eMarkLee

This is a bit old, but just in case anyone didn’t catch it….Two Buck Chuck is the best wine in the world. This has officially been backed up with some serious accolates:

The Charles Shaw 2005 California chardonnay (yes, the $1.99 “Two Buck Chuck” made by Bronco Wine Company sold at Trader Joe’s) was judged Best Chardonnay from California at California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition.

The chardonnay received 98 points, a double gold, with accolades of Best of California and Best of Class.

To all you suckas out there that thought I drink Chuck because I’m a cheap bastard, boo ya!!! I drink this stuff for taste but you weren’t sophisticated enough to recognize. And all you suckas in NYC paying three dollars for two buck chuck? Pobrecita.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to enjoy one of my favorite activities in the bay area (although not necessarily only in the Bay Area) with a crew of folks including X-Kahn and PB. We had a blast at my friends Mike and Serene’s Santa Clara Paintball park. We were just hanging out with them last week and so it is proper that I call out one of the most fun experiences around.

We had a nice group go, with 10-12 people for some good team play. We probably went through about 10 different rounds of battles. If you are unfamiliar with Paintball, these rounds basically consist of two teams shooting paintballs at each other. When you get hit, you throw your hands up and yell “HIT” and walk off the field. Usually it is evident because you will feel it and have a spot of paint on your body.

Paint and Pain

Don’t make me put paint on your candy-ass

For me, Paintball is more than just a game of GOTCHA with your buddies. There are some very important life-lessons that are learned when you paint ball:

1. There are some very skilled Special Forces Rambo-types. You are not one of them.
2. You must proceed and advance the line. You can’t just hide behind a barrier and expect to win.
3. Don’t advance without proper support.
4. Protect your balls
5. When you’re the last guy left on your team and there are five opponents advancing against you, pick an angle against the enemy and take out as many as you can before you get blasted. Don’t retreat.
6. Don’t run around straight up….get down to the ground.

I’m not sure how many of those lessons translate to life lessons, but just make sure you protect your balls.

Los Gatos is a small but lush and green city that is always a lot of fun. The 180 bar is a great spot for happy hour and drinks afterwards. There is also a booth where a girl in lingerie (not pronounced “lin-ger-ree”, country and Asian folks) that just lies there and reads a book or just looks bored. Kind of an interesting gig….although I wouldn’t mind being paid to read a book.

What I am writing about is for weekend lunch/brunch. There are other Andales in the bay area (Palo Alto, SF, etc), but this one sticks out because it has a great outdoor patio area. On a nice day, it’s one of my favorite spots to enjoy some sun while eating Mexican food. I will speak to this in greater length separately, but I am on a goal to consume all of my favorite California foods before I go to London. Mexican is at the very top of that list.

The items to get on the menu are in this order:
1. Camarones(shrimp) Fajitas
2. Steak fajitas
3. Carnitas (pork)

i think I’ve had other items and they are ok, but I always go back to these items. If you’re not from California, you don’t know what you’re missing. And Taco Bell is not Mexican….it’s Mexican’t.

There are many things I still need to do before leaving the bay area, which is one of the best areas in the US aside from real estate prices. I will highlight some of these elements that I will miss as I try to hit up most of them before I leave.

Hiking in the Bay Area

There are so many great areas to hike in the bay area, not to mention Yosemite and Big Sur that are a short drive away. We hit up a local hiking spot a couple of weekends ago called Mission Peak. It is not the best hiking in the area, but it is very accessible and gives a nice workout. The Mount Tamalpais / John Muir Woods area in Marin are probably some of my favorite hiking spots in the bay area.

View of the east bay

You also get to milk the cows on the way down