Wahoo, Vegas and CES, fun times, right?  Wrong.  Came down with a cold earlier in the week so I sounded pretty bad.  And caught a bout of food poisoning from one of the restaurants in the MGM Grand, that pretty much knocked me out of commission for 2 days, so much for enjoying Vegas.

Anyways, was not happy with the whole situation and it impacted my work significantly.  ’nuff said.

Grabbed a Weber grill today. $299 from Lowe’s, cheapest place online or locally. Home Depot is selling the same for $399. And this model was around $450 last year, go figure.

So, I got the grill and accessories…. minus the propane tank. Duh. A short while later, with a new tank and some of Uli’s sausages (Pike Place Market), yum!

Had dinner with Terry (left) and Nam (right), my tai kors in Seattle, last Sunday.

These are great guys that looked out for me and treated me like family when I was in Seattle. Some of my best memories in Seattle involve playing golf then grabbing some Korean in Tacoma, where we basically spend the day trading insults on the course and me throwing our waitress apologetic looks over their schoolboy laddish antics.

We are missing my other tai kor and our friend Norman, who unexpectedly passed away from brain aneurysm more than a year ago. I guess Billy Joel’s right, the good really does die young. He is still sorely missed.

L – R : Me, Stanley (Norman’s son), Elsie (Norman’s wife), Janet (Terry’s wife), Terry, Nam and Marianne (Nam’s wife).

Saturday brunch at Café Campagne by Pike Place Market, my favorite lazy weekend brunch spot by one of favorite places in this world, with Esther, Richard and Alex…

Esther is shy, Richard is action because he’s French…

My boss RoyKeaneLookalikeKyle, QAGuyMichael, TcEnterpriseDavid and I went to an old favorite from UGS Bellevue’s Unofficial Thursday Pig Out Vendor List, the Moghul Palace in downtown Bellevue, for lunch today.

Slouching at the end of lunch, after slurping down my small bowl of dessert rice pudding…

gilaman I’m so stuffed I think I’m going to go die now…

RoyKeaneLookalikeKyle Not before you take a look at my client side conference server test connection code.

gilaman Ok, but if you see me slumped over my desk, please do resuscitate OK? I’m really not that ready to die yet.

RoyKeaneLookalikeKyle Emmm… ok. But after you fix my code, you’re just collateral.

gilaman Just yank out that piece of tandoori chicken stuck in my throat and I will be as good as new.

To Do Food List:

McDonald’s
Kung Ho Chinese Restaurant
Umi Sake & Sushi
Newstar Chinese Restaurant
Jack in the Box
Harvest Vine
Cafe Campagne
Three Pigs BBQ
Moghul Palace
Shiro Sushi
Malay Satay Hut
Palace Kitchen
Pho Hoa
The Metropolitan Steakhouse
Dahlia Lounge
Salty’s
Fatburger
Taco Bell
Taco Time
Canlis
Maneki Sushi
Le Pichet
Serafina
Yea’s Wok
Le Panier
Matt in the Market
Ray’s Boathouse
Salumi’s
Dixie’s BBQ
Cafe Juanita
El Gaucho

Jasmine took me out for dinner at Harvest Vine, a smallish tapa joint between Capitol Hill and Madison Park.

A blur of activity at Harvest Vine’s open kitchen

We had a collection of small plates:

• Lomo Embuchado dry cured pork loin
• Boquerones en Vinagre atlantic anchovies house-cured in vinegar and olive oil
• Vieiras pan seared sea scallops with caramelized onions
• Ventreska a la Vainilla pan seared tuna belly with vanilla bean infused oil
• Pato Asado roast duck breast with prchini mushrooms and tomato jam
• Foie de Pato con Arrope pan seared foie gras with caramelized pumpkin in grape must

All in all, the food was good to great. The only let down was the anchovies, the cure was not salty enough to overcome the natural fishiness of the anchovies. The scallops, duck breast and foie gras were standouts.

What can I say, Jas treats me good.