here before going to some JW convention on the way to a party. I went with my friends James and Meaghan. None of us were, are, or planning to become JW. James just likes to go to that type of stuff and well, he was driving. This was in April.

A couple months later me, my bro, and my friend Daselle went there, by a different building to walk around outside while Anime Expo. We were filming mocking video, but i have yet to edit it. Don’t expect to anytime soon eiher. Eventually ;)

I most recently went there to see HSM: The Ice Tour. It was awesome even if everyone was under 7 or the mother of someone under 7. I thought the majority of the fans were teeny boppers so we wouldn’t be toooo out of place! Oh well.

We went here Friday night. It wasn’t much. There was a decent band area and the bar seemed a good size. There was one big table for eating in the middle room. There were only two pool tables, which is what we went there for, so we weren’t much satisfied. The best part was the guy that did a funny jumped and screamed “it’s an iphone!” behind my friend (pictured) on his way to the bathroom. The waitress couldn’t even suggest any drinks to indecisive patrons.

This is a cute little place by the airport. It is somewhat secluded. The decor is awesome, but the skirts are a little short; i could see the waitresses shorts she was wearing underneath. I don’t remember what i ate, but it wasn’t bad. I remember the service being slow. More like they ignored us for large segments of time. It took forever to get the check.

I originally wanted to visit one place a month, but that didn’t quite work out.

Busy as i was this summer, i hardly found any time to visit any new places because i was out of town so much. Most of the events i attended were either in a different city or somewhere i’ve already been.

Finally i went somewhere new when a friend (now bf) took me to dinner. It was a surprise location and turned out to be Roscoe’s. It wasn’t bad, but i’ve had better chicken and better waffles. My plate was really good though, because i got chicken and dumplings. I love mixing foods though, so it was worth it.

Does this count? I never attended here, but went to an ASB banquet with a friend. The food was horrible, what with the dry chicken, cold coffee, old hershey kisses, and moldy rolls. The part i saw was inside like FJC, which i like. Not a bad place, except for the vikings. I liked the bit about the dead bunnies best.

I went here with my coworkers for lunch. We had been looking forward to it for a couple weeks. Three of us had never been there before. I had never even been on 2nd Street on foot before either, so that’s something new too!
If you aren’t a local (or semi, because people come from relatively far to eat here), it is a little Lebanese place on 2nd street. It’s a popular place around here, and during busy times the line extends down the sidewalk quite a bit. It was the middle of the day during the week, so it wasn’t crowded, and we had a VIP reservation, so we got the best table in the house. It was this corner booth lined with pillows and a curtain pulled to the side across the front. I loved the decor of the place so much. It was a wide variety of stuff, and all authentic. I know they hire someone to do their paintings.
We had four appetizers to start (among the five of us): fried potatoes, fried cauliflower, spicy hummus, and yogurt dip. Oh my goodness it was all so good. The latter two were to be used with pita bread, which i always love. The fried cauliflower came with tahini sauce which is an interesting taste, not a big fan, but it is the perfect fit. I have to make some fried cauliflower on my own, it’s so easy.
For the main course i had lamb kabob pita. That was so good but very messy. I found it odd, though, that it came wrapped up like a burrito and in paper. With a label on it no less. Not very authentic there.
I just had water to drink. Couldn’t order alcohol since i was working and it was too hot for white coffee, which intrigued me. Next time. Yes, i would go back. I’m not big on restaurants, but it’s a step above the rest and not even priced higher than the others, which i thought it would be. There are a lot of places in the LBC that are more expensive that this place.
Oh, and for dessert i had baklawa, which i love and can now cross off my list. What a great day for firsts and the best part is it didn’t cost me a dime! Hm, for all my new places this year, i haven’t spent any money. I should keep up that pattern.

Yeah i meant for this to be my number five, but things happened. It was very nice to go there and relax for free. I took my journal. I had been wanting to draw, but by the time i got around to going, i didn’t feel like it anymore. The day before i had drawn in my backyard and it didn’t come out so well but that’s okay because writing is my passion, and i sure had a lot on my mind.

So i walk through entryway and i am instantly transported to another world. I was no longer in Long Beach, that was for sure. It was one of the most beautiful sights i have ever seen. I was amazed at the fish. I’ve never seen a big koi poind, just the little one they had at Knott’s, but many of these fish were so much bigger. They were all crowding at the water’s edge, it was so strange. The flowers were so amazing i wanted to just stare at them for hours. It’s a really pretty place to just walk around and not do much else. Then there was a shrine in back with event advertisements that i thought they could have done a little more too, but eh, can’t complain.

I definitely want to go back at some point. And at the price (free admission, free parking on weekends), you can’t go wrong!

I went downtown to do some surveying. Didn’t really visit any place, but i did go inside AM Deli. I didn’t buy anything. I’ve been really busy this month, but i’ve never walked around downtown, so it counts. It’s a cute little place and i saw some shops i’d like to go back and visit sometime.