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Archive for the 'travel' Category
Austin vegan adventures
Austin, TX, is a fun and friendly town reminiscent of Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, L.A., Oakland or Brooklyn but with a feel all its own. Namely, the feel of sunshine on your pale PNW skin. Mmm… vitamin D.
I loved the 6 or so days I spent there recently.
Texas Vegfest was the catalyst for the trip and marked the midway point of my adventure — I wrote more about it in another post. To prepare for Texas VegFest, I kept a strict regimen of diet and exercise — walking around town until massive blisters sprouted on my feet and consuming four square meals of Austin's finest daily.
The festival is at scenic Fiesta Gardens along the water in East Austin. Perfect weather, vegan food from all over the state, vendors from all over the country, animal activist groups, awesome speakers, bands — you really couldn't ask for a more enjoyable day. Here's Christy Morgan speaking:
My high school friend Kat, who is getting a PhD at UT, attended with me — her sister is vegan, and most of the vendors answered Kat's questions about veganism. Kat's scientific, inquisitive, and frank nature made her an ideal omni companion — she sampled everything (even the vegan crab cakes!) and gave me her honest opinion about what she thought.
Tons of fun — great job, Texas Veg Foundation. I'd highly recommend Texas Vegfest as an excuse to visit Austin, as if you need one.
Hoboken Pie
After arriving on a Wednesday evening around 6 p.m., starving, at my home base for the next 6 days, the Firehouse Hostel (very clean and nice place, though loud due to its proximity to Sixth Street), I consulted my Austin vegan dining bible and found Hoboken Pie to be just a few blocks away.
Hoboken Pie served probably the best pizza I've eaten since going vegan – crisp, bubbly cornmeal-bottomed crust with gobs of melty Daiya, topped with mushrooms, caramelized shallots, and olives (my selections). Only in Texas does a 14" pizza serve 1-2 (I'd say more along the actual lines of 2-4) but I managed to eat ½ the pizza with relatively little effort – the rest served as two breakfasts and one late night drunk snack. It's not a big place, maybe 2-3 tables, but the staff were all these adorable tattooed boys who happily gave me vegan-friendly bar recs.
Casa de Luz
I dined at macrobiotic heaven Casa de Luz (or "Casa," as the cool kids call it) three times on my stay – once for lunch and twice for dinner. Each time was a different experience, since the offerings rotate, and I didn't regret the duplicity because it's a fairly unique experience – I can eat freeto pie or gutbuster burgers in Seattle or Portland, but this sort of hippie goodness isn't readily available near me.
The way is works is this: for $12, you (and everyone else) get hot tea, iced tea, a bowl of soup, a salad, and a plate of assorted deliciousness: beans, rice, veggies, and greens topped with various sauces — it's great for people like me who dread making decisions. If you want dessert or a second helping, you just pay more.
Here's the assortment of what I ate:
You can sit inside or outside, alone or with other people (though on a busy day, you'll probably sit with other people). This is the group I dined with for lunch — I only knew one of them coming in:
Casa is rumored to be popular with local celebrities, which I can confirm because a guy who looked at lot like Owen Wilson and turned out to be Owen Wilson was there at lunch. As much as I would have loved to tell Owen Wilson how much I love Wes Anderson's movies, I didn't work up the courage to speak to him.
Owen Wilson is in this picture but you can't really see him, as he is engulfed in the glow of fame and natural light:
I always wanted to be a Tenenbaum, you know?
Curra's Grill
Christy, The Blissful Chef, picked me up at my hostel after a failed SoCo bridge bat sighting attempt (more to come on that) and whisked me away to this taco and margarita paradise.
While it's mostly meaty and the rice isn't vegan, I thoroughly loved Curra's cactus, mushroom, and soy chorizo tacos and avocado frozen margarita. I think a few other menu choices were vegan, though I probably wouldn't go here unless I also had a thirst to quench and a sobriety to destroy — it was kinda far off the beaten path.
Whole Foods
Whole Foods got its start in Austin just a few blocks away from the current mecca on Lamar. The flagship store is nuts: it's got a juice bar, a salad bar, a cookie bar, and even a bar bar, serving fine craft beer. I ate a quick dinner there one night consisting of pesto-Daiya portobello, kale-avocado salad and soup, and breakfast tacos another morning.
Seriously: breakfast tacos to a Seattleite are like breakfast pizza or breakfast cake or breakfast leftover Ethiopian food, but they're an actual thing in Austin. $4ish got me a massive creation of tofu scramble, soy chorizo, potatoes, guac, salsa, and a variety of other toppings. Two corn tortillas could not contain the delight.
Yeah, it looks kinda sloppy-gross, but it was oh-so tasty.
This crunchy co-op near the University reminds me a lot of Madison Market – same sort of offerings, same vibe, same crowd. Which means I loved it. Their popcorn tofu made the PPK 100 this year for good reason – it's amazing: salty, spicy morsels of chewy delight. I made a plate of this with beet salad, chased with a Red Rabbit maple walnut donut, washed down with awesome local kombucha.
Mmm… buffalo sauce.
Capital City Bakery
This tiny food truck is in parking lot near the university along with Conscious Cravings, a vegan-friendly falafel stand, and something else that I can't remember. If you don't follow owner Kristin Davenport on Instagram, do it now, and then dare to tell me you don't want to chow down on everything she makes. You just can't not love her gorgeous baked goods, which happen to be as scrumptious as they are beautiful. And she's adorable!
After waffling between a massive oatmeal sandwich cookie, a vanilla cupcake, and a frosted brownie, I went with the brownie, which turned out to be the best decision of the trip: it was the chewiest, densest, chocolatiest brownie I have eaten in a long time, possibly ever. The brownie alone would have been amazing, but the smooth peanut butter-tinged frosting and drizzle of fresh ganache elevated it to uncharted levels of indulgence.
Goddamn, girl – you are going places.
Mr. Natural
I guess this is an Austin vegetarian staple, and there are two locations – a dining companion at Casa de Luz told me the Cesar Chavez location is better. I wasn't overly wowed but I enjoyed my meal.
The way it works is this: half the place is a sorta cafeteria-style deli and bakery, and the other is a natural foods store. If you decide to eat, you get your choice of a salad, an entree, and a couple of sides (they'll throw in a tortilla) for a reasonable price. Not everything is vegan, but I was happy with my selection — soya in sauce, potato salad, a tofu/sunflower seed tamale, and a mushroom-potato-pepper hash. It was all a little oily, but good.
Arlo's vegan bacon cheeseburger is supposed to be amazing, and I am remiss to say that I did not try it. This food cart is usually located at Cheer Up Charlie's, though long lines for it formed at VegFest. I was part of one of these lines.
Their seitan tacos are also fantastic — chewy cubes of seitan, slightly crisped, lettuce tomato, and a creamy chipotle dressing.
Mmm… tacos.
Me So Hungry
I missed out on the ATX Vegan Drinks at Cheer up Charlie's, but decided to check out the bar after VegFest. I wasn't really hungry, but the fellow in the group nice enough to share their picnic table with me had positive things to say about his Me So Hungry tofu banh mi, so I figured, "well, I need breakfast tomorrow, so…"
Me So Hungry isn't 100% vegan, but will make most of their items vegan, including subbing a vegan sauce for the non-veg one. Despite being a weird pink color, the barbeque tofu was perfectly spiced on chewy toasted bread.
Steeping Room
I met Marie and Daniel of Red Hot Vegans and Austin Vegan Drinks while waiting for my banh mi at Cheer Up Charlie's – Daniel was wearing a vegan shirt, and in a rare act of kale lime ginger margarita-fueled outgoingness, I introduced myself to their group. Marie and I made plans to meet up for lunch on Monday at Vegan Nom. Only Vegan Nom is closed Mondays.
Tea-themed cafe The Steeping Room was no consolation prize: picture Remedy-level tea selection, GLT-caliber sandwiches, and awesome soups and salads. My tempeh bacon, tofu, tomato, and vegenaise sandwich with cashew caesar salad served as both lunch and airplane dinner. Between that salad and those at Casa de Luz, I didn't have a boring dressing experience the entire time. The Steeping Room's strip mall atmosphere is a little chain-y, even though there's just two locations, but the wait staff was super nice and doted completely on Lily, Marie and Daniel's absolutely precious dachshund.
Via 313
Daniel tipped me off to this Detroit-style (sauce on top of the cheese) pizza cart by the Violet Crown Social Club, which will sub Follow Your Heart (old-school in the Daiya age!) for dairy on their offerings. I went there on my last night in town, and my order of this square, chewy-crusted pie didn't last long.
I was going to save it half for breakfast the next day, but then was all like, "YOLO!" and ate the whole thing.
Sweet Ritual
Don't be fooled by the healthy-sounding facade. Though Sweet Ritual is inside of a juice bar, there is plenty of thigh-widening amazingness inside.
They serve both hard ice cream and vanilla soft serve. Deciding between the two was difficult, but as a reformed Dairy Queen fan, the thought of a creamy vanilla soft serve sundae topped with Chick-o-sticks and housemade salted caramel sauce tickled my fancy.
It was delicious.
If anyone tells you not to go to San Antonio ("I think if you didn't grow up in Texas, the Alamo could be verrrry underwhelming" – jackass Texan friend who will remain unnamed. It's the freakin' Alamo, dude. Davey Crockett? Jim Bowie? Remember it? I'm not from New England but the Battle of Bunker Hill still means something to me because I'm a citizen of the U.S. of A.), don't listen to them.
San Antonio has a completely different feel from Austin's Seaportoakciscolyngeles atmosphere – more frontier, while still hip and fun. Do as I say and not as I did and plan on spending more than 4 hours there ("you need 4 hours in San Antonio for Margaritas and TexMex alone!" a client tweeted at me).
The Alamo is frustratingly crowded and a little hokey, but you aren't a real American until you've seen it – the moment I crossed the threshold, a latent appreciation for country music and light beer awakened within me.
I balanced this newfound love of 4×4s and firearms by dining at a commie pinko vegetarian restaurant: Green Vegetarian Cuisine, a lovely 1.5 mile or so walk up the scenic riverway away. It was crowded, but I found a place on the patio bar and sipped unsweetened hibiscus iced tea.
My Daiya-smothered enchiladas were not the best of Tex Mex cuisine (the sauce sorta tasted like Prego. Also, what is TexMex cuisine? As a Californian, I'm pretty sure we eat a ton of TexMex, only we just call it "Mexican food," and it's not any worse than what you find in Texas, despite what every Texan will tell you), but they were tasty nonetheless – I should have trusted my gut and gone with one of Green's macro-ish bowls, which looked fabulous.
What really blew my mind was the selection of baked goods – the feather-light frosting, awesome ganache, and perfect crumb of my s'mores cupcake made up for the somewhat average entree.
White Horse
Neil has a friend who bought a Cricket trailer and then camped out in Austin with a bunch of hippies and some goats for a month. I arrived in town right before he left for Santa Fe to search for the treasure of Forest Fenn, but prior to doing so he took me dancing at this Austin favorite. Seriously, every friend who has been to Austin loves this bar. The place was packed on a Wednesday night with young and old alike two-stepping (which is actually kinda three steps?) to awesome alt-countryish bands. Tons of fun. Be sure you boogie with everyone wearing a cowboy hat.
Capitol building
Some people don't like doing the tourist things in cities, but I do. I mean, when else do you have the opportunity to enter the building where so many educational, LBGT and women's rights are taken backwards?
It's a really pretty building though.
If I were Rick Perry, what would I do?
Equal rights for all! Abortions for some! Miniature American flags for others!
Bat Bridge
Austin is home to the world's largest bat colony, and every night right at sunset, they supposedly swarm out from under the South Congress Bridge en masse to nibble on the insects that live by the river. I twice stood on that bridge, freezing, and the rabid little f*ckers never appeared.
South Congress Street
If you're looking for cowboy boots (umm, not vegan), cute boutiques, and vintage clothes, SoCo is a fun place to shop — Uncommon Objects is especially neat. There are also classic Austin watering holes like the Austin Motel (whose sign has made its deserved appearance on this Instagram account, hehe), the Hotel San Jose (lovely outdoor patio bar), and the Continental Club. The coffee shop next to the Hotel San Jose had vegan muffins, and Christy said that a dosa cart was vegan friendly, but I didn't really explore the vegan options around here.
Sixth street downtown
… is ridiculous. Think Belltown, multiplied by infinity — a spectacle of drunken "this is why people hate America" debauchery. There's nothing but bars for blocks and blocks and blocks. A coworker who attended UT warned I might get punched in the face if I went there, but it was right around the corner from my place of lodging so I needed to check it out, right? Sh*tshow. (Not on my part.) Walk a few more blocks east and you get to good stuff.
I totally rode that mechanical bull though.
Cheer-up Charlie's
I loved Cheer Up Charlie's! This place on E. Sixth (the good part of Sixth) has a large outdoor area with lights and picnic tables (okay, many places in Austin have a large outdoor area with lights and picnic tables), a parachute, stage, cutesy murals, and a couple of vegan-friendly food trucks.
No wonder Austin Vegan Drinks meets here often.
Eastside Showroom
Eastside Showroom is next door to Cheer Up Charlie's and a local favorite, I've been told. I met a guy claiming to be the owner's ex-brother-in-law at Bimbo's right before my trip, and he recommended it to me. This fellow seemed a little bro-y (but nice), so I wasn't sure whether Eastside Showroom would be my scene but it totally was. It was basically just Canon or Tavern Law, but in Austin. Seriously — the bartender serving me that night grew up in Issaquah. Good cocktails, decent beer selection, classy atmosphere.
Barton Springs
The same jackass Texan friend who told me no-go on the Alamo recommended Barton Springs as a beloved place to cool down on a warm day — he was right this time. The 80 degree weather wasn't hot enough to make the frigid water tolerable for a dip, but I washed off my dirty, blistered feet in it. (Seriously, who plans a walking-heavy vacation and only brings flip-flops and boots with heels? This girl.)
I don't really get the fascination with Chuy's, a TexMex diner, but everyone I talk to who has been to Austin seems to love it — the picture I posted of a pricky pear margarita got tons of likes and "I love that place!" from random people. Maybe the food is good — the menu isn't very vegan-friendly, so I dunno. Chuy's is by Barton Springs and worth stopping in to cool down though, if you're passing by — my drink was refreshing.
Blues Dancing
Kat likes to blues dance, and took me to a dance studio in a shopping mall way the heck up in the north of town (tangent: we drove by Donut Taco Palace 3 on the way home. The fact that one Donut Taco Palace exists makes me happy — three of them makes me ecstatic.) The first part of the evening was a lesson, for which I was thankful, and then we danced until 1 a.m. to an awesome live band. A couple of my partners clucked at my choice of dance footwear, but every Californian is born with an innate ability to do everything in flip-flops, so there.
Dolce Vita
Veronica recommended this Hyde Park bar for its proximity to Mother's Cafe (where I did not eat because I was too full but is an Austin vegetarian staple) and its big-a$$, strong, cheap ($5) soy White Russians. Curiously, they are garnished with an olive, but since olives are the best garnish ever, it's no biggie.
Driskill Hotel
If you enjoy hotel bars, you'll like this historic hotel that was across the street from my hostel. The Driskoll Hotel is old-school Texas (lots of guns and taxidermy) but the staff is friendly (had a nice conversation about llamas vs. alpacas with one of the bartenders, which isn't entirely random) and the people watching is fabulous (old man on a date with an escort, anyone?). A good place for a classy drink and an ego boost — hello, lonely out-of-town middle aged men.
Sidenote: I guess Air B-n-B is a dating site now? One of the valets stopped me as I entered to ask whether I was from Boston, because he saw me coming out of the hostel and apparently had date with an an Air-B-n-B girl who was staying there. Go figure.
I didn't go to:
- Alamo Drafthouse — movies aren't really my thing and I live in the CD, so… Central Cinema. I don't care if the latter is based off of the former.
- Cathedral of Junk — it was closed.
- Smut Putt Heaven — too far.
- Barney Smith's Toilet Seat Art Museum in San Antonio — not enough time. REGRETS!!
I love Austin, but it's kinda the opposite of New York: Austin would be great to live in (unlike New York), but you really need a reason to visit because it's essentially just a sunnier version of home and I don't know if there are the same non-stop attractions of a bigger city.
However, flights and lodging can be cheap (I paid a total of about $400 for both — $230 for flight and $170 for hostel), so if you need to get away and have never been, why not?
Or you can just visit Georgetown on a warm day.
10 awesome things about Texas VegFest
The second Texas VegFest was worth the trek from Seattle to Austin, for sure — people both here and there were surprised that I would travel halfway across the country for a vegan food festival but I:
- had vacation time
- had been wanting to check out Austin for a while
- am just that much of a dork.
I'm not from Texas, had never been to Texas before, claim no allegiance to Texas, and even sometimes make fun of Texas (West Coast FTW!) but I had an an excellent time in Austin and especially at Texas VegFest.
Here's why it rocked.
1. Weather and venue
Texas VegFest is held at Fiesta Gardens, a scenic piece of land along the central lake/river that cuts through town. Being outdoors on a nice day made the experience that much more special. Each booth was a clean white tent, and there were plenty of places to sit, eat, listen to music, and relax, as well as a big covered stage area in the center for shade.
2. Great food and booths
I really liked that there were both samples and the option to purchase actual meals — you didn't feel the urge to freeload as much as some other food festivals I've been to and still got a great taste of what the Texas vegan scene has to offer. Food trucks from all over the state drove in for the occasion, allowing attendees to sample goods from Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, etc. It was all new to me, so I didn't discriminate. And massive vegan kolaches? Be still, my Czech-blooded heart!
Also, while the focus was on food and fun, animal activist groups like Mercy for Animals, Sea Shepard, PETA, Compassion over Killing, and a whole lot more had booths — wonderful to see such a strong ethical component to the day.
3. Awesome attendees
Many of the attendees seemd pretty actively, obviously vegan, wearing vegan shirts, necklaces, etc., but not in an abrasive way. Folks were normal — any omnis or vegcurious folks in the crowd wouldn't think that vegans are weird. Everyone was polite and milled around without pushing — a very laidback experience, despite the size of the crowd (a guy in line behind me for funnel cakes said that last year they were expecting 1,500, got closer to 2,500, and this year anticipated more — I might have made those numbers up, but, yeah. Lots of people).
Heck, I couldn't tell whether these guys were there for crowd control or fun or both — they were enjoying their vegan mac that much:
4. Fantastic Speakers
Isa Chandra Moskowitz? Colleen Patrick-Goudreau? Christy Morgan? The guy who founded the Hillside Quickies/Plum dynasty? These are serious caliber representatives of the vegan movement, and they were there, imparting their wisdom on us. Well, I guess Isa was sick, but still. STILL.
5. Cute tshirts
These shirts are totes adorbs! I would be happy to wear this to the grocery store or gym or even with jeans for a casual weekend afternoon. It's great year-round advertising!
6. It's all vegan!
I knew that everything I put into my mouth at Texas VegFest would be 100% plant-based, though it wasn't overtly advertised that way — this drove the message home even more clearly. Vegan food can be approachable, affordable, and delicious.
And, I mean, look at those tacos. No, really — LOOK AT THOSE TACOS. Vegan or not, you want to cram them in your gullet, right?
7. Vegan funnel cake
'Nuff said.
8. Live music
The bands playing at Texas VegFest rocked — vegans are fun too! It was just lovely to sit in the pavilion area and listen to a 6-piece indie band while eating some aforementioned funnel cake, and made veganism seem more like a lifestyle, not just a diet.
9. Org. actively participating in social media
As I was live tweeting Christy's talk, I noticed that the Texas VegFest Twitter handle was too. In fact, I found out about the festival last year through Twitter, and this is basically the reason I attended — that constant reminder of potential for good times goading me into finally buying a ticket to Austin. Great for building exposure!
10. Price
Texas Vegfest is a suggested donation of $5 — basically, the cost of a soy latte, with tip. The easy currency exchange (no breaking bills with $1s) made the line (pictured) move much quicker.
Want to see/read more?
Boston Dining Adventures
I lived in Boston (Brookline, actually) for two years right after college. I hated it.
As the clips I've seen of the HBO series "Girls" can attest, the years immediately proceeding college aren't the best of one's life in general, so I may be more critical of the city than I should be. Still, my California upbringing just didn't mesh with Boston's ribbon belt and Red Sox cap culture. When David asked if I would be willing to move to Seattle with him after only a few months dating (it was almost a year when we finally did it), I figured I really had nothing to lose by leaving (and don't regret the relocation in the slightest).
However, with my friend Diana getting married to her college sweetheart, an wonderful guy named Ben, a few weeks back, I decided it was time to make my TRIUMPHANT RETURN to the East Coast.
Here's basically what/where I ate while I was there for a couple of days in August — just a few spots. If you're looking for a great resource on Beantown vegan dining, Vegan Miam has an awesome series of posts on other (and a few of the same) vegan places to eat in the greater Boston area.
Anna's Taqueria
I met up with Tanya, visiting from New York via Woods Hole, around 1:30 p.m. on a Friday — we were both starving, and though the Bookline location was a mile or so away from our hotel near Fenway, I wanted my first meal back to be at the ubiquitous Boston burrito institution Anna's Taqueria.
Anna's serves amazing burritos. It's definitely not a vegetarian place and you need to ask for vegetarian rice, but everything is clearly labeled — the guac has sour cream, unfortunately. However, they have an amazing selection of roasted veggies (broccoli/eggplant/brussels sprouts/squash/carrots/etc) that the staff chop up and put into your burrito and refreshing agua frescas. Some salt would have improved it my burrito, but it brought back fond memories.
Veggie Planet
Veggie Planet is a vegetarian pizza place in Harvard Square that will substitute tofu ricotta or Teese for cheese on any of their pizzas. My Portobella Redhead, with portobella mushrooms, caramelized onions, and an almond/tomato sauce, was excellent. You can swap rice for crust to make it gluten-free. My dining companions were thrilled with the Henry's Favorite, and we each found a small to be more than enough.
Veggie Planet shares a space with a folk music club, which means it can be hard to get a table when there are shows — we had to wait for an hour, though it was 7:30 or so on a Friday night (not to worry: Harvard Square has numerous shops in which to kill time/ buy a pair of pajama bottoms because you forgot yours). The only downside was that the wait staff was a little pretentious about the music scene, telling us to keep our conversation quiet so as not to disturb the patrons in the other room when in reality we could barely hear one another from across the cozy table.
Veggie Galaxy
Veggie Galaxy is Veggie Planet's sister restaurant in Central Square, though the atmosphere of each differs immensely. VP shares an intimate underground space with a folk music club, while VG is 100% diner, with cute tattooed girls serving up milkshakes and burgers. All desserts are vegan and anything else can be made vegan, but most dishes are vegetarian by default, so FYI when ordering.
M.E. (of Veganoramic View) and I sat in a comfy booth and split a Jack D'or and the stuffed French toast, which was absolutely amazing: soft bread with a bit of a fried crunch, filled with a sweet and slightly salty vanilla nut cream, topped with fruit and coconut whipped cream.
M.E. got a chorizo-stuffed omelet, while I opted for a balsmic-glazed Seitan loaf over chard and mashed potatoes. After being denied mashed potatoes at the wedding, these hit the spot. I wasn't wild about the flavor of the loaf, though I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been so full.
For dessert, we had a few bites of peanut butter chocolate cake and the most amazing lemon meringue pie — yes, lemon meringue pie! M.E.'s husband Mike was the lucky recipient of the leftovers.
Live Alive
Live Alive, right across the street from Cambridge city hall, offers grain bowls, wraps, salads, smoothies and juices in a peaceful, well-lit space. My breakfast rebel bowl was colorful and delicious, and the juice much needed after a few days of overindulgence. I'm definitely planning on replicating soon.
Trident Booksellers
For my last meal in Boston, I dined with Erik at Trident Booksellers' Cafe, a few buildings down from the place I used to work (and he still does). I had forgotten all about the place, and was pleased to see their menu has a tofu scramble, vegan black bean burger, cashew chili, and juices. The cashew chili just hit the spot — another dish to replicate.
Other places to try
Sudo Shoes
I walked by here on my way from my friend Mitch's place in Somerville and just thought, "wow, cute shoes." Then I saw a pair of Cri de Couer booties and realized that all of these insanely adorable kicks were actually non-leather! Sudo, pseudo, yeah.
Peace o'Pie
This little joint in Allston is kinda a hike to get to, but a good option for vegan pizza and meatball subs. I only ate there a few times during my tenure in the city, but it was always good.
I never went here, but M.E. likes it. It's a fake meat Chinese place right by Peace o'Pie.
M.E. loves FoMu's non-dairy ice cream offerings. I lived in Boston during the Wheeler's days, and have always been impressed by how progressive this city is on the vegan ice cream scene — Bostonians love frozen desserts. FoMu, too, is located right by Peace O'Pie and Grasshopper.
Clover Food Lab
I saw this food truck on the Common and took a picture, but didn't get around to eating there. They also have other locations around town!
Peru: a very exciting South American adventure
I spent March 24 to April 8, 2012 in Peru with a couple of friends, and left with a few new ones.
Mary, Toni, and I stayed in Lima with Toni's awesome family, then flew up to Los Organos on the northern coast and chilled on the beach in an awesome house belonging to a friend of Toni's former girlfriend, Mariela. After that, Mary and I explored Cusco and trekked for 3 days in the Andes.
It was magical.
I ate a lot of (vegan) traditional Peruvian dishes…
Vegan(ized) causa at Bircher-Benner in Lima
Seitan and pumpkin stew with potatoes and yucca at Bircher-Benner
Tacu-Tacu at El Grifo
Toni eating Mazamorra morada in Kennedy Park
Lunch on the trail
Mushroom cebiche at Pescados Capitales!)
Fresh fruit…
Salads …
Three hearts salad at La Rosa Nautica in Lima
Salty snacks …
Yuccas Fritas
Sandwiches …
Quinoa hummus sandwich at Greens Organic in Cusco
Soy meat sandwich at Govinda in Aguas Calientes
Veggie sandwich at Aldea Yanapay in Cusco
Amazing Argentinan-style lentil burger at Prasada in Cusco
And non-Peruvian dishes…
Tofu stir-fry at Jack's Cafe in Cusco
Drank a lot of beverages…
Cusqueña beer
Coca tea
Saw a bunch of cute animals…
Cats in Parque Kennedy
The most loyal dog ever.
What a cutie!
Visited a bunch of cool places…
Los Organos
Machu Picchu
And hung out with awesome people.
It was an unforgettable experience, and I hope to return soon.
Peru, te quiero.
Portland dining adventures
Portland is to vegans what Bangkok is to pervs: a mecca. Only instead of underage prostitutes, Portland offers a plethora of tasty vegan dining, boozy vegan drinking, and materialistic vegan shopping, because, hey, no sales tax.
The Rose City has a reputation for being the hippie little sister of Seattle (Wikipedia says it has 583,776 residents, making it only slightly smaller than Seattle's 600,000+) but it really feels more like an oversized northern Northern California town: friendly and still a little rustic, despite its cosmopolitan attitude.
I was down there for Vida Vegan Con this past weekend (note: this is not my official Vida Vegan Con wrap up post — that's coming later this week), and found Portland to be very bike friendly, both in attitude and in landscape — it's relatively flat in comparison to Seattle. I recommend either renting a bike or bringing one along; Amtrak allows you to bring a bike (for an extra $5), and I happily pedaled through the city on mine.
Portland has a reputation for being very tolerant ("keep Portland weird," man!), and it probably would have been even weirder had Burning Man not taken all the raver kids down to the desert on the same weekend as my visit. This didn't stop me from seeing a small child with dreadlocks, about a million interesting tattoos, some crazy bikes and a coyote, which kinda freaked me out because I was on my bike, with lots of flesh exposed to canine carnivore teeth.
It's a cool, hip city, and the people who live there know that it's a cool, hip city, and therefore they are cool and hip, and this self-consciousness somehow makes it a little less cool and hip (though it's still pretty cool and hip).
But I had a really really really good time and would probably move down there in a heartbeat (I mean, if I had a valid reason to) so that I too could be cool and hip and eat amazing vegan food all day.
And on that note, on to the amazing vegan food.
Vegan food at Safeco field
Peanuts and Cracker Jacks may both be vegan, but one cannot survive a ballgame on snacks alone.
Sure, you could bring food in (according to Safeco's MLB site, "Food brought into the ballpark must be wrapped, bagged or inside a container. Items such as apples and oranges must be quartered.") but you would be missing out on a quintessential piece of the American Dream: paying too much money for a one-way ticket to Diabetesville while watching a game that, frankly, runs about 5 innings too long.
Here are my suggestions of what to eat while watching the Mariners lose win (on occasion), based on all both of my visits this summer.
The Natural
The Natural is located at section 132 in the back of a small food court. The line was incredibly short (I waited longer to get condiments than I did for my dog) and reasonably priced: a smallish veggie frankfurter only put me back $4.50. They also offer vegan soup and a vegan veggie burger (both $7-ish, I think), and have a couple of vegan and non-vegan gluten-free options (including gluten-free beer).
Blazing Bagels
I walk over to Safeco sometimes during the work week for a toasted everything bagel with tofu spread, tomatoes, lettuce and capers from Blazing Bagels, and their bagel sandwiches are absolutely worth the walk. It's technically not in the stadium, being on 1st ave S at street level, but is directly adjacent to the entrance and open on game days, so it's an easy pre-, post- or during game stop.
Safeco is probably the only ballpark in America where you can get sushi, mainly because Ichiroll sounds much better than Matsuzakaroll or the Takahashiroll. Actually, I don't anything about the sushi presence in other stadiums, but thank your vegan stars that you can get overpriced fake Japanese food in Seattle's. Ricenroll is in the same food court area (section 132) as The Natural, and has a few options. I wanted the tofu noodles, but they were out at that particular game, so I settled on 8 pieces of cucumber avocado sushi (at a rate of $1.13/piece). $4 edamame is another possibility.
Note: the box is not completely sealed, so don't pour your soy sauce into it unless you want a lapful of the stuff.
I also saw someone walking around with chips and guac, and there are always the garlic fries, which are super-tasty/addictive and quite handy if you happen to be at the game on a bad date or seated next to a vampire. Mmm… garlic fries.
And don't forget the beer.
Bay Area vegan dining adventures
I was in the Bay Area last week for work and stayed on for a few extra days to hang out with my folks, who live in Palo Alto.
While this extended trip was purely intended as an opportunity to spend time with family (and not a culinary exploration), I did have a few memorable experiences. Heck, even the catering company at my business engagement served a lovely grilled vegetable sandwich — my boss and I are still wondering how they knew I was vegan. (Maybe they just wanted to have all of their dietary bases covered?)
Homemade strawberry shortcake
My dad and brother picked me up at the airport, and my mom had dessert waiting for us when we arrived home: Hell Yeah It's Vegan's shortcake with Chef Brian McCarthy's coconut-based whipped cream and fresh California strawberries. The whipped topping was creamy, cool, and velvety-fluffy, and while my mom wasn't pleased with the shortcake (too chewy), I liked the texture. A sweet surprise!
Thanks, Mom.
Ferry Building
My brother and I took the train up to San Francisco on day one of my official post-work vacation. We both prefer to walk when we can, and worked up quite the hunger. Our first stop, the Steins Collect exhibit at the SF MOMA, is not too far from the Ferry Building, so we decided to stop there for lunch.
Foodies cream themselves over the Ferry Building — it's supposedly not a trip to San Francisco without entering the Ferry Building and ingesting its offerings.
I wasn't too impressed. The selection was not all that extensive (probably 20-30 shops/cafes, including Sur la Table and Peet's), and mostly the same foodie crap you get everywhere on the West Coast: "good meat" and cheese from happy cows. Vegans: skip it.
I did enjoy the Hodo Soy Beanery's curry tofu nuggets: firm, wrinkled layers of savory, slightly-spicy curried bean curd. I also picked up some of their rice pudding, which was a little too healthy for my taste — I would have liked more coconut and fewer raisins.
Westfield center — Loving Hut
After next visiting the Asian Art Museum, my brother and I had a couple of beers at Toronado before heading out to meet our parents at Millennium (!) for dinner — enough alcohol to enjoy my favorite SF beer bar without clouding our experience at the city's most prestigious vegan restaurant.
Also enough alcohol to make my brother really need to take a leak as we walked down Market towards Union Square.
Fortunately, my teenage years spent finely honing the craft of shopping told me that Westfield shopping center was both proximal and a likely bathroom candidate. I was pleased to note that the food court hosts a Loving Hut. I didn't eat there, but was just so tickled that an all-vegan opportunity exists at such a mainstream locale.
I've heard that Millennium is a San Francisco vegetarian institution (all food is indeed vegan despite the vegetarian label), and having dined at Cafe Gratitude, Herbivore and Alive! on past visits, I wanted to give Millennium a try while in the city. My family graciously complied.
That's my brother, outside Millennium.
Despite reviews to the contrary, I found all of the food to be quite tasty, if rather overpriced (my omnivorous family didn't complain, and actually seemed to enjoy their meals too, but I felt terrible for requesting to go somewhere so expensive). The menu is on par with Plum's, for $6-$12 more per entree (i.e., about $25 a pop). However, the space is quite lovely (a high ceiling, artsy photos of vegetables on the walls, an old-school wooden bar), the wait staff attentive, and the water quite pure (the Natura Tap Water Filtration System seems to be a selling point).
The non-Natura libations are not to be scoffed at either. I ordered the Millennium Mary, a delicious, if unexpected, take on the bloody Mary — muddled cherry tomatoes, smoked peppers, and triple sec, among other ingredients; it was definitely more cocktail than brunch beverage. The beer selection was also well curated, if a bit spendy (my brother noted that Pliny the Elder was $11, while only $8 at Toronado –$4 at happy hour).
We started with the fried green tomato appetizer and bread. There were only three tomatoes between the four of us, but the 3/4 of a slice we each ate was crisply fried and fresh tasting, with a creamy aioli for balance.
Perhaps inspired by the Bali exhibit at the Asian Art Museum, I went with tempeh. This mustard-BBQ tempeh dish came with grits, sauteed green beans and carrots, celery slaw, and pool of bourbon BBQ sauce for dipping. The portion was perhaps small for the price, but just the right amount of food to feel satiated, not over-stuffed.
My family ordered the following:
Brik Pastry Roulade (grilled seitan, oyster mushroom & creamy new potato filling,warm black lentil salad with chard, caramelized shallot, fennel & sun dried tomato,red currants, red wine reduction, truffled black pepper-thyme oil, pickled chard stems) — terrible picture, I know.
Roasted Beet & Hazelnut Barley Cakes (grilled maitake mushrooms, crookneck squash, fava beans & rapini greens,balsamic roasted torpedo onions, saffron, fennel & chickpea tajine, Aleppo chile-black olive tapenade, cucumber-mint salad)
Huitlacoche Tamale (annatto seed cashew cheese & roasted poblano chile filling, smoky black bean ragu, sauteed greens with spring onion & ancho chile, nopales & radish escabeche, avocado, habanero-cilantro pipian)
For dessert, we ordered the chocolate mint brownie sundae. It was heavily minty, but very refreshing, and the perfect size for four quite satisfied individuals to end a nice meal. My ice cream-loving kin didn't disapprove.
Country Sun
We kept it low-key on day two. We made breakfast, and Mom and I enjoyed some pampering before stopping by Country Sun to get something vegan to for me eat on the plane ride back to Seattle the following evening; SFO is fairly cosmopolitan, but it's still an airport.
Country Sun has been my hometown's natural foods resource for 40 years. There's a Whole Foods downtown, but I prefer this small, locally-owned hippie grocery store on California Ave because it's still crunchy — the last bastion of counterculture heritage in a town otherwise overrun with VCs, college students, and QR codes.
It wasn't quite the selection I'm used to (I love you, Madison Market), but I was able to choose from probably 12 different options ranging from a tofu salad salad to an asparagus nori roll to a curry potato sambosa. I went with a BBQ seitan wrap.
After biking over to and running/walking The Dish to enjoy the stunning, sunny Silicon Valley panorama, as we did on my last morning, the only logical dining choice is the über-Californian Hobee's.
As another longtime Bay Area hippie establishment, it's no surprise that Hobee's has several viable vegan options, including the Seven veggie medley stir-fry and a cumin-heavy tofu scramble, and offers to substitute tofu for meat in any dish. The best reason to come here, though, is the house tea: a strong cinnamon-orange beverage that closely resembles Good Earth — I drink mug after mug of it until I can drink no more whenever I am there.
Hobee's is also great for dining with your favorite omnivores — my folks love their omelets and coffee cake.
Other musings
It's always a little strange eating at home. When I left the Bay Area for college, I ate everything. Though I went vegetarian my freshman year and returned home each summer of college, eating out now while visiting my parents is almost like learning how to dine in a new city; many of my old favorites are still there, but I don't eat most of that food anymore.
Our favorite Indian restaurant, for example, has three vegan entrees and one vegan bread — even the rice has butter. The two of these three that we tried were fantastic, but… no rice? We even went to a Mediterranean place one night that offered me lamb as a vegan option — they just thought that vegan meant no dairy.
For such a prosperous and liberal place (its most famous resident only eats meat that he kills, afterall), Palo Alto is rather homogenous and dietarily vacant — a veg desert, if you will.
But you can't argue with locally grown avocado, served here on a homemade (better than Hobee's version, I might add) tofu scramble.
Vegtastic Prague
The Czech Republic is one of the most spectacular countries that I've visited. I make this statement both an American of Czech descent and as a person whose foreign travel experience includes Italy (standard European fare), Canada (bizarro America), England (bizarro Canada), and Russia (just bizarro), so take my words with a huge grain of salt.
The country is visually stunning. Architecturally speaking, the buildings range from soaring Gothic cathedrals to romantic churches to modern gems, while the countryside is quaint and picturesque. The history is fascinating, the artistic tradition is superb, and the cultural affinity for beer is quite enjoyable. Only the Czech Republic could turn a chapel decorated with the bones of 40,000-70,000 people into something elegant and not [all that] creepy.
But this is a food blog. A vegan food blog. The Czech Republic, for all its glories, is not a particularly veg-friendly place. I know because I went there last week. While our trip centered on Prague, we took day trips to Plzeň and Kutna Hora.
Having spent a semester in Russia in college, I knew that the former Soviet Block is fairly heavy on the meat and dairy, so I was prepared to eat a lot of potatoes and rice. Being descended from hearty Bohemian peasant stock, I rather like boiled potatoes, particularly the creamy yellow variety commonly served in Central Europe.
However, I was impressed by how comfortably I ate with only minimal sacrifice. VegNews had a serendipitous feature in their September+October issue that served as inspiration, though having done my research, many of the places they featured were already on my radar.
Most waiters in Prague speak in English, and with the help of a Lonely Planet phrase book we were able to get by fairly easily; my 4 years of college Russian didn't hurt either.
I start my tale with what Delta served on the ride over; I was so delighted to be served naan on an international flight that I whipped out my camera. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that my vegan airline meal was not vegan– below the foil was something that I'm almost positive was palak paneer: cheese. My in-flight breakfast of Honey Nut Cheerios also not vegan, and the cheese lasagna they mistakenly served on the way back even less so– that one was fortunately rectified with an Italian-style rice and bean dish.
On our first day, we ate at a small vegetarian restaurant called Gopal in the Old Town near Prague Castle. Gopal serves a fixed meal that rotates daily and is definitely not vegan. With limited (i.e., no) Czech speaking ability, horrible memories of Russian cuisine, and a general ignorance of my situation, I was so relieved for the guarantee that my meal did not have meat that I was willing to eat some dairy. However, I spent the rest of the day feeling horribly guilty– traveling and wanting to "experience the culture" is no excuse to exploit animals– and vowed not to repeat this act again. The restaurant is all-you-can-eat and many of the options were vegan, so I imagine you could ask for just the vegan options.
Lenka Hlava (Borsov 2, Praha 1) is one of the most magnificent places to dine on the face of the planet. The building dates back to 1410; though the interior design is very modern and colorful, the setting maintains a intimate, slightly ancient feel.
Lenka Hlava's menu is extensive, with an amazing selection of juices. I got something called Sahleb (salep) which Wikipedia says is made from the ground bulb of an orchid. It was more of a pudding than a drink, and had a sort of funny taste that reminded me vaguely of a mild poison. I ate the walnuts off the top and more or less left the rest.
While I didn't care much for my drink, the food was amazing and copious. While not a strictly vegan restaurant, most of Lenka Hlava's options either are vegan or can be made so. After much deliberation, I ordered bulgar risotto topped with sun-dried tomato pesto. I didn't think I would ever be able to eat the entire thing, but a day of sightseeing left me very hungry and I finished my plate. The picture is blurry because I was in such a hurry to get back to eating it that I could barely sit still.
Country Life (Jungmannova 1, Praha 1) is both a vegan restaurant and a small grocery store. I didn't eat at the restaurant, but, as VegNews mentioned, this is a great place to stock up on vegan snacks.
Here's my bounty after day one– the blurry yellowish tube is full of garlicky tofu spread, delicious on the store's fresh-baked bread.
I picked up a roll and some tofu-mushroom slices to eat on the train on our way to Plzeň:
Kolachy (singular: kolach) are a Czech pastry made of sweet bread dough and filling; my family has a great recipe that I've been meaning to veganize for a while. Country Life sold kolachy in a variety of flavors. Below are poppy (the best!) and tofu.
Maitrea (Týnská ulička 6, Praha 1) is Lenka Hlava's sister restaurant. It has a similar, though different menu and a brighter, airier space. It's right by Old Town Square, making it ideally situated for a mid- or post-sightseeing meal.
Goulash with dumplings is a popular Czech meal. While it's usually made with beef, Maitrea makes a seitan version that was rich and satisfying. Their dumplings were not vegan, but the nice young waiter substituted rice.
David and I walked by Dynamo on our way from the hotel to Republic square one morning, and the "vegetarian specialties" advertised in the window popped out at me. The menu had a couple of dished with "tofu cheese." While we didn't dine there at that point, we vowed to return.
Return we did, and I ordered pasta with this tofu cheese– which is really just smoked tofu. The sauce was a sweet, slightly spicy tomato chili sauce; a little unusual but very tasty.
There are several other restaurants in Prague that serve primarily vegetarian and vegan food; Happy Cow has a list, and while I would have liked to try more, I was able to eat just fine in conventional restaurants too.
For instance, many restaurants serve risotto; the Czech risotto is really more of a fried rice than an Italian-style risotto. Here's an example from a nautical-themed restaurant in Plzeň:
It wasn't all hearty and delicious, as you can see from the boiled potatoes and broccoli with almonds I ate below. The meal originally had blue cheese, but I asked the waiter to hold it. He asked whether I was allergic; I said no, and he asked if I was okay with cream. I said I was not, and he said, "well, you will just eat broccoli and almonds." Fortunately, I like broccoli and almonds. And boiled potatoes.
Our last meal was at a tourist trap in Mala Strana. David ate Thumper, while I dined quite lavishly on tomato salad, stewed cabbage (lots of caraway in that one), sauteed spinach, and (again), boiled potatoes.
There were many other meals that are not pictured here: a lovely ratatouille at Cafe Slavia (Smetanovo nábřeží 2, Prague 1), an art deco restaurant across from the National Theatre; breakfasts of bread and apples from the Tesco across from our hotel; a plate of gnocchi at a mall after looking at probably 20 menus for a suitable vegan options. And of course, we drank liters of beer– and harder spirits: becherovka, slivovitz, hrusovice (pear liqueur), and the ever-alluring, slighty toxic absinthe.
Despite clearly eating (and drinking) a ton, the amount of walking and time on our feet burned it all off. I left Europe 3 pounds lighter when I arrived. Best. diet. ever.
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text:
We've already brought you an in-depth preview for Vanguard (onPS2andWii), but we're not stopping the blitzkrieg just yet. No, today we have an all-new trailer for the upcoming shooter that shows why you might care about a last-gen version of this well-oiled franchise. How does getting blasted out of a plane high above the European battlefield sound? Pretty cool, provided you have a parachute strapped to your back at all times (and as a paratrooper, you do).
Hit the movies tab and start up the "Trailer 01-25-07" video for visual evidence that Vanguard may end up being the WWII swan song for the latter-day consoles.
January 25, 2007

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Mike Pelfrey was ineffective yet again today, and the Mets lost the game and the series to the Braves, falling today 8-3.
Game Notes
Mike Pelfrey was hit hard today, not even making it out of the fifth inning. Big Pelf was a Big Letdown today, giving up five runs, with only three being earned thanks to some errors. Pelf struck out one and walked two, and gave up eight hits including two home runs in his four and two-third innings. Something is wrong with Pelfrey, and it isn't mechanically or health wise. He was revving up the fastball to 96, but he was making too many mistakes, and the majority of them to lefties.
Hisanori Takahashi came out, and pitched one and one-third innings, giving up one hit and two unearned runs, striking out one. Raul Valdes pitched the last two innings, and gave up a run on two hits including a home run while walking one and striking out one. Valdes may be on his way out of the Mets clubhouse anytime soon, with Sean Green, Ryota Igarashi, Pat Misch and a handful of others waiting in the wings with fresh arms ready to alleviate some of the burden
The Mets offense had limited punch today and had absolutely no ability to get on base consistently.Luis Castillo knocked in Josh Thole on a single to center, Jose Reyes scored on a Carlos Beltran groundout and Angel Pagan hit a sacrifice fly that scored Chris Carter. When you manage 6 hits for a whole game, and Luis Castillo has two of them, you'll have a problem
David Wright, 0-4. 0-15 slump right now.
The defense committed FOUR errors today, with THREE on throwing errors by the left-side of the infield.
Turning Point
The Pelfrey fifth inning eruption
Game Ball
*shrugs* Luis Castillo. 2-3, 1 RBI. He's a slap hitter, and if that ball isn't hit down the lines or up the middle, he won't be doing much good.
On Deck
The Mets have a whole day to marinate on this stagnant performance and will face off against the Phillies on Friday at 7:35 P.M. Jon Niese will face-off against Joe Blanton.


text:
Obviously, John Braine's work wouldn't have survived more than half a century if the wit of the title hadn't had a full and hearty story to support it, and here it was done full justice.
Who to choose - love or ambition? Joe has to decide in Room at the Top
With lots of first-rate drama bouncing around between the channels of either Victorian finery or contemporary rawness, BBC4 somehow managed to sneak this post-war tableau onto their midweek schedule.
In Joe Lampton (Matthew McNulty), a young man who takes, quite literally, a room at the aspirational 'top of the town', we had the archetypal chirpy but chippy Northerner, determined to make his mark, and rationalise his romantic pursuits according to fitting political frameworks, to find his own more abstract... room at the top.
Jenna-Louise Coleman is Susan - beauty and money... how can Joe resist?
On the one hand, there was Susan Brown, a bonny, rich gal, whom he called "the walking, breathing embodiment of the capitalist system". So impressed was our Joe that he even remembered to invite her out for "Saturday night… I mean evening" before his painful but triumphant efforts to impress her with his savoir faire. "She's lovely," he told his colleague. "So's that, but I can't afford it," the other one replied, pointing to a nice watch. But courting Susan meant competing with the Cambridge charms of comically smooth Jack.
Susan was a delightfully round-eyed Jenna-Louise Coleman having one more gutsy foray before she gets swallowed up by the Tardis as Doctor Who's new Companion - perfectly fine, but acted off the screen by the complex talents of Maxine Peake as Alice Aisgill.
Maxine Peake and Matthew McNulty play out a surely-doomed romance in Room at the Top
Alice was older, sexier, worldlier, married, who received Joe's ultimate compliment – "It's like talking to a fella."
It was all very sophisticated, with their pub outings, politics chat and shared evenings with her husband. These scenes of silent intimacy between Joe and Alice, paradoxically with her husband sitting right there, were the most affecting, with – and no surprises here – the subtlety of Peake's nuanced performance, playing out the charade of confident confidante, while trying and failing to protect her own, fragile heart in the process. Because everyone wants Joe.
One of the highlights before it all got a bit intense between them was Joe's 'Lampton Report on Love', grading his ladies from one to ten, not on looks, lustiness or even love, but where on the viability spectrum their respective husbands' incomes fell. Who said romance was dead? I guess we'll find out in Thursday evening's conclusion.


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This might not have possessed the shock and awe value of Portsmouth's 7-4 victory over Reading , but three points at Wigan was, in its own way, every bit as impressive, as goals from Benjani and Glen Johnson ensured Portsmouth continue in their role as one of the surprise packages of this Premier League campaign.
This season has thrown up a number of pretenders to the title of 'Team Most Likely To...' - as in most likely to break the perceived dominance of the selfstyled big four at the top of the table - but, surely, none among Manchester City, Blackburn or Aston Villa are playing this well currently.
Rarely, if ever, threatened at their own end of the field, Portsmouth might still have been forgiven for settling for a point here as the game entered the fi nal 10 minutes with little sign of a resolute Wigan back line capitulating. But Benjani slipped his markers for the first time in the 81st minute, connecting with Sulley Muntari 's tantalising left-wing cross and converting from six yards.
Glen Johnson sealed the victory four minutes later as a clearly deflated Wigan allowed him to advance half the length of the fi eld before beating Chris Kirkland from the edge of the penalty area.
The defeat took Wigan's streak without a goal to 310 minutes and, with Emile Heskey injured, their problems are many and varied. For Portsmouth life in the top fl ight has never been so sweet and for all Harry Redknapp's knee-jerk downplaying of talk about a place in Europe, such a goal is extremely realistic.
'When you start the season, you look at the league and know the top four will be the top four,' said Redknapp. 'After that, there is Tottenham, Newcastle, Villa, there's Everton. It's a difficult league, but we'll just keep trying to pick up results and see where we finish.
'We've had a difficult start to the season - 10 games, six away and played the big four in our first six games. But 18 points is a great start and if we can fi nish in the top half of the table, I'll be delighted.'
If Benjani - the Premier League's leading scorer this morning, with five of his seven goals having come in the past three games - maintains such an output, a top-half fi nish is the very least Redknapp and his club can anticipate.
Roundly criticised after his arrival at Fratton Park in January 2006, Benjani took 14 games to score his first goal - an eff ort that, coincidentally, ensured Pompey of top-flight survival in a lateseason victory at Wigan.
'The first year I bought him, it took him 14 games to get his fi rst goal, but all that time he never stopped working,' said Redknapp. 'The fans love him. He works, grafts, he's a fantastic fella and now he's adding goals to his play which is great.'
The afternoon might have unfolded diff erently had Paul Scharner's second minute header gone in, instead of grazing the Portsmouth post, although Muntari was equally unfortunate with a fabulous 30-yard free-kick that hit the woodwork midway through the second period. Those efforts aside, there was little else to worry the two goalkeepers.
Wigan manager Chris Hutchings was honest enough not to want to use injuries as an excuse after his team made it seven games without a win. But the form book suggests that neighbouring Bolton may not be the only club in deepest Lancashire for whom relegation could be a concern this season.
Man of the match: Benjani
Seven goals already this campaign indicate that the Pompey forward has become a genuine Premier League force - certainly his goal illustrated that any lapse in concentration from a defender is liable to be punished severely.


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Old Harry, Tom Archer's prize boar (known to readers of the Echo as the Beast of Borsetshire), has escaped and is devastating Ambridge, offering an unrivalled opportunity to say, "Is he wild?"
"Well, he's a bit annoyed."
How like the home life of Matt Crawford, who has been cornered by the Serious Fraud Office and, after giving a gifted impression of a greased pig, has finally squealed. The damage both have inflicted on the village makes you suck your teeth. There are trotter marks and smashed daffodils everywhere.
The achingly honest Archers are all caught up in Matt's spot of bother, notably Tom, whose sausage empire is tottering. He has lost Brenda, his girlfriend, Harry, his boar, and, crucially, Matt, his financial backer. While Brenda and Tom have split up under the strain, Lilian is standing by her man like Tammy Wynette or, for those of a more literary bent, Mrs Micawber. It was touching to picture the old girl smoking furiously outside the nick, while Matt was inside confessing his sins to a Fraud Squad investigator who sounded ("That was dishonest, wasn't it, Mr Crawford?") as if she was rustling crisp, white wings. You never liked the raffish pair better.
Chalkie, Matt's partner in crime, is disgruntled to hear that he has spilled the beans to save his bacon, and vanishes with a smell of sulphur and an unmuffled curse: "Watch your back, mate!" Meanwhile, back at the Bull, the boozers are turning ugly. "They'll be up here with pitchforks and flaming torches next," says Matt.
His future is, you feel, tied up with Old Harry's. Either they are both dead meat or will return, chastened and sheepish, to those who love them.
As a spicy postscript, meet Opal ("tattooing while you wait"), Borchester's answer to Lydia the tattooed lady. "She has muscles men adore so, and a torso even more so." Or, as Kenton puts it, "Check those pecs!"


text: On Wed June 4 2008 00:59:15 Pierre Habouzit wrote: > a broken software, or an inadequate one is more a problem to > me than not having it in Debian. Debian is about quality, not > quantity. (1) Pierre thus asserts IMPERFECT PACKAGE < MISSING PACKAGE. (2) To a user who wishes to use a working feature of an imperfect package, Debian is better with the imperfect package than without: MISSING PACKAGE < IMPERFECT PACKAGE < PERFECT PACKAGE. This is true even if the imperfect package has an avoidable publicized security bug. (3) The Debian Social Contract[1] strongly supports user empowerment, e.g. "We will place their interests first in our priorities." (4) Therefore, the laudable but minor goal of reducing clutter is not a DSC-compatible reason for ignoring users' interests. --Mike Bird [1] http://www.debian.org/social_contract


text:
"It destroyed an entire family," the 19-year-old told CBC News on Monday.
His 49-year-old father, Neil, and 16-year-old sister, Eleesha, were driving home from a Florida vacation at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday when they collided head-on with a suspected drunk driver in a GMC Envoy.
Neil's wife was the third person inside the minivan. She is at Sunnybrook Hospital with serious injuries.
Minutes before the collision, police began receiving calls about a driver going the wrong way down Highway 427.
Wijeratne's family was just 10 minutes away from home, merging onto the 427 from the QEW.
Charges pending
Ontario Provincial Police say charges are pending against the 19-year-old driver, who was arrested at the scene. He had serious but non-life-threatening injuries, police say. Charges are expected to be laid later this week.
The Wijeratne family arrived in Canada from Sri Lanka in 2000. Neil was a maintenance worker at a local hotel. Eleesha was a straight-A high-school student who wanted to study engineering like her older brother.
Wijeratne, who was supported Monday by more than a dozen family and friends who gathered to pray, broke down when he attempted to talk about his father and sister.
"Scared to go see the bodies of my other family members," he said.
But he did want to talk about the 19-year-old alleged drunk driver.
"The only thing I can do is to get the message out about the impacts that you will have if you drink and drive," he said.
OPP numbers show that deaths on Ontario highways are up this year compared to 2011. Since the beginning of this year, 202 people have died on highways, compared to 162 at this point last year.


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58.Com Advances on Second-Quarter Revenue Outlook
58.Com Inc. (WUBA) rose the most in three weeks in U.S. trading on speculation the Chinese classifieds website operator may report quarterly sales that exceed the company's forecast as online advertising growth accelerates.
The company's American depositary receipts gained 5.1 percent in New York, the biggest rally since July 28. LightInTheBox Holding Co., which sells Chinese-made goods to customers overseas, advanced 8.9 percent to a six-week high. The Bloomberg China-US Equity Index climbed 1.3 percent to 117.15, the strongest level since May 2011.
58.com, whose shareholders include Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said in May it expected second-quarter revenue to be between $61 million and $63 million. Fast growth in local Internet advertising probably means sales exceeded that, according to Jeff Papp, the senior analyst at Oberweis Asset Management Inc. Twenty-three of 34 companies in Bloomberg's index of Chinese stocks in the U.S. that have reported quarterly earnings beat analysts' revenue estimates.
"This is going to be clearly one where they should do better on the top line, and people will get really excited if they can also see some margin expansion," Papp said by phone yesterday. "They have local content online, which is a sub-segment a lot of big players would like exposure to. Big companies like Tencent may not have a good reach into that."
Online Advertising
Beijing-based 58.com is scheduled to report its second-quarter results on Aug. 21. LightInTheBox, which is set to disclose its earnings tomorrow, raised its sales forecast in June, citing better product offerings and an improved customer experience.
58.com advanced to $52.53. Trading volume of 2.47 million shares was double the daily average of the past three months.
The company said in a May 21 statement that it expected second-quarter revenue to rise at least 74 percent from a year earlier. Chinese online ad spending may double to almost $30 billion by 2018, according to EMarketer, accounting for 47 percent of the Asia-Pacific region's total.
While the Internet replaced television in China last year as the biggest media channel in terms of user time spent, ad spending allocation has yet to capture the change in user behavior, analysts led by Alan Hellawell at Deutsche Bank AG wrote in a June note.
LightInTheBox, Cnooc
LightInTheBox rose to $6.72 on 1.8 times average volume. The Beijing-based online retailer may report a 17 percent increase in second-quarter sales to $84.8 million, after an 11 percent increase in the prior quarter, according the average of three analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Cnooc Inc. (CEO), China's biggest offshore oil explorer, increased 5.3 percent to $198.80, an eight-month high, after Credit Suisse raised its rating to the equivalent of hold from sell.
The iShares China Large-Cap ETF, the biggest Chinese exchange-traded fund in the U.S., gained 0.8 percent to $41.40. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (HSCEI) increased 0.9 percent as tensions eased over global conflicts and Dollar General Corp. rallied on merger activity.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slipped 0.4 percent to 11,065.21. The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) climbed 0.6 percent to 2,239.47.
To contact the reporter on this story: Belinda Cao in New York at email@example.com
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nikolaj Gammeltoft at firstname.lastname@example.com Richard Richtmyer, Marie-France Han


text:
Owls duo up for monthly awards
Wednesday may be going all-out for the big prize of promotion this weekend, but two Owls are up for npower League 1 monthly awards in April.
Boss Dave Jones is up for the Manager of the Month accolade, while defender Miguel Llera is going for the Player of the Month award after the Owls enjoyed a superb month. Securing 13 points from a possible 15 ensured Wednesday moved above bitter rivals Sheffield United into the automatic promotion spots going into this weekend's last match of the season.
It would be back-to-back monthly awards for Jones, who also scooped the March honour for his efforts of getting Wednesday back into the automatic promotion hunt.
He'll go up against Chris Powell, who guided Charlton Athletic to become champions last month, and MK Dons boss Karl Robinson.
For Llera, his defensive efforts have been complemented by a stunning four goals in five games - some of them key. As well as opening the scoring in the crucial victory at Huddersfield Town, the Spaniard scored the winner at Brentford on Saturday.
He'll go up against Bury's Mike Grella and Charlton's Leon Cort for the award.
The winners will be announced this Friday.


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The safe sheltered bay is flanked by magnificent chalk headlands on either side.The gently sloping sands form a good 2km family beach with a promenade, providing all the facilities of a small seaside resort. Swanage has successfully qualified for Blue Flag and Seaside Award for 17 consecutive years.
Log in or register to save this beach to your favourites listTweet
Annual classification:
2017 Excellent
Today's ForecastPollution risk forecasts are only made between May and September.
Parking available. Disabled parking is along the seafront past the clock tower - more spaces in the town.
Dogs not allowed June 1st to September 30th.
Beach cleaned daily during the summer.
Popular activities here include: swimming, windsurfing. diving, sailing, sea canoeing, fishing and crazy golf and bowls. There is cycle hire, a diving school and boat trips on offer at the nearby marina. The Swanage Tourist Information Centre is just behind the beach.
The Dorset Coast Path extends in both directions from Swanage Bay, passing through beautiful countryside along this section of coast. The path to the north leads to Handfast Point, providing excellent views of Old Harry Rocks and Poole Bay. See Marine Wildlife sightings at this beach
Beach type: sand,
Currently showing any beaches within a 10 miles radius of Swanage Central beach
Move to nearby beaches by clicking the sandcastle icons on the map
Page will refresh on selecting an option below
Water samples are taken at this designated bathing water by the Environment Agency, during the bathing season, from 15th May to 30th September. Find out more about designated bathing waters.
High levels of bacteria in the water can indicate pollution from sewage treatment works or polluted rain water draining from the land. Where does pollution comes from and how can you help?
Water quality can be reduced for up to 72 hours after heavy rain. Look out for temporary signs at the beach and on our website.
2017 Excellent
At the end of every bathing season the water quality is classified as either-
Excellent – the highest classification meaning the water is cleanest
Good – generally good water quality
Sufficient – meets minimum standards
Poor – You are advised not to swim. The beach will stay open and an action plan should be in place to improve the water quality.
Today's ForecastPollution risk forecasts are only made between May and September.
Displaying nearest weather point within 10 miles of Swanage Central
This weather forecast is generated by the Met Office Weather Widget
Our volunteers have been surveying rubbish on UK beaches for over 20 years. In that time shoreline litter had more than doubled and plastic has gone up by 180%!
MCS beach cleans are run all year round with our flagship event 'Great British Beach Clean' in September.
Volunteers record the litter they find - we use this information to help Governments and industry understand how to stop the rubbish getting there in the first place. We also promote behaviour change among the public using the data collected.
Within 10 miles of Swanage Central beach
There are currently no beach cleans within 10 miles of this beach!
All of our cleans are run by volunteers so why not organise your own? We've got loads of information to help you get started.
Take your rubbish home - don't try and cram more stuff into already overflowing beach bins
Don't leave litter behind - take it away and recycle it
Only put the 3P's down the loo - Pee, Poo and Paper - everything else goes in the bin!
Find an eatery with a Fish2fork sustainable seafood rating within 10 miles of Swanage Central beach
We rate restaurants according to the impact the seafood they serve has on fish stocks and the health of our oceans.
Along with MCS we want all seafood served in the UK to be sustainable.
Visit Fish2fork website
Blue fish - serving sustainable seafood
Red fish – one or more fish options on the menu is an MCS Fish to Avoid
You never know what kinds of wildife you'll come
across at the beach. We're interested in what you find - especially
if you come across jellyfish, basking sharks or turtles. Tell
us what you find.
Find out the latest news and information on marine wildlife from around the UK.
Note: This page shows reports of sightings of jellyfish, basking sharks and turtles ONLY, as MCS holds national databases for these species. Don't be alarmed if it looks like there are lots of jellyfish in the area, they are fascinating creatures. We always advise "look but don't touch".
Within 10 miles of Swanage Central beach
No sightings have been reported in the area. Please report your sightings if you see a jellyfish, marine turtle or basking shark.
Report a marine turtle sighting


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"So I was just in Orlando 7/15-20 and spent 4 days in Universal and one day I park hopped in Disney. I have been down in Orlando 5 times in the last 4 years. 2 times were 10 days Disney, one time 7 days Disney but my husband broke his l..."
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text:
No fair. Fans often have to wait in line whenever Target launches a new designer collaboration if they want to be the first to nab pieces.
But some of the first to get their hands on the new 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target collection didn't have to stand in line — and they nabbed the merchandise way earlier than Sunday's release date.
It turns out a Target store in Duluth, Ga., put items from the 100-piece collection on store shelves more than a week before the official launch. It took a few hours before the mistake was realized and the merchandise was pulled. By then, shoppers had snatched up items.
"It was an unfortunate operational oversight," said Target spokeswoman Jessica Carlson. "Obviously these things get shipped prior to the launch date. We do our best to take precautions and alert stores when we have special shipments."
Target's previous limited-edition designer collaborations have drawn large crowds into its stores and online. When Missoni and Jason Wu launched, fans lined outside the doors hours before the stores opened. The Missoni collection brought so much online traffic that it caused the Minneapolis-based retailer's website to crash.
3.1 Phillip Lim for Target will launch on Sept. 15 at stores and online at target.com while supplies last. The collection includes men's and women's apparel ranging from $20 to $200.
With the 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target collection, there will not be quantity limits placed on store purchases as was the case in some of the previous designer partnerships. However, quantity limits will be applied to some online purchases, Carlson said.


text:
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We've suppiled regular bookings for hotels, bars and pubs for many years and have an excellent reputation that we continue to uphold. With discounts for regular bookings and packages to suit any size and style of venue.Hotel, bar and pub bookings


text:
Downing Street refused to give Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, an instant clean bill of health yesterday in face of allegations that she and her husband, David Mills, paid off a mortgage on their London home with a £350,000 gift from the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi.
The allegation, if proved, would put Ms Jowell in potential breach of the ministerial code and even prompt her resignation.
No 10 stressed that its pointedly limited support for Ms Jowell was designed to prevent accusations that it was pre-empting an informal inquiry into the affair urgently being conducted by the cabinet secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell. Tony Blair has been burnt before by leaping to the defence of his closest cabinet colleagues - most recently David Blunkett - only to find them forced to resign as further damning evidence seeps out.
The limited support also reflects the difficulties in getting to the bottom of Mr Mills's byzantine and controversial business dealings. It has been alleged that Ms Jowell and Mr Mills jointly took out a mortgage on their home in 2000 as a means of bringing into Britain £350,000 from an offshore account, and this cash was in effect a gift to Mr Mills from Mr Berlusconi.
Clause 5.24 of the ministerial code says ministers are under a duty to be careful about the acceptance of all gifts and loans given to them or their family members, if it could place them under an obligation.
Ms Jowell denied the money to pay back the mortgage came from Mr Berlusconi, and said she jointly took out the mortgage with her husband so he could take advantage of an investment opportunity. Following a request for an investigation by shadow leader of the house, Theresa May, Sir Gus began his inquiry and is expected to reply to Ms May later this week. The cabinet office argued Sir Gus's questioning did not amount to a formal inquiry.
The Italian newspaper La Repubblica alleged that the so-called "thank-you" payment from Mr Berlusconi may have amounted to a far larger sum, possibly as much as $1m (£575,000). Not all of it, the newspaper reported, had been traced.
Ms Jowell told BBC Radio 4's Women's Hour: "If I felt that either I or my husband were harbouring some guilty secret I would be very worried indeed."
She defended her limited involvement in her husband's dealing: "What I did was to sign a form that enabled the bank to take a charge on our house in order that my husband could then buy some investments he wanted to do. I did that because our houses are in our joint names. It is as simple as that. It's not an unusual thing to do, it is not an improper thing to do".
Tony Blair, who was by Ms Jowell's side at the launch of a women and work commission report yesterday, expressed his personal confidence in the culture secretary. Close colleagues claim she is the victim of a witch-hunt, and denied there had been any proved conflict of interest.
At the heart of the investigation will be the question of whether Mr Mills and Ms Jowell received money from Mr Berlusconi. Italian prosecutors allege that Mr Mills received the cash in return for helping Mr Berlusconi in corruption inquiries in Italy. Mr Mills has told the Guardian the money he received from Italy in late 2000 - and then used to pay off his mortgage - did not come from Mr Berlusconi but from another, unrelated business source. The allegation that it was a bribe is untrue, he said.


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Girl Dress UpFree
Jess is really a hottie and she is invited to a big party a few days later.What's more,there's gonna be some super stars there atending the party.Jess is very happy and she would like to dress up for the big party of the year.But there are so many clothes to choose and she doesn't even know which one to wear,for a beautiful girl,dress up means everything,she cant make mistake on this.Be the queen of the party or be the joker of the party?As her boyfriend,it's your mission to help the girl dress up like a lady,a princess.Will she be one?That depends on you!
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text:
What does eyes-only mean?
Definitions for eyes-only
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word eyes-only.
Princeton's WordNet
official classification for documents; meant to be seen by only the person to whom it is directed
(of documents) meant to be read only, and not discussed, by the named recipient, classified
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of eyes-only in Chaldean Numerology is: 3
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of eyes-only in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3
Sample Sentences & Example Usage
Peace can't be seen with eyes, only the mind can see it and the heart can feel it. So open the window of your mind to let it come in.
When I read a book I seem to read it with my eyes only, but now and then I come across a passage, perhaps only a phrase, which has a meaning for me, and it becomes part of me.
I know what will make the father take such extreme measures to try to get his family to safety. I had tears in my eyes. Only a parent would understand, visas are not the cause of the problem, but it's a big part of why thousands are dead at sea and it dictates our movements and freedom.
Images & Illustrations of eyes-only
Translations for eyes-only
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
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"eyes-only." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2018. Web. 24 Mar. 2018. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/eyes-only>.


text:
The star-studded performer line-up gets even hotter for the 2011 CMT MUSIC AWARDS with the addition of Big & Rich, Toby Keith, Zac Brown Band and Luke Bryan. Recently announced host Kid Rock, who returns for a second year, performs with Sheryl Crow; and hot on the heels of his win on Celebrity Apprentice, John Rich reunites with Big & Rich for the duos first television performance in over three years and their first performance on the CMT MUSIC AWARDS since 2005. The 2011 CMT MUSIC AWARDS premieres LIVE on Wednesday, June 8 at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on CMT andCMT.com
Toby Keith returns to the CMT MUSIC AWARDS stage, holding the distinction of being the only artist to have performed every year since the show began in 2002. Additionally, former USA Weekend Breakthrough Artist winners Zac Brown Band (2009) and Luke Bryan (2010) will each take the performance stage, marking Bryans first CMT MUSIC AWARDS mainstage performance.
The 2011 CMT MUSIC AWARDS also includes performers Jason Aldean, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts and Sugarland.


text:
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
6 comments:
love is always the best choice, though should be measured so that one is not fooled with infatuation...look back, look forward, look now...proceed...ReplyDelete
Love is always the right choice...the rest we figure as we go along.ReplyDelete
Thank for the responses to my poem. I wanted this poem to be about the nature of making choices and how our view of what we have chosen changes after we have made a decision. Where I finally want to go with this poem stumps me.ReplyDelete
i was never good at making decisions (still have trouble with them), but sometimes it is easier to go with what you know or what you thought you always wanted because it is safe. To deter from that is scary and hard. Often you don't realize the impact of your decision until after you've made it. I think you built the "comfort" decision well at the start of the poem.ReplyDelete
this is fundamental topic, brilliant words.ReplyDelete
awesome poetry.ReplyDelete
Glad to discover your poetry talent, invite you to join our poetry picnic today, free and fun, free style commenting.
First time participants are encouraged to share 1 to 3 random poems, or old poems!
We're Open until Thursday, 8pm, American Central!
Hope to see you in!
Thanks in advance,


text:
On Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:16:14 +0200, Jacob Rossi <firstname.lastname@example.com> wrote: > Ok. That makes sense. Given that, is DOMActivate simply left in DOM L3 > Events to support backwards compatibility with DOM L2 events? Or are > there still use cases which it solves that other events do not? I think the sole reason we have DOMFocusIn, DOMFocusOut, and DOMActivate is political. I'm not sure if that changed to backwards compatibility at this point, but I doubt it. DOMFocusIn and DOMFocusOut have been retained on request of the Forms WG and for DOMActivate I do not really remember. Fact of the matter is that focus/blur/click work fine and already are platform independent and much better understood by authors of Web applications. I'd be very happy if could consider yet again dropping DOMFocusIn/DOMFocusOut/DOMActivate. -- Anne van Kesteren http://annevankesteren.nl/Received on Wednesday, 22 July 2009 13:36:40 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Tuesday, 20 October 2015 10:46:14 UTC


text: Good Fun-d's mission is to provide education and support for the intersection of the world's cultures and ecologies and to explore the impacts these two elements have on one another. To fulfill this mission, Good Fun-d will develop written educational materials about how ecology and geography influence cultural development, ideals, and way of life. Good Fun-d will sponsor and deliver lectures, seminars, and workshops. Good Fun-d will engage in global initiatives to various regions of the world to gather information, research, and study the intersections of culture and environment. Good Fun-d will start and sponsor programs in various regions of the world where there are unique intersections of culture and the environment.


text:
Chanel names new Global Creative Director Make-up
Introducing Lucia
Big congratulations are in order for Italian make-up artist and backstage regular, Lucia Pica who is Chanel's new Global Creative Director of Make-up and Colour Designer.
Lucia embarked on a career as a freelance make-up artist in 2008, and in less than seven years has worked her way up to be one of the most celebrated in the business. You might recognise her work from the catwalks of Peter Pilotto, House of Holland and Margaret Howell (to name a few).
'She brings to CHANEL her creativity, her distinctive colour expertise and her modern interpretation of Beauty', reads a statement issued by Chanel.
Expect to see a lot more of Lucia in 2015.


text: well see. for what its worth I was a big keep fan and wanted the titans to draft him...now im glad we didn't cuz im seeing bad things from him. I bet harbaugh benches him next year, they are missing the playoffs this year. im calling it here. keep will struggle all year and sure they can beat Houston with schaub completing 3 less passes to san fran corner backs than keep to san fran recievers lol! but I doubt they get far against most other teams like that


text:
Dubai rent prices up 30%
Rental rates for the first half of this year have increased by almost 14 per cent
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Residential rents in Dubai have increased by over 30 per cent on average in the last 12 months, with many tenants relocating to more affordable areas in the city, according to a recent report by global property consulting firm CBRE.
"Rents were up 36 per cent in Dubai Sports City, 31 per cent in Silicon Oasis, and 33 per cent in the Trade Centre roundabout area on Shaikh Zayed Road," said Mat Green, head of research in the UAE at CBRE.
Rental rates for the first half of this year have increased by almost 14 per cent, as per the report. Although prime areas have shown growth, major developments in secondary locations, such as Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubailand, Jumeirah Village and Dubai Sports City have attracted high demand in the second quarter due to their lower costs, which has increased rents.
Also, villa rental rates have gone up for six consecutive quarters. Average rents increased by almost six per cent during the second quarter of this year, with two-bedroom units recording the highest growth rate at 36 per cent year-on-year, highlighted the report.
Residential rent hikes are expected to continue into the second half of this year, according to Green. "Rent rates will rise for another 10 per cent at least by the end of the year," he warns.
He added that increase in rental rates is expected to continue until November when one of the nominated cities - one of which being Dubai - is picked to host the World Expo 2020.
"It has been a factor for the growth in the investment market. The decision will dictate sales and rentals over the next 12 months," Green pointed out.
Echoing Green is Craig Plumb, head of research in Mena (Middle East and North Africa) for Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). He, too, expects rents to increase in the second half of the year, albeit at a lower growth rate. "2012 saw rental growth in few selected locations, but in 2013, there is a lower rental growth across broader locations," Plumb told Gulf News. Residential rates rose three per cent in the second quarter of this year, and 12 per cent year-on-year, according a report by JLL.
According to CBRE's Green, rents were up 10 per cent in Jumeirah Village and six per cent in Downtown Dubai in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, according to an Asteco Property Management executive, the market is not expected to stabilize in the second half of the year. "We don't expect the market to stabilise by the end of the year as improved economic conditions and market confidence fuel the housing market. As regional [and] international markets recover, the number of newcomers to Dubai slows down and more supply is delivered to the market, we're likely to see some stabilisation," Sean McCauley, director of agency services at Asteco, told Gulf News in an emailed statement.
Tenants, meanwhile, continue to look for more affordable areas in Dubai, while some have opted to buy property. "More and more occupiers are looking for affordability. Rents are going up across the board. More tenants are looking at the ownership market. For people that want to stay here for the next five years, it's a good time to enter the housing market," Green said.
Residential sales
Residential locations that have dominated the sales market, with transactions both in volume and sales, include Dubai Marina, Emirates Living, Palm Jumeirah and Downtown Dubai, according to CBRE's report. Dubai Marina registered the largest number of dealings, with 3,748 transactions having reached over Dh6.6 billion.
Total real estate transactions in Dubai amounted Dh28.8 billion during the first half of this year, with Dh23.2 billion being transacted in cash, which is around 80 per cent of the total market, according to figures provided by Dubai Land Department.
Office rents
Meanwhile, demand for office space in Dubai continued to see growth in the second quarter, driven by large corporations seeking new locations.
Some of the office locations that have seen rental growth include Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT), Business Bay and Tecom at a six per cent increase during the second quarter.
Average secondary office rents have reached Dh1,050 per square metre per annum, as per the report. Total office stock has reached over 7.5 million square metres, with new supply being delivered in Business Bay and leasehold areas around Trade Centre 1 and 2.
Rents in prime areas are expected to grow in the second half of the year, according to the CBRE report.
Top Headlines
- Al Tayer bucks the US department store trend with Bloomingdale's Kuwait opening
- Jordan raises $400M for first phase of Red-Dead project
- Coca-Cola inaugurates $20M bottling plant in Gaza
- Sotheby's to open Dubai office as MENA falls for the lure of the auction
- Saudi to use 3D-printing to tackle housing crisis
- Dubai's rents are up 50% and it's certainly about to get worse
- Property prices in Jumeirah Village climb by up to 30 per cent since January '09
- Pakistani real estate firm to invest in Dubai Sports City
- A 10% increase for rents in Dubai
- 40% increase in residential rates in Dubai Silicon Oasis over last 12 months


text:
We've got that San Diego Comic-Con fever! And ... it's a real, real bad case. We've got the Spider-Man Shakes, and Batman Sweats, and have to cancel the rest of our public appearances, just to try and keep this thing contained.
Suggested talking points: Cosplay Corner, Panini Poppin' Daddies, Adult Happy Meals, A Hilarious Bit About Starbucks Prices, Buzz & Lance, Gym Etiquette, Tim's Bad Donut
Our heroes' memories have returned. At the end of everything, will they stand together against the encroaching darkness? Or will their past sins leave them irrevocably driven apart?
We're getting down to the end of Rachel's tenure as Bachelorette, and -- you guessed it -- we're right back in that pre-hometowns slump. Join us as we dive into all the hot dates from this week, and as we discuss the SHOCKING eliminations as we get down to the final four.
Okay, so, you're going to hit a point in this episode where we start talking about who would win in a very real war between horse-mounted humans and centaurs. And we want you to know, right now, before getting started, that this will be the remainder of the episode. Just managing expectations, here.
Suggested talking points: Preparing for Buffett Battle, Driving Test Cop Friends, Body Exploration, Sisterhood of the Stolen Pants, Garofal-O's, Humans & Horses vs. Centaurs
Our heroes' long, forgotten journey comes to an end.
Music: "Relic" by Reeder - https://iamreeder.bandcamp.com/
In this feature-length Rose Buddies, we break down the two episodes of Bachelorette that aired this week. I don't know if the Congressional Medal of Honor has ever been awarded for recapping four hours of garbage-time television, but hey, there's a first time for everything.
Additional reading:
Hey kids, it's me, your pal Alan Alda. I saw you getting ready to send that Tweet, and I just wanted to say: Twitter is real-life dangerous. The things you put online are like really fast cars, and so: Responsibility. Thanks again, from me, Alan Alda.
Suggested talking points: #MamboNo5, Nipple Shrapnel, The Toe, A Frequency Situation, Fondue Rules, A Giant's Eye, Navy Bean, Friles and Nasier
Fair warning: This is a pretty tough episode to listen to, and it was a pretty tough episode to record. We're covering everything that went down during the suspension of Bachelor in Paradise, and also recapping a super problematic episode of The Bachelorette. There's a lot of rotten stuff happening right now that we're trying to sort out; we ask for some patience as we figure out what comes next.
CW: Racism, Sexual Assault
Additional Reading:
Wait, don't tell us you're STILL chugging that full-power, unfiltered sports beverage? Listen: Nobody needs that much energy. Why not come down to our level with a smooth glass of a soothing Gatorade alternative? One for poet-types, and brain-thinkers!
Suggested talking points: The Cream Cheese Incident, Apple Juice Marketing, Subway Connections, Blapron, Sperm Maze, Go-To Sillyness
The Hunger pursues, and our heroes escape. They've been keeping up the chase for decades now, evading without fail. But the Hunger's getting faster. The journey's getting harder. The team must take drastic steps, just to stay afloat. We're nearly caught up, now. Merle writes his story. Magnus breaks his bonds. Taako plans a very good day.


text:
Group Booking Terms and Conditions
Because you are making a Group Booking, there are additional Terms and Conditions that apply. Please read them and click 'I Accept' below to continue with your booking
General Group Booking Terms
By making a group reservation through Hostelworld.com you agree to the following terms and conditions as set by Hostelworld.com and as set by the hostel in question.
- In order to make a group reservation on Hostelworld.com it is necessary to pay a deposit. The balance is due directly to the hostel according to their payment conditions.
- The booking deposit is non-refundable.
- Please note that any cancellations must be notified directly to the hostel at least 24 hours in advance of your scheduled arrival date, unless otherwise stated in the hostel's conditions.
- Hostelworld.com are not responsible for changes or amendments to your reservation once it has been processed. All correspondence with regard to changes to your booking need to be dealt with directly with the hostel.
- Cancellations for reservations must be made directly with the hostel and must conform with the individual hostels cancellation policy (see below)
- It is your responsibility to pay the balance of your accommodation cost to the hostel in accordance with their payment conditions (see below). Failure to do so may result in your reservation being cancelled by the hostel.
- Individual hostels may have special booking conditions relating to group stays, please read the hostel booking conditions carefully before making your reservation.
Hostel Specific Terms & Conditions
The remainder of the amount due will be charged to your credit card 3 weeks prior to arrival. Should numbers or room selection change, the per person deposit times the number of people who actually travelled will be deducted from the total accommodation charge levvied by the hostel.
Cancellation / No Show & Reduction in Numbers Policy
Until 20 days before of the check-in- Without expenses.
Between 10 and 20 days before of the check-in - 50% of the full-cost of the rooms/beds cancelled.
With 10 days or less of the check-in and no-show - 100% of the full cost of the rooms/beds cancelled.
Any cancellations resulting from agreement to these terms and conditions under false pretences will result in loss of deposit.
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" Assim que chegar no Brasil vou mover um processo judicial, pois paguei por uma hospedagem de férias, e o albergue é para pessoas em situação de rua e refugiados, infelizmente é um problema Mundial, mas o hostel e o hostel word não devem bloquear para turistas essas acomodações. Não tem geladeira, ventilador, ar condicionado, não tem extrutura para quem está passando férias. Quero meu dinheiro de Volta. "- Anonymous
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