And So It Begins…

I’ve been infected with the “modbug.” The modbug compiles me to modify nearly EVERYTHING, vehicles especially. I thought it went into submission, obviously I thought wrong. Here’s the last photos you’ll see of my Touareg in stock form.

Although the build plan is a whole lot milder then past builds, never the less it will be making its way to Paul at Apex Autobody in the coming weeks. The idea is rather then going full aftermarket, I really want the ABT programme - but having to deal with private intercontinental shipping, possible fitment issues, scarcity of all pieces and not to mention the already absurd cost of anything ABT. Therefore, I’m going with Volkswagen’s OEM Votex Programme.

Paul will color match the lowers of the truck, then color match Votex fender flares

a votex rear spoiler.

matte black out a set of votex bumper guards

and finally a set of DPE’s from Manu. still deciding between 20, 21, or 22″ fitments.

Well…that’s about it! Should be fun.

-Wallace

Stone Soup…

Every since I was a child my mother made a similar soup/stew. I especially enjoy this soup when the weather is less then sunny out, it warms up the soul so to speak. This recipe is quite modified from the original, especially with the addition of short ribs - I believe the original was vegetarian. Without any more delay you will need:

4-6 slab cut short rib sections
6 small waxy potatoes, or yukon gold - they don’t fall apart when boiled.
5 carrots
1 small cabbage
1 medium onion
1 28oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
2 packages of vegetable stock
1 beef bouillon cube
butter
rosemary, sage, and bay leaves to taste
3 shots of bourbon, or red wine.

Put a stock pot on the stove and melt some butter, you can use olive oil if you want to be healthier, then sear your short ribs. I only used 4, since I’m cooking for two.

Once the short ribs are seared all around, about 1min - 1:30min per side, remove and set aside. I like to “crisp” up my vegetables before adding stock. Throw in the onion first, it will deglaze the pot - salt & pepper as well as add your herbs to taste. Then the carrots, potatoes and let this simmer for 5-8 minutes.

Add some red wine to deglaze, if you do not have red wine a bit of the vegetable stock will work fine. Now add the tomatoes, put back the ribs, the chopped cabbage, and fill the pot with stock. Finally put in a beef bouillon cube, stir and let it low simmer for the next 3-4 hours, occasionally stirring and seasoning. I throw in the bourbon in the last 10 minutes just because.

That’s all there is to it.

-Wallace

San Francisco | Staycation…

This is a familiar view huh? Reminiscent of pre-adecadentexistence days. Living out of a suitcase only sounds fun for the first handful of times, anyways last weekend we spent the entire weekend in San Francisco due to ZAP, however we made sure to take every advantage in doing so.

We stayed at Le Meridian which allowed me to run through soma and enjoy Blue Bottle cappuccino’s almost at will in the Ferry Building. The temperature brisk and the air dense, made for optimal running conditions - my preference anyways.

Some of my favorite spots we went to were Nihon Whiskey Lounge, and Cav Wine Bar which had a phenomenal gnocchi.

However it wasn’t until Sunday that we had a completely open schedule. After checking out we met up with Olivia, Walter and Jill at Huber Keller’s Burger Bar.

Many people have left Burger Bar in a funk so I walked in really expecting nothing, but a classically trained French chef such as Hubert Keller opening a restaurant in homage to his adopted country? I think that’s applaudable and in a way romantic.

Now, the burgers - I’m really not sure what other people expect when they walk in here, fine dining maybe? white table clothes, candle light, a 5 piece orchestra, and french waiters? The place serves burgers for sakes, and an architecturally correct one at that. The patty is properly cooked to medium. Juicy. The cheese is melted, the bacon crisp till the last bite and the bun soaks up the moisture, juice, and remains intact until the last bite. That’s quite an accomplishment in my opinion, and how every restaurant burger should be. Hubert, you have my patronage. Excellent burger, and perfectly executed fries - bonus points on using heinz ketchup and simple yellow mustard in squeezable plastic containers. Nothing fancy, and just what I want in a burger.

After our morning shenanigans we decided to continue the day with afternoon shenanigans. Per Olivia’s suggestion, and to continue our theme of exploring smaller San Francisco neighborhoods I showed Crystal around the Fillmore. Our first stop - of course Marc by Marc Jacobs.

The Fillmore has changed quite a bit since the last time I spent an extensive amount of time here. One of my past favorite restaurants is still here, and so is Harry’s Bar where many a memorable evening was spent. However new tenants such as in:water flowers, and O & Co olive oil company sprung up and added to store front selection.

One of the things I didn’t do last year was snap a whole lot of photos, sure I took more photos then the average person but I didn’t feel motivated or inspired in any way. This year, I want to change that.

As I was re-learning my camera, Crystal gave crepes a second chance. We had a banana and nutella crepe at crepevine and although I enjoyed it, I’m not so sure about Crystal.

Finally as we left the city, we spotted this on the HWY80 on ramp off of Van Ness. San Francisco rents keeping you down? Pick up Urban Camping, it re-defines the term “staycation”

We enjoyed ourselves, and it was a much needed break as much as a welcome end to a very hectic month. So here we are in 2010, 11 more months to go and I’m looking forward to each and every one.

-Wallace

19th Annual ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates, & Producers)…

ZAP, or the Zinfandel Advocates & Producers tasting has been going on for the past 18 years and has grown to a three-day Zinfanatic’s dream. This year, the 19th annual ZAP weekend was supported by 211 wineries, in addition to all of Zinfandel.org members. In addition, ZAP was able to raise over $100,000 through four separate silent auctions during the festivities to continually support a variety of causes including, but not limited to the Heritage Gardens at UC Davis and on-going culinary scholarships at San Francisco City College.

Our small “Toasty Fridays” contingent consisted of Crystal and I for the media/trade tasting and The Rays for the public event. We arrived at Herbst Pavilion in Fort Mason just short of 10:30am and was very pleasantly guided through the entry process.

Upon which we were handed one ZAP stemware, and a baguette which we chose to share. You know, needed a free hand to jot notes and take photos. As we strolled into the pavilion we were soon consumed by the copious amount of wine flowing at every tasting station. Our first stop was Chiarello Family Vineyards, as in Michael Chiarello - and it was a safe bet. In fact too safe in our opinion, we wanted to find the stars.

Stars we did find, such as Brown Estate who uses the same winemaker as D-Cubed, but both their Zin offering and their Chaos Theory offering floored me. This stuff was intensely delicious. Lip. Smacking. Good. I could have gone back for additional tastes, and in retrospect should have - but there were over 200 other zins waiting to roll over our lush tastebuds this morning.

Our next star was Hendry, which not only poured us two superb zinfandels but convinced us that we needed to visit their estate off of Silverado Trail as well. How could we resist? Both Brown Estates & Hendry will be visited soon. Want to come? Let me know.

Part of the fun in such an massive, but condensed event such as ZAP is the opportunity to expand one’s knowledge and learn about and meet other producers, Ottimino was one such winery that stood out and I have to say the theme of the day was the Dry Creek/Russian River producers verses the Lodi producers. You will see what I mean in a short while.

Rued, which we randomly stopped by during barrel tasting, was also present and yes their wine was as delicious, plump, and velvety as I remembered.

After a quick flight at Sausal, and an exaggerated tasting at Ridge we found our way into the press/media room expecting to rest our tired feet and make some energy to power through the rest of the H-Z building. What we found awed us.

Turns out we walked into an unsupervised playground. over 150 producers were represented in this room, with out producer supervision, crowds, and any form of gimmicks. This was tasting heaven, so we went at it and spent the next hour or two here. pour > swirl > sniff > swirl > sniff > taste > sniff > spit and/or swallow.

Unlike a couple there, we didn’t power through every single bottle but picked and chose until Crystal admitted that she had to get out of there otherwise I would have to Tarzan & Jane her way out of ZAP.

Here is a selection of our favorites, and in the case of Barrel Samples, what holds promise.

Baldwin Rattlesnake Ridge - Barrel Sample

2008 Novy Russian River Zinfandel - let the wine speak for itself.

2006 Hartford Russian River Zinfandel & 2007 Hartford Hartford Vineyard Zinfandel - Both Barrel Samples

m2 Old Vines Zinfandel - although not a powerhouse at all, this is a producer out of Lodi that I’m fascinated with. If you find yourself in Lodi, make a visit - we did.

Macchia Serious - this is the flagship of their zins and the only example in the media room. Their wines tasted a whole lot better here at ZAP then it did at their estate in my opinion. *shrugs*

We enjoyed ZAP very much, and would like to extend a warm thank you to the entire team at Zinfandel.org for making this event possible. Looking forward to next year’s two decade of zin celebration.

[ ZAP ]

-Wallace

Apple iPad | I want one…

…and here’s why.

Let’s get the fluff out of the way; yes, it’s an Apple product and very much experience based rather then feature packed - but this is what Apple’s good at and one of the many reasons I’ve ultimately converted back to running my practice completely on Apple technology. There’s no doubt it’s going to look GREAT, feel AWESOME, and help me GET STUFF DONE!

If the Keynote application’s functionality on the iPhone gets transferred to the iPad, which I have no doubt it will this in itself will make it worthwhile. Although the app is neat on an iPhone, it’s really tough to use in a real world presentation - the viewable space on the iPad makes this actually functional. I know, I tried.

The second real feature that would make my life a whole lot easier would be the ability to store and pull up pdf’s or client contracts at will. Not to mention the ability to process e-forms and e-docs. In a real world scenario - pull up a client’s contract, have them sign, save then email the both of us for our records. Done. Simple.

Aside from these functions, I’m attracted purely do to the original reason the Macbook Air appealed to me - it has always been a challenge for me to leave a notebook at home when traveling, the iPhone has all but solved this - iPhone is great in an emergency, but it’s no Macbook, the iPad however should at the very least make internet browsing, ftp access, and typing a whole lot easier.

So 16GB | Wifi | $499? Steve Jobs…you have a deal.

-Wallace

Matt x San Jose…

Right about this time last week Matt was wrapping up his spontaneous visit to San Jose. Matt and I actually met some 4 or 5 years ago in the middle of Times Square, New York. He and some of his buddies were there for Waterfest (a HUGE Volkswagen gathering in New Jersey) and I was there visiting David and some friends. Since then we’ve kept in touch and he eventually moved from Chicago to Santa Monica. Out of nowhere, he tells me he’s flying up for the weekend, and on a fly we drum up an agenda.

Apparently he doesn’t go anywhere without a camera, so with his trust 5D-mkII (yes, that’s a Canon reference…only one of a few you’ll find on this blog) and 50mm prime he captures our first evening in San Jose. Crystal and I were unprepared for the apparent consistent but near phantom skills of Matt, as I had no idea he was snapping away all night.

We kicked things off with another one of his buddies Jason at Original Joe’s. I haven’t been here since I was a child and the experience was reminiscent. From Original Joe’s we decide to celebrate Matt’s arrival with more drinks; from Tanq to Temple and finally to Mission Ale House where toward the end of the evening Matt on a spur decides to liven up the party by getting up and dancing on the bar - this gets him promptly thrown out. Pretty awesome. We laughed all the way back to his hotel.

The following day wasn’t so awesome, in fact I haven’t been that hung over in awhile. I think I woke up just to meet the buyer of my Land Rover then went promptly back to bed, might have dry heaved a couple times as well. Crystal was also apparently out as I didn’t see her until something like 8 or 9pm. Needless to say, we didn’t do anything Saturday night.

Sunday arrived and we met up with Matt at Naglee Street Cafe, which was actually a good experience other then the fact they don’t like photos taken of the interior. So, don’t go with a camera, but do go for the food. Reminded me of the pacific north west for some reason - I dug it. After brunch, Crystal had to run some errands and since Matt and I were both vehicle-less we explored the San Jose Auto Show then drank beers and watched the Cardinal’s break Green Bay at San Jose Bar & Grill.

-Wallace

Good Bye Landy…

I have always loved Land Rovers, especially the Defender series and the Discovery series - there’s just something about those rear sun windows and well…this tribute video from Top Gear pretty much sums it up.

Earlier in 2009 I finally decided on a whim to pick up a Land Rover Discovery Series II in this beautiful Niagara Grey color. I figured it would be a better vehicle then my traditionally asphalt hugging, summer tire only vehicles. You know, for camping, backpacking, snowboarding trips as well as a secondary vehicle to lend to visitors. My grandfather was hospitalized and relatives planned to visit often, for the foreseeable future - what we didn’t see was his passing shortly after the diagnosis.

As a result I ended up with a Discovery II just for myself. The following 8 or so months have been an interesting, there were times when I loved this vehicle and had a lot of fun with it - such as camping at Big Basin or Henry Coe, and then the usual Land Rover reliability testimonies came to haunt me - the battery, the alternator, the abs module, not to mention not just brakes and rotors but the entire caliper as well. Maintenance on these vehicles weren’t exactly bad, but didn’t exactly leave me with the most confidence. Contrary to Ham’s closing remark - that “Land Rovers are often somewhere else doing something important,” many Discovery II’s apparently were busy leaving their owners stranded due to a variety of issues. I think I practically fixed every issue with this truck, and paid specialty Land Rover shops a premium to diagnose and repair many electrical issues as well as repair any necessary work - I’d imagine this truck will serve it’s new owner well.

All issues aside they’re great trucks, they serve their purpose beautifully.

However, practicality struck and I realized that the Disco is much too slow and not having a Volkswagen product in the garage leaves an empty void in me. So, to remedy that it’s car shopping season - a Volkswagen Touareg is at the top of this list, and maybe a well kept Land Rover Defender 110 down the road.

[ Flickr ]

-Wallace

2009 Photographic Redux…

Although I can’t speak for everyone else, as so many seemed to have brought in this fresh decade with a big cheer of relief, I actually had a GREAT 2009. Still not sure why I passed on Oahu this New Year’s, was probably due to deadlines but I digress, last year we brought in 2009 in tropical weather - how could this possibly be a bad thing?

I also discovered that one is able to travel back with Leonard’s Malasadas, but TSA might try and confiscate them from you for their own stomachs.

February came around and I was back in the middle of Amgen’s Tour of Califorina cheering Lance on as he makes his re-entry into the cycling world. However as this was all unfolding I lost my Grandfather to lung cancer.

It certainly wasn’t an easy time for me, but just proved to me how supportive of a cast I had around me - especially Crystal who stood by my side through the entire process, never questioning or doubting my actions. Sometimes we all just need a ear to hear us and a shoulder to lean on, she was mine and I could only hope to return the favor.

As the sun crept out and the weather warmed up we began to visit wineries again, our first of the year was Thomas Fogarty in Woodside.

Then we headed up to Russian River and discovered Preston Winery, recommended by Paul Kirchner.

Crystal also made more feline friends.

When April rolled along Crystal got me good.

Made a long delayed return to Los Angeles, and finally scoped out the Getty.

Loved the Getty.

Later on that same month Zagi and I went down south for a trackday with FRRG, in fact this is the first real experience I had with FRRG which will later develop into a great relationship.

Seth and Brandon are funny guys. Definitely enjoyed the weekend with FRRG.

Toward the end of April I found out we needed to cancel our annual Sykes trip, so Sunny and I sucked it up and headed out to Big Basin. This was also the first excursion in the Land Rover.

As May came around we made a couple big changes, first Crystal moved within her complex once more. Sniffy’s still not sure what happened.

And we finally went out to a “BIG” dinner. For the previous three or four months we laid low, I think the only ‘fancy’ night out was a Valentine’s dinner at Alexander’s. We did well cooking at home for once.

We roll into our sixth month of 2009 and I make my way up to the city to join Crystal and friends at opera in the park, little did I know it was more like opera on the jumbotron - not live. Tricked.

Once again we found an excuse to shoot up to Napa. Only this time we were smart and took the Shelby, less attention, more maneuverable given the road widths and types as well as just a whole lot more comfortable and not to mention the cargo room!

We celebrated Glendy and Drew’s union again, and the following day we discovered the Laundry Gardens and brunch at Ad Hoc.

My photo of Mike Morris’ 993 C4S also made the gallery at Work Wheels USA.

July began with a roar, literally. Moto GP rolled into town and we had a great time. Rossi took first, and Dave gave it his all.

Also went indoor skydiving for the first time, which oddly enough made me rethink my stance on real sky diving.

They also didn’t fib when they said the summer was time for camping. We went on two in July, the first was Henry Coe. Where we really just car camped and played bocce all weekend.

The second was another one of those reality check, what did we get ourselves into now moments. After years upon years of talking about it, we finally did Half Dome. Wow, was that ever difficult - and wow were we out of shape.

We made it though, I think it took all of some 9 hours but victory was ours!

Then we didn’t do much for awhile. I guess I was traveled out or over worked, but all I wanted to do on weekends was rest. Crystal on the other hand, fed the ducks at the pond across the street.

Sniffy just moshed around as usual.

…Surprise! We’re in Hawaii again! This time for Laurie and Rob’s wedding.

I also finally got to check out Oahu’s infamous fish market, second only to Japan’s is what I’m told.

The first thing I do when I arrive home is figure out a way to devour all the Malasada’s I brought back - enter the Malasada Burger. I submitted it to ThisIsWhyYoureFat.com but I guess it looked too ‘gourmet.’

Picked up a Nikkor 10mm Fisheye and had a bit of fun with it.

I also found a house that made me sink into my chair…

…and mutter, “wow. now I need to win the lotto 10x”

Guess what…we’re in Napa. Again. Luis and Lisa came up for the weekend for the big Cal v. USC game so we did Napa the day prior.

The following day Crystal discovered Bouchon’s macaroons and we discovered our current favorite winery - CADE.

I just don’t have enough good things to say about CADE; the view, the tasting, our hosts, and let’s not forget the wine.

Right after Napa we took a day trip to Half Moon Bay and attempted to relax a bit at the Ritz despite the insane winds.

Then just when we thought we were done with wine country for the year, we go up one last time in November with Mike, Janine, Sia and Shebani. Couldn’t travel with better company, and yes…the entire point of this trip was CADE.

Napa is just gorgeous during this time of year, blocks of colors, soft winds, and well…the first time the Land Rover stranded us.

As 2009 comes to a close, Crystal asked me to pick up poinsettias on the way over for her hair dresser. Well, on my way over I somehow ended up with a Christmas tree sapling, and that’s how Crystal got her first tree.

Sunny helped me wrap up my birthday celebrations with a long night of conversation and laughter at Alexander’s, and I brought in the new year with Larry and Clara at En of all places.

I had a very memorable 2009, thanks for being a part of it. Here’s to 2010!

-Wallace

Farewell Lunchbox…

After some six months of for sale ads, and just before I was about to list the vehicle on eBay and AutoTrader a buyer showed up this past Friday evening - A Happy New Year indeed. Lunchbox, aka Tangerine, was a fully loaded Mark IV Volkswagen GTI GLX with a blueprinted VF-Engineering built motor and supercharger, Projektzwo kit, DTM Kreuz Split 10’s and a host of other modifications all dipped in factory Tropic Orange.

I can honestly say that I’ve had more fun in this project car then all of my previous vehicles. There has never been a vehicle with such personality and individuality in my garage then this GTI. A couple favorite memories in the car was it’s initial trip from San Diego back to the Bay Area, Sunny being my co-pilot and us flying back up the grapevine under the cover of night. The other being one of Frank’s Bar-B-Cruise’s where we cannonballed from Berkeley to Pt. Reyes.

This car was hard to disappoint and aside from it’s German quirks (after all, this GTI was actually built in Germany - not Brazil or Mexico), I enjoyed everything about it - right down to it’s iconic VR6 exhaust note.

Now it’s funny to not have a VAG product in the garage, hope to remedy this in a month or two. New Year, New Project huh?

[ via Flickr ]
[ via YouTube ]

-Wallace

Happy Birthday…To Me…

Plumed Horse, Evvia, and Alexander’s - The bunch of you sure know your way into my heart. First and foremost I would like to thank Crystal for setting everything up from restaurant choice, to contacting most of you, and to keep all this under wraps until a couple weeks ago. A big thank you to all of you who came out to Evvia for dinner, and braved the cold for drinks at Nola’s afterwards.

Also, thanks to all of you who kept my phone buzzing all day with Happy Birthdays in nearly every linguistic arrangement possible. Thanks for keeping me smiling throughout the day.

Finally thanks to Richard and Angie at Alexander’s for always making sure that we’re always taken care of in a superb manner. We’ve enjoyed many a meal here, and they are able to keep it fresh, entertaining and most importantly of all fulfilling. Always having us leave with smiles.

So…To Many More!

-Wallace