Andy was able to leave early, so we decided to take off and grab lunch together. We received a couple boxes of 56-count oranges that were too ugly to sell but still tasted pretty good so, before leaving the warehouse, we each grabbed a box to take home (without really considering what I would do with that many oranges… alas). My suggestion of the Counter was met with agreement, so we both drove over (I went the fast way: Alton -> Irvine Blvd.). On my way over, I couldn’t help but notice a gigantic pumpkin hovering over El Toro, overlooking the city of Irvine, so I made a mental note to investigate after lunch. The Counter has a pretty solid beer selection and since I was planning on eating veggies for lunch (and since I had oranges, flying or otherwise, on my mind), I went with the earthy and fruity La Fin du Monde, which is a Belgian/Trappist-style ale made by the Canadian brewery Unibroue. For those unfamiliar with the Counter, basically you get a giant list of burger accoutrements and get to customize the shit of your sandwich. I opted for something a little lighter – as I wanted my alcohol to stick with me a little longer – and went with a 1/3lb. veggie burger with an herb goat cheese spread, red onions, sprouts, baby greens, and a dijon balsamic vinaigrette on a wheat bun. The Counter approaches the veggie burger from the “patty-made-of-vegetables” standpoint rather than the “textured-vegetable-protein-is-just-as-good-as-beef-and-you-can’t-even-tell-the-difference…-wait-you-can?” approach, which is much appreciated. Don’t get me wrong, I was vegan for a long time and love me some fake meat as much as the next hipster, but I’ll go to a vegan restaurant if I’m after some grilled seitan. Andy opted for a beef patty with grilled onions and mushrooms on an English muffin, even though he’s never liked mushrooms and still claims not to eat them.

After lunch I wanted to go check out the Great Park Balloon and see what all the fuss is about; Andy opted out, so I went solo. The entrance to the Great Park (as it exists currently) is just down the street from the Counter on Sand Canyon, so I didn’t have to drive drunk for too far (joke). As most people living in Orange County know, this project has been talked about for years, even before the base was decommissioned in 1999. The original debate was whether to develop a commercial international airport or public park lands and property development. Of course there is no lack of airports in the area with John Wayne just minutes away and Long Beach, LAX, Ontario, San Diego, Burbank, Palm Springs, and more, all serving the greater population. After arriving at the site, it became immediately evident to me how well the Great Park will fit into the Irvine community and make this area and even better place to live. If it ever gets finished, that is. The Great Park Balloon is the only current attraction while the park is being built. It was, of course, supposed to open this summer but the housing crisis has left the developers strapped for cash as no houses, commercial property, or soccer fields exist yet. According to the employees at the visitor center, the 27-acre “preview park” is now open, but looking around the site, all I could see was the Balloon. They explained that further construction was still being done on the preview park including a geodesic dome, “activity spaces,” and a botanical garden. There was no estimate to when those features would be completed, so really there was nothing to preview. Nevertheless, the site plans look amazing and the design incorporates the familiar outlines of the runways, preserving some of the history of the base. The Balloon/Great Pumpkin was unfortunately closed for the afternoon due to the wind, but I did learn that they are doing flights at night, which should be a fun activity on a clear day. It’s free to ride the Balloon and it’s open mornings and evenings Thursday-Sunday (I’d call first to make sure it’s not grounded).

After driving around the base for a little bit and checking out some of the old buildings (I told myself I’d come back and break in to poke around and take some pictures, but I suppose that’s a bad idea now that I’ve printed my intentions here.), I drove home toward home. Mike called on the way and we chatted about hockey and I threw out the idea of catching the train down later that night. A bottle of wine and a Kings game later (shutout!), I was on the 9:30 P.M. Pacific Surfliner to downtown San Diego. While waiting for Mike at the station, I noticed that the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, had finished construction on the Copley Building next door. The building has gigantic art installation out front in the form of a vertically-scrolling digital marquee. The artist is Jenny Holzer and the marquee displays personal, and often subversive, truisms in bold red letters. Some of my favorite phrases: “it is a gift to the world not to have babies,” “private property created crime,” “politics is used for personal gain,” and “offer very little about yourself.” It was quite entertaining to read those messages being broadcast the busy downtown street. Good work, MCASD.

I had a couple Arrogant Bastards on the trains, so I was feeling pretty good when Mike picked me up. I hadn’t eaten anything since the Counter, however, so I was pretty hungry. Mike was too, so we cruised down Convoy to the mythical BBQ (Best of the Best Quality) Chicken, but it was closing just as we were pulling up. I’ll have to hit it up next time… though I caught wind of an Irvine locations, so maybe I’ll just have to go looking for it. Not to be sent to the trailer park without our fill of Korean goodness, we went down to Thang Thang for the first time. Now, we eat at Dae Jang Keum a lot (which changed the way I think about Korean food), so since the owners run both restaurants, I was pretty excited. Mike ordered us some tteokbokki (rice cakes, 떡볶이) and sundae (blood sausage, not ice cream, 순대) while I got us some dakbal (chicken feet, 닭발, couldn’t find a link). The chicken feet were predictably very hard to eat, but still full of that wonderful gelatinous fatty goodness (and a shitload of garlic), while the sundae (which maybe could have used some salt) was the perfect counterpoint: devoid of spice and lacking the usual minerally flavor of blood sausage, yet incredibly textured as it came stuffed with vermicelli. The tteokbokki was amazing – its sauce sugary, sour, and spicy all at once – and I didn’t want to stop eating it, but someone had to put in work on the chicken feet and it wasn’t going to be Mike. From this point on, the night became more or less a blur. We went to a bar called Victor’s even though it was after last call, but still managed to get two beers. I smoked one of Mike’s cigarettes which made me feel sick. We got back to the hood and chatting about the election for awhile… and the next thing I knew I was waking up on the couch the next day. I felt like absolute shit in the morning to which there could only be one cure: KBBQ! (pronounced kay-bib-ick). So after a morning-long debate about whether or not skills you obtain in life can exclusively be a strength or a weakness, we cruised over to Dae Jan Keum and did it up right. We got ordered tongue, short ribs, marinated beef, in addition to all the banchan and salad. I could describe how incredible this meal was, but I’ll save that for another date when I wasn’t eating while hungover. Korean food cures all illnesses, I’m convinced; I walked out of there feeling like a million bucks. We headed back to Mike’s place to listen to some hockey (Kings lose…) before hopping on the train and heading back home. On the train home, I wrote some passages for a couple piano-based songs on the computer (just music) which I’ll keep playing around with and maybe come up with something. Despite feeling like crap that morning, I decided that I need to get out more. Here are some songs:

[MP3] Four Tet – Parks
[MP3] Why? – Me on Beer