Zen Village

I've had it in the back of my mind to visit Zen Village for a while, but I am a bit shy about doing these things alone.  I have to convince myself that I'm an adult who will never do anything interesting if I don't just, you know, do it.  This past Sunday I bravely set out for their 9am class, Free Basic Meditation for Community.

I had seen pictures of the place online but no photograph can do it justice.  The building is painted a strange green which is at least highly visible.  It has a paved patio surrounding it with a stupa on the property-really elegant and lovely.  But the inside, oh God, is perfect.  I think living in such a beautiful home (because it is a repurposed old Grove house) would make up for a multitude of things, even, for having to live in Miami.  Sky lights, wood paneling, numerous original windows and french doors (even the fasteners seem original), high ceilings, and a spiral staircase to the temple on the second floor.  And, of course, it's decorated with all those gorgeous tapestries and statues and smells like cedar-I honestly could not get over how wonderful this place looks.  Really, I stink at describing things, I just wish I could pile you all in my car and take you over there so you can see it yourself.

Patricia taught the morning meditation (this was my first meditation class ever) and she did a great job with me-because I was the only student there.  I must admit, I felt pretty darn lucky.  We sat for about twenty minutes and when my legs were completely numb and stiff she suggested we do a walking meditation around the stupa, then back to another seated meditation.  She patiently answered all my questions, was funny and warm and real, and was just really great to listen to.  I decided to come back to the noon Buddhist Sunday Service.

I'm so glad I went outside my comfort zone and checked this place out.  Of course, now I want to go to all their classes and move in but, of course, work intrudes on my spiritual growth :P  I'm looking forward to going back, soon and as often as possible.  Come with!

Chinois Chinois

I spied a new Chinese/Japanese restaurant, Chinois Chinois, the last time I got a pizza at Tutto Pizza.  Interesting...more sushi is always a good thing.  Then, by the happiest of coincidences (or maybe it was completely predictable), Voice Deal of the Day offered a coupon for it, which I promptly pounced on.  I went to eat here on the tail end of my last illness; I had a few good days where I at least felt hungry so I thought it was time to venture into real food once more.

The restaurant is lovely, with lots of dark wood and red accents.  There is outdoor seating, tastefully done; I can see this being a good spot to go on a date or for drinks with a small group of friends-even though it is right off of busy Coral Way.  GS and I ate outside because it was only very hot instead of damn hot-it would have been a good idea except I was scratching throughout the meal because I was a meal to a horde of hungry mosquitos.

We had a sushi boat to share.  It came with a portion of seaweed salad in a martini glass that was so pretty (I'm a sucker for good looks), a good selection of rolls (if someone would offer a sushi boat with no California roll I'd be all over that!), sushi and sashimi.  It was more than enough-I even ended up with leftovers though the idea of sushi leftovers frankly scares me a bit.  The waitress was very attentive-or perhaps telepathic-and I wasn't left waiting even a moment for anything.  Though, of course, the restaurant WAS empty.  And, we are old folks who eat dinner out on a Thursday at 6pm.

It's nice having this place so nearby, with plentiful, free parking.  It's much more attractive than Sushi Chef and easier to get to, less crowded, and cheaper than, Mr. Yum.  The restaurant doesn't have an online presence yet (I know, crazy, right???) so if you want take out you'd need to have a menu already or order at the restaurant.

Marhaba Mediterranean Cuisine

I'm crazy.  I think no one who knows me irl would argue with that assertion. For example: one year my birthday fell during a six month flirtation with vegetarianism. Where did I decide to have my birthday dinner with my friends? Shorty's. That's right, while my friends sucked on ribs I had corn and a baked potato.  And I love BBQ.

So Sunday, being Mother's Day, my darling, long suffering brother decide to take the mess of women he is burdened with out to lunch. To Marhaba Mediterranean Cuisine. Now, I suffer from a chronically bad stomach. I actually spent last Sunday in the ER because I had been throwing up all night, and it felt like the witches brew simmering in my tummy was going to explode. I had been coddling myself all week with chicken soup and crackers and still didn't feel right (though, it's been so long since I've felt right I might not recognize it at this point).  So, maybe Mediterranean food is not the wisest choice for someone with a tender stomach.  At least we didn't go to an Indian place.  I ordered grilled chicken breast with fries, the seemingly mildest thing on the menu and the only thing my kid will eat.  But I tasted everything.  It was all delicious, probably more so since it was the only flavorful thing I'd eaten in forever.
 
My sister-in-law's lamb was wonderful, as was my brother's beef dish, my mom's lentil soup, and all the appetizers they ordered.  Everything was tasty without being at all spicy.  I didn't care for the dessert and for a date juice I ordered-they both seemed faintly perfumed with violets.  It might have been the honey they used?  They have shot glasses of tea (shai, I believe) which were very nice, but the size of the glass was a cruel tease.  The reviews I read online faulted the service but I thought it was fine, though, the restaurant was pretty empty and we were a pretty big party.  The place is attractive and upscale-honestly more expensive than I'd willingly pay for, myself.  $19 for grilled chicken breast is pricey.  They have outdoor seating and apparently offer hookah, and the location (near Sunset Place) is a great place to hang out.  All in all it was a great meal, a nice change from the perpetual sushi (which mom wouldn't eat anyway) and...Happy Mother's Day!
 
I do have to say that I did get sick that night, but after crying a while and feeling sorry for myself (my son graciously bestowed kisses-because of course children's kisses have miraculous healing properties) I laid in bed and pressed the painful spot and breathed into it (I did learn something in yoga class!).  Then I thought of doing a castor oil pack and it helped a lot more-at least I didn't throw up again and slept all night and woke up feeling  no worse than normal.

Shark Valley and 1909 Cafe

"I'm sorry, we're not open", said the young lady at the counter at 1909 cafe, when GS and I came in at 2pm on a Friday.
"You're not?", said I.
"Yes, we are", said in a slightly exasperated tone by her co-worker.

1909 cafe has awesome sandwiches, so awesome I can forgive the counter staff for being comedians (I can forgive a girl almost anything if she's cute), so awesome I can forgive the clever names they give their sandwiches, so awesome I wish I worked there.  Seriously, if I didn't need benefits like health insurance and didn't have rent to pay (not to mention my shoe obsession), I'd love to work in a sandwich or smoothie or salad place, one with genuinely good food and a relaxed, casual, happy atmosphere.  Being practical is rarely fun.

I had the Italian Stallion (see, I told you about their names) and GS had Chicken Pesto.  The sandwiches came on French baguettes, my favorite sandwich bread, with the ripest, reddest, tomatoes ever.  I keep sopping up the oil and vinegar that would drop off the sandwich with the bread.  The meal came with tantalizing little containers of pasta salad that were savory with tomato and roasted red pepper.  A couple of grape sodas topped it all off.

We were both starving because we had ridden the fifteen mile trail at Shark Valley earlier.  It was tough, but for some things I'm oddly competitive; I told myself I was only allowed to rest at the observation tower.  There was some wind but luckily the weather was not excruciatingly hot.  The rain that came earlier (a cold front it was called on the news, hahaha!!!) probably cooled things off a bit.  I had my shiny, fixed up bike to ride but GS had to rent one of the single gear clunkers from them, which was good because it gave him a bit of a handicap.  He's much more athletic and in shape than me and I didn't want to make a bad impression.  I did show those little kids and old people who was queen of the trail!  I got the Everglades park pass so I can go back-I really don't feel comfortable riding bike in traffic.  And, then again, it's nice riding in nature-we saw many, many alligators, soft shelled turtles, and what I believe are Great Blue Herons, and Anhingas?  Very big, pretty birds?  Yup.

Coral Way Bicycle Shop

IMO Miami leaves much to be desired as far as quality of life goes.  Sure we have beaches, beautiful weather, and Cuban coffee on every corner, but in my day dreams I long for a place that's kind of like a college town, or I guess like many cities out West I've never visited except through the Interwebs.  A place where I could frequent awesome outdoor markets, mingle with hippies, raise a couple chickens, and ride bike everywhere.  Safely.

I am really, really clumsy (I have to move very consciously and slowly whenever I'm very CLOSE to a certain someone to avoid kneeing them in their privates or elbowing their eye-seriously, I do that kind of stuff all the time *sad face*), accident prone, and then again, Miami has horrible drivers.  I would love to be able to ride a bicycle around town without fearing for my life, or at least find some places to ride where cars aren't allowed so a casual jaunt doesn't evolve into extreme sports.

Well, the first step in riding bicycle around is having a bicycle to ride.  I covet those amazing vintagesque bikes that you find nowdays, but I'm trying to save money and really can't justify buying a bike when I know I won't ride it much.  I have a gorgeous, fifteen year old Marin bicycle I bought in another life that was moldering in my mom's utility shed that I finally dragged over to Coral Way Bicycle Shop to get tuned up and have the inner tubes replaced.  This shop is close to home and locally owned.  I like having the opportunity to feel virtuous.  I can't really comment on their prices because I have no point of comparison but what I imagined I'd pay and what I paid were about the same so I felt satisfied.  They are very busy so I hope that means that far more seasoned and knowledgable people than myself trust the shop and the employees.  I was acknowledged quickly, treated well and didn't have to wait long at all.  I'll be using them again.

On a related note, why are bicycle helmets so ugly?  Allegra showed me these cute Yakay helmets that of course they don't sell in the US yet...I can't believe no one has thought of this yet?  All those clever people in those awesome cities out West that I idiolize so much are letting us down, design-wise!  Better step up!

Free Spirits

There are some places where you really don't expect good service.  The DMV.  The mechanic.  I would put dive bars in that category as well.  It's part of the gritty charm of a dive bar that the waitresses (who no doubt have bigger biceps than your boyfriend) treat you with indifference and disdain.  I fondly remember Mug Nights at the Irish Tavern, and the waitresses there...let's just say they didn't suffer (drunken) fools gladly.

I went to Free Spirits for lunch because I needed something close to the undisclosed location I was at, and a bar burger sounded just fine.  Wendy and I got there a bit early, which may have turned out to be a mistake.  Nobody loves a power trip like someone powerless, and I'm pretty darn sure they opened seven minutes late just out of the pure pleasure of making us wait.  It's not like the cute waitress was falling over herself to help us either; I've never seen anyone so gifted at avoiding eye contact.  No matter.  I don't particularly need my waitress to be my best friend, I'm all about the professional efficiency, not that schmoozy, let me pop-a-squat and fake intimacy with my customers to hopefully get a better tip.  You know, like they do at Fridays, and Applebees, and...I could never pull off that fake shit, which is probably why I had so little success when I worked at places like that.

Anyway, she was barely civil but it's ok.  The burgers came in time and were tasty as hell and I'd still go back, with no expectations, as usual.  It was pretty neat seeing a grandmotherly woman ordering a scotch, neat, on a Friday at noon.  Man, I can't wait to be old and not have to pretend to be respectable...it's going to be awesome.

Shake Shack and Krishna Das and Prana Yoga

When it comes down to it, the real question about Shake Shack is: is it better than Five Guys?  On the whole, I'd have to say yes.  The Shake Shack patty had that bar burger taste I like so much (which is probably just the taste of salt on real, gloriously fatty, beef, I think-or maybe it's the cooking process...).  The bun is sweeter than normal, which I don't prefer but I can make an exception for.  I think their fries are frozen, not hand made as are the fries from Five Guys (those sacks of potatoes lying around Five Guys DOES MEAN that their fries are made on the premises, correct?  Or is it a cleverly misleading ploy?).  I mean, the Shake Shack fries are krinkle kut, how can those possibly be made outside a factory?  Anyway, everyone knows that the best fries in the world are freshly made McDonalds fries.  They must melt some crack in that fryer oil.  True story: I did someone's taxes for McDonalds fries.  True, it was only the EZ form, but still...The day was kind of chilly (75 degrees and I'm already freezing) so I didn't order the custard, which I'm sure would have made it a much better experience.  I love me some shakes; I'll go back soon for one.

I went to the Krisha Das concert.  I swear, you'd think that hippies would be the most natural people around but in fact they really seem to be the most affected, artificial people around.  Snooki ain't got nothing on them.  What with all the hugging, and the smiling, and the earnestness, and the bare feet, and the dreads and dirtiness!  Whenever they get dressed in clean clothes they probably roll around on the ground, like a freshly washed puppy trying to fix his smell.  I mean, it's not like anyone has ceased in their efforts to be attractive, if you know what I mean...they are just trying to appeal to a different demographic.  They're as calculating as everyone else.  But the concert did make me miss my kundalini class...I really liked the one at Skanda yoga...chanting kirtan is more rewarding when you don't to block out whirling dervishes.  I nearly took a blow to the eye.

Took a class at Prana Yoga last week, my first time there.  The parking situation is tolerable; you can park at the nearby court house for free (and after hours, there is parking available there) or park at meters.  Kind of, sort of, free parking.  They have a terrifically extensive schedule with lots of basic classes, and also kundalini and meditation classes, which are hard to find elsewhere.  I'm definitely going to check out that kundalini class there.  Someday.  It's a really beautiful space as well, one of the prettiest I've seen...It looks like it was a former dance studio.  It's gorgeous and spacious all around, just like how a yoga studio is supposed to look...as long as you don't look up at the acoustic tiles ;)  No, seriously, don't look up, they are shabby lol

All in all, I really liked the place except except except...I've never found a better teacher for my taste than Joan at Rina Yoga, who teaches Hatha yoga.  So many teachers just seem to mechanically lead you through a bunch of vinyasas over and over...it's especially a bad idea for a beginner's class, I think.  I mean, there are so many neat yoga poses!  You have to excite beginners with some funky poses, some yummy stretches and twists, and not lead them through a bunch of sun salutations (with excruciatingly extended dog pose) that they don't have the upper body strength for...it doesn't make it fun.  Joan makes it fun and challenging enough, without being intimidating.  On the other hand, it was nice not being the worse one in class, for once.  I know yoga is not a competitive sport blah blah blah but come on, of course you compare yourself to the others.  When I heard the girl next to me squeak out that she was scared to try the plow position, I swear my heart melted a bit.  I was there, too, honey, I was there, too...anyway, I'm definitely going to try out other classes they offer, with different instructors, and see how they do. 

When I was doing my practice, I noticed that someone had painted a tiny om symbol right near when I had my mat.  I couldn't see another anywhere else.  I like that kind of thing, cause I'm flaky.  Signs from the universe, ya dig...