Packing for a trip in the 21st century

You know, it's really funny how things evolve. I remember the days of my childhood when packing for a trip meant that my mom would get the suitcases out of the closet a week in advance, and then we would pack it piece by piece over the course of a week. And once you had packed the suitcase you were done. Even 10-15 years ago, the process of packing for a trip wasn't that much different, except that with washers and driers it came down to spending 3-4h on the last day before the trip for packing your clothes.

Packing for a 2 ½ week business trip today, I realized that things are quite different now. When I'm on the road that long, I need all my gadgets to be loaded up with "stuff" and ready to roll. So I spent all morning today doing the following:

• Purchased latest songs and albums on iTunes, updated my list of podcasts, and sync'd with my iPhone
• Cleared out e-mail inbox and To-Do list by getting last few items done and replying to the latest string of e-mails
• Charged my Sony DSC-T50 camera and made sure that the memory chip is empty
• Charged my Sony HDR-TG1 video camera and made sure that the memory chip is empty
• Emptied the photo directory on my laptop so that it has 20GB available to receive new photos or videos during my trip
• Printed out e-Tickets and made sure that I also have them on my laptop
• Charged my Kindle, sync'd my subscriptions, and purchased 2 more books on amazon.com (I normally do this on the road, but this time I'm going to Europe, so I have to download everything before I depart)

So what it boils down to for me is this: packing for a trip in the 21st century = 3 ½ hours of getting gadgets ready and ½ hour of throwing clothes in the suitcase.

What's your packing ritual these days?

Upcoming travels

A little over two weeks of travels coming up shortly - nine days in Austria and a week in Orlando, FL - and we are departing tomorrow. Expect to see more reviews and restaurant critiques here on Pheasant Glass soon...

XML Aficionado: New release of Altova tools

Just a quick pointer to invite you to check out the following blog post about the new version 2008 release 2 of the Altova product line that adds support for Open XML across multiple products...
XML Aficionado: New BIG "minor" release of Altova tools

Ozumo

I have been to Ozumo many times before, and it is always a great pleasure to return to this trendy and excellent Japanese restaurant in San Francisco.

Ozumo is probably most famous for its Robata grill items, but I personally am a big fan of the sushi chefs at this fine establishment.

Make sure to sample the Poke on Kappa-Maki as well as the many more exotic choices of Nigiri and Sashimi and don't be afraid to ask for a Negitoro Temaki (hand roll) - it's not on the menu, but they will be glad to make it for you.

The sake list is impressive and many great sakes are also sold by the glass. This is definitely the place to try a sake flight and sample different sakes from various regions in Japan.

Getting a reservation can be tricky and it is highly recommended that you book in advance or that you are flexible with the time. For larger parties of 8-10 people they have two rooms that are somewhat secluded, but you need to ask for availability and a certain minimum consumption is required for these rooms.

Our rating: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ (5 out of a possible 5 diamonds).

Bernardus Lodge

Hidden in Carmel Valley, the Bernardus Lodge is a fabulous retreat and spa. The rooms are spacious, have built-in fireplaces, and are kept in a rustic design that makes this truly a place to "come home" to after a long journey.

As the valet takes care of your car and luggage, you are greeted in the lobby, which is really a super comfortable living room with crackling fire in the fireplace. You are offered a glass of wine while you wait for the concierge who escorts you to your room - and you do the check-in right in your own room. Truly a clever idea and a wonderful way to make the arrival process even more comfortable.

We stayed only one night on our trip up the west coast, but the breakfast was certainly one of the best breakfasts we had on the entire trip. And we were sad that we had to leave without enjoying some of the highly recommended spa treatments. We will need to come back one day and stay for a week...

Our rating: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ (5 out of a possible 5 diamonds).

Linn's Bakery - Olallieberry Heaven

Yes, the olallieberry really exists. It is a cross between a loganberry and a youngberry. The taste is somewhere in the spectrum between a blackberry and a raspberry - I'd say about 60% blackberry and 40% raspberry.

Linn's Bakery in Cambria is famous for their Olallieberry pie and a serving of such pie a la mode is exactly what we had for lunch.

In addition to pies, the olallieberry can also be turned into lemonade, iced tea, and a very delicious smoothie. Pies, jams, and other olallieberry products cans also be ordered online.

If you have a bit of time left after lunch, visit some of the antique shops in Cambria, or check out the strange collection of devil-ducks at the local pharmacy.

Our rating: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ◊ (4 out of a possible 5 diamonds).

Madonna Inn

The Madonna Inn near San Luis Obispo seems to be a fun place to spend a night on first glance. Located enroute from Los Angeles to San Francisco on the California Central Coast, the hotel's claim to fame is that all of its rooms have been decorated in different styles and that pink is a favorite color of the owners.

Unfortunately, the rooms appear to never have been redone in their 30+ year existence, leading to a rather unpleasant smell as you enter the rooms. The carpet is a grayish and worn color where one stain blends into the next, the bed covers look faded and the entire room had a creepy feeling to it.

My daughter had rack of lamb in the "Gold Rush Steak House" that is part of the hotel and is decorated entirely in pink (despite the name). Unfortunately the lamb did not appear to have been fresh, as my daughter became rather ill that night and managed to add another stain to the carpet....

We were very happy to leave the place in the morning and continue our journey. In retrospect, we should not have stayed there in the first place. Any Best Western or even a road-side Motel 6 is almost certainly a better choice!

Our rating: ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ (0 out of a possible 5 diamonds).

Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel

If business or pleasure brings you to Beverly Hills, Hollywood, or Los Angeles, consider a stay at the Beverly Wilshire hotel, which is now a Four Seasons property. Everything about our stay was simply perfect and the hotel managed to exceed our expectations in various areas - even for the standard we are used to see at other Four Seasons locations.

The service was simply amazing and everything was executed on a level of perfection that your rarely see. To give just a few examples: the concierge called us a few days ahead of our arrival to see if we needed help with any reservations and organized VIP experience tickets for Universal Studios for us. Upon arrival, the door man inquired about my name as he opened the door of our car. By the time he had reached the rear of the car to unload the luggage, he greeted my son with the words "And you must be Calvin" - obviously having received all our family member names from reception via some secret service wireless gear. Very clever!

The rooms were great, the beds super-comfortable, and the breakfast was flawless as well. We can highly recommend the Wilshire Eggs Benedict with black truffles.

Our rating: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ (5 out of a possible 5 diamonds).

Spago - a little bit of Austria in Beverly Hills

Spago is certainly the flagship restaurant of Wolfgang Puck and the Beverly Hills location, opened in 1997, maintains a cutting-edge role as a creative culinary force, with a combination of Spago classics and Austrian-inspired recipes from Wolfgang's childhood.

Coming from Vienna, Austria, we thought it would be only fair to conduct a little "Austrian review" of Spago to find out how true to Puck's roots the dishes are - even when the chef is not personally in the kitchen anymore.

The first pleasant surprise is that the menu contains four dishes (2 appetizers and 2 entrees) marked with an * and identified as original recipes from Wolfgang Puck's grandmother's recipe collection. All the other dishes are also nicely selected and offer a fresh fusion of Californian and Austrian cuisine.

The wine list has quite a few Austrian wines and for our dinner we picked a bottle of the Bründlmayer Grüner Veltliner from the Kamptal region in Austria. This is a very fresh and fruity white wine that goes extremely well with fish, but is also great with meat dishes.

We tried three of the four original grandmother recipe dishes: the Wiener Schnitzel was enormous and very well prepared. It could easily measure up to our expectations, although the portion of potato salad that accompanied the dish was definitely too small when compared with Vienna standard portions.

The Kärntner Käsenudeln were remarkable and delicious - although they led to a lively discussion between the authors of this blog, whether they were true Käsenudeln or more related to the Osttiroler Schlipfkrapfen (sometimes also called Schlutzkrapfen). After some research we concluded that they were indeed Käsenudeln - the mint in the filling was a clear give-away.

The Goulash was spicy, yet the beef was tender and could almost be cut with a fork - exactly the way it should be.

For desert we had the Kaiserschmarrn, which was truly fabulous and airy. The true connoisseur of Austrian cuisine would, of course, need to notice that  it was almost a cross-over between a Kaiserschmarrn and Salzburger Nockerln, which gave it a fluffiness that is rarely found in pure Kaiserschmarrn.

Unfortunately the low-light conditions in the restaurant made our photos come out too dark and lacking color and appeal - they would simply not do the dishes justice, so we decided to instead include a photo from Wolfgang Puck's own website above.

But our overall impression of Spago was that it does without any doubt deserve its reputation - even when you measure the Austrian cuisine by Austrian standards!

Our rating: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ (5 out of a possible 5 diamonds).

The Stand - a vegan paradise in Laguna Beach

California has, of course, always been a place where you find more health-conscious food choices than on the east coast

or in any other part of the country. But a vegan sandwich stand is still something a bit out of the ordinary - even for CA standards. The Stand is located just ½ block off Pacific Coast Highway (CA 1) in Laguna Beach. The extensive and colorful menu has all sorts of delicious choices for burgers, wraps, burritos, pita pockets, full entrees, as well as a vast selection of smoothies. This place is truly a vegan and vegetarian paradise, because the food selections are not limited to just tofu, but includes all sorts of vegetables and preparation styles to provide true variety.

For our lunch we had a potato burrito, a bean burrito, an avocado and hummus pita pocket (pictured on the right), and a peanut butter cookie, as well as a few delicious smoothies.

The only small disappointment was that we would have expected a vegan place to also be a bit more conscious of the environment and have recycling bins for paper/glass in addition to the trash bin.

Our rating: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ◊ (4 out of a possible 5 diamonds).