The GGA Project -- Day #143 "At the Coupa..."

Last week I ran into a friendly Venezuelan at the Apple store, who informed me that there was some good Venezuelan food nearby.  It made me think of all the cuisines of the world I've never tasted.  The only South American cuisine I've ever tried was Peruvian, and that was about 20 years ago!


Most people have sampled Mexican, Italian, Chinese and--in this area at least--Vietnamese, Indian/Pakistani, Thai, Mediterranean, and perhaps Korean food.  But these are just the mainest of mainstream when it comes to so-called ethnic foods.  There's a whole world out there of people who need to eat.  And what ARE they eating anyway?!  I feel like a good one day/per week of this project should be devoted to discovering the answer(s) to that question.


Today's New Activity: A Taste of Venezuela


The Coupa Cafe, in Palo Alto, is a warm and cozy, jumpin' joint.  The second I walked in I knew I'd be spending the evening here.  In fact, I'd left my computer in the car with the intention of retrieving it after dinner, but when I walked in and saw ample seating and gobs of people on their laptops, I decided to go back and get it and camp in for the night.

I was a little disappointed to find that there weren't a whole lot of traditional Venezuelan menu items offered.  Not that I know what traditional Venezuelan fare is (I'm basing this on the relatively small number of choices under the menu heading "Venezuelan Specialities).  While I'm sure they eat plenty of salads and pasta in Venezuela--from which there were plenty to choose--I wouldn't count any of those choices if my attempt is to sample new cuisine.

I did go with one tried-and-true: french fries, but only because the menu mentioned that they were seasoned and accompanied by three salsas called guasacaca, salsa trujillana, and salsa ajo.

I have to say that every single one of those dipping options were better than anything else I've ever eaten with fries.  Two were spicy, and they were all just full of flavor.  I'm a little sad at the thought of ever eating plain fries, or fries with ketchup, after this experience.

The traditional thing I ordered was an arepa, described as a thin white cornmeal giddle cake (similar to a sopapilla, actually, just a little more firm).  There were a few vegetarian options, and I chose the one with goat cheese and sundried tomatoes.

 The flavor was good, but the ratio of cheese to cake was just insane.  I can't imagine a scenario in which that much cheese seems appropriate, and this statement is coming from cheese's biggest fan!  I scraped more than half of it off and I was still done with the idea even of consuming more cheese by halfway into the thing.  I was kind of wishing at that moment that I'd gone with my instincts and ordered the black bean, cheese, and nata (Venezuelan sour cream) option.  I would have been a smidge bit less adventurous, but it'd likely be more inline with how the dish is traditionally eaten, and I generally find that's the best way to go when talking about foreign foods.

Still, there's a lot to celebrate here.  I love the atmosphere, the service was good, and the music is perfect.  Since I've been here I've heard some Mana unplugged, a meregue from La Machina, and some Buddha Bar selections; it's perfect for the mood here.

And since I'm in for the night, I think I'll wait a while and go for a bakery item, or perhaps the spicy hot chocolate I read about on Yelp.  I can't see much going wrong with either of those selections.

And I can't wait to see what region of the world's cuisine will be next in line!

The GGA Project -- Day #142 "Pod(cast) People"

The world of podcasts is one I've yet to explore much.  It's just one of those possibilities I never think about or feel I have the time for.  Until now, my podcast experience has been limited to shows I would listen to anyway but sometimes miss, namely Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me and This American Life from NPR.

But there's a whole world of podcasts out there I'd like to listen in on if I can manage to fit them in somewhere.

Today's New Activity: Right up my Alley Podcast, "The Nerdist"

I knew I'd have some extra work commute time today, so yesterday I poked around on the podcast offerings from iTunes and found The Nerdist, which is Chris Hardwick's show.  I used to have a crush on Hardwick way back in the day when I was just out of high school and he was a host on Mtv's Singled Out.  It wasn't a physical attraction so much as a crush based purely on sense-of-humor....which happens to be exactly how I feel about The Soup's Joel McHale.  How fun to realize the two of them are friends when today I listened to an episode of The Nerdist starring McHale. 

For me, listening to these two joke around was like having my brother and his friend Adam at their funny best, right there in the car with me.  And what was remarkable to me about these two is that they're both such nice, down-to-earth and self-conscious people.  It's refreshing to hear famous people who don't come off as arrogant and over-compensatory.

And I also love knowing that people can still get paid to just do what they enjoy well, which in the case of these two is to observe the world and make fun of it.  The Soup is the only show I record on the DVR besides Glee, and it's always my pure pleasure to hear what McHale will say about the goofy train wrecks that make up reality t.v., and most of t.v. in general.

I honestly don't know how there are any radio stations still alive out there when there are so many other options.  I've now got about 20 different podcasts (5 shows, 4 episodes each) to listen to during my drives and other moments of quiet that are itching to be disquieted.

The GGA Project -- Day #141 "Speed Cut"

I've mentioned before that I am the world's laziest person when it comes to hair care.  For 9 to 11 months out of any given year, my hair is just a big mass of brown.  The remaining 1-3 months is just following a hair cut, when I  feel motivated to keep up whatever style has just been infused.


Part of what keeps me out of the salon for most of the year is that I just can't bear that time in the stylist's chair.  It's not that I'm afraid of the outcome; it's not like I ever go for any daring styles...it'd be pretty hard to screw it up.  It's just that I don't like devoting the time.  Because I have so much hair it takes quite a while to cut and forEVER to dry and style.


And I've just never been all that good at making the conversation with the stylist.  Only once have I stayed in an area long enough to even see the same stylist twice, so I don't have the kind of client/stylist relationship that would make me happy to go back and spend 2 hours sitting in this somewhat uncomfortable situation.


Today I stumbled into the perfect solution to this problem.


Today's New Activity: Hairstyle from the Rushed Beautician at Ulta


Since I rarely feel the desire to sit in that dreaded chair, it's best to strike while the iron is hot.  Given that it's Sunday, I realized I had few options when I decided to get my hair cut today.  I headed to Ulta, since I figured they were bound to be open, and they had one stylist on site.


That one stylist told me a client was due in right after her lunch break, but to check back to see if that client showed up.  When I checked back the client hadn't come, so the stylist, Ana, spirited me right over to the sink to start a-washin'.  Then, 20 minutes into my cut (which was already moving along at a crazy fast pace), the other client showed up.


To my shock, Ana said, "Ok I'll be done in a couple of minutes.  Just grab a magazine and have a seat."


Despite the fact that my hair is super straight, it has never taken less that an hour and a half to have done, start to finish.  I thought maybe she'll decided not to dry it or something.


But no.  Ana was just not interested in wasting any time.  Thank goodness.  Finally a stylist who's on the same page as me.  And I don't even care that it's probably not the best cut.  I can see the layers are a little chunky and my hair wasn't even all the way dry when I left, but I didn't care.  The cut was cheap ($30!), fast (45 minutes start to finish and she even added bangs) and left me the entire afternoon free to do other things.  I'll take the trade off again any day!