San Francisco Carnaval

San Francisco Carnaval

This weekend was the Memorial Day long weekend in the U.S., and it is also Carnaval weekend in San Francisco! Carnaval is California's largest multicultural celebration, and we managed to catch part of it. The Grand Parade took place on Sunday morning, and we saw all 87 parts of it! My camera ran low on batteries, but I managed to catch a sampling of the parade nonetheless.

After the 3-hour parade, we went down to the main Carnaval area where they had a street blocked off for 10 city blocks, with a long row of food, cloths, and all manner of tchochke vendors! Since it started on a higher part of the street you can literally see the vanishing point of stalls and people! It was quite the sight!

Diner's Paradise

Dinner at La Fondue

With larger cities comes a wider variety of restaurant selections. The California Bay Area is no exception! Our latest adventure into culinary delights was an upscale little restaurant called La Fondue, an appropriately restaurant that serves only its namesake. It's a bit pricey, but WAY tasty! We went with the recommendations of friends and went with the "Fondue Feast". It started with the appetizer which involved dipping bread and fruit into a garlic and swiss cheese fondue. Then there was the main course which involved dipping six different types of meat into punsch (spiced red wine with cloves and rosemary), followed by desert consisting dipping all manner of fruits, cakes and other sweets (including marshmallows, chocolate truffles, cinnamon cream cheese, frozen Snickers bars, etc.) in bittersweet chocolate fondue mixed with orange liqueor. Needless to say, it was QUITE the meal!

Sunny Weather! Again...

One of the strange regional things I'm still getting used to is the sunny weather. Saskatchewan has definite seasons, with drastic shifts in weather conditions, and very few windows of really nice weather. Here... not so much. It's generally either sunny and warm, or overcast with light rain - all in all, pretty consistent!

The habit I now have to break is going, "It's nice outside! I should go outside!" It's ALWAYS nice outside, so I don't NEED to go outside and take advantage of the weather. I'm interested how I'm going to react in the fall when I start looking to the sky and waiting for the snow to fall...

It's the Real Thing... OR IS IT?!?

Another minor but interesting difference between Canada and the USA: the US Coke tastes different than the Canadian Coke. I first had it pointed out to me when my friend Cheyenne Wright offered to pay me good money to bring back Canadian Coke the next time I took a trip to Canada. So I tried it myself, and lo and behold, there IS a difference!

What is this difference? The syrup. Apparently US Coke is made with corn syrup, while Canadian Coke is make with sugar cane syrup. I'm not sure if it's by regulation or taste preference, but Canada and Mexico apparently use cane sugar syrup, which many soft drink enthusiasts (a weird concept) say, "...has a crisper taste, and doesn't leave a film in the mouth the way corn syrup does...".

So yes, for good ol' sugar cane syrup Coke, I'll have to come back to Canada. Or make a run for the border and get me some Mexican Coke! :)

A Cornucopia of Gaming

One thing that I've noticed is the variety and choices for gaming down here. The first month I came down here I attended two gaming conventions: ShieldCon, a historical wargames convention, and DunDraCon, a general games convention (RPGs, minis, board games, LARPs). This month I plan to attend KublaCon (the Khan of Cons). I wish I could make it back to Flatland Fantasy back in Regina, but alas, we cannot afford such a distant trip for such a short time. :(

As for gaming stores, I have 5 within a 15 minute drive: Game Kastle, Paradox Playground, D&J Hobby, Legends of Sports & Fantasy, and of course, Games Workshop. The first two are the closest for me and have actual gaming tables, so I attend Game Kastle weekly to play Warmachine while I plan to attend Paradox Playground to play in the Warhammer Lustria: Conquest of the New World campaign.

As for running games, I've started a weekly Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay campaign, and am the campaign organizer for the Warhammer Border Princes campaign.

Needless to say, I'm happily in my gaming element!