It's been a while!

Alba is lazing at Lake Eola Park's playground

Yesterday Dave and I were returning from a walk around Lake Eola when we saw four peacocks meandering slowly across a road. They were large, slow, silly birds. They hung out and actually obstructed traffic, completely unphased by the cars whizzing next to them.

Dave and I tried to shoo them across the street, but they just stood and stared at the funny waving humans, as if to say, We're so pretty that people just stop everything they're doing to let us by.

"Hey! These your peacocks?" Someone called at us from across the street.

"No," I replied. He joined us in trying to herd them, so after another few moments of shooing, we finally got the diva birds to the sidewalk.

*

"Wonder why he thought we'd be walking four peacocks? 'Yeah, these are our peacocks. Time for their morning walk.'"

"Yeah. Walkin' out with our peacocks out," Dave said.

Thoth and Big Trees

We haven't been writing much here lately, partially because we are looking for work and are hesitant to spend money but mostly, I think, because we have already become comfortable with the dozen or so things we do all the time and have begun turning into residents rather than visitors. One of the reasons we started this blog was to help us keep the "traveler's eye" and, well, we'll need to fight to keep it.

I'm still doing my morning walks around our neighborhood lakes. I'm in awe of the of the trees. I have no idea if Tolkien ever saw live oaks but when I see them, I see Ents. Old, gnarled, twisted, slowly growing out and down. They survive storms and floods and arch over the roads like gate and keeper together. They roll their eyes at me as I walk by and wink. What are they shepherding?

I see a lot of American White Ibis on my walk. They are around the lakes, looking for breakfast. Are they Thoth, mathematician, linguist and mediator? Are they between us and the trees? Thoth was the balance between good and evil, working to keep neither the winner. Heh, coming from where I do, it is hard not to attribute exotic, fetishistic meaning to the ibis I see. In Athens you see crows and squirrels on your walks, playing amongst the pines. Here you get live oaks and ibis.

Saigon Market: Paté Choud and pastries

Mmmmmmmm. I am groaning in gustatorial appreciation at the fresh-baked Paté Choud from Saigon Market. The pastry is perfectly flaky but not at all dry, with enough of the moist meat filling to suffuse each bite with a dense, rich flavor. This savory pastry is for the indulgent; I'd better start working out again.

Saigon Market is a little Vietnamese food shop that fronts on Colonial, in the heart of the asian district. It is heaping with different produce and canned products, but (for me) the heart of the shop is the bakery. They don't just have Paté Choud, they have a range of Vietnamese sweet pastries as well, and some interesting-looking hot dog rolls that my daughter would enjoy. They also have a nice big case of tapioca desserts that reminds me of my summers spent in Thailand.

Now I'm gonna sip s'more strong coffee and indulge...

Shake it like a polaroid picture...

Yesterday morning, Alba and I went on a walkabout all over Orlando. We started by wandering down Colonial and checking out Leedy's Books -- a messy, crowded, friendly used bookstore run by a nice young man and an accompanying nice old lady. The children's book section was bible-book heavy, but I encountered some vintage series that reminded me of the reading of my youth (I think I read every single Nancy Drew mystery).

Later in the day I picked up a Best of Orlando 2009, and noticed on the first few pages that "A Comic Shop" was considered one of the top-rated geek hangouts in Orlando (Website here). Great, I thought, I'm a geek! Alba and I went there, getting rather lost because S. Semoran is somehow north of Colonial... Finally we ended up there, and I realized that it was comic geek mecca.

There was a profound lack of manga. I noticed this especially, but with places like Barnes & Noble focusing upon manga, I was kind of glad to see this shop concentrating on English-language comics. They had it all, seriously. Rows and rows of your old favorite DC and Marvel, as well as independent stuff, graphic novels, weird shit (like Y the Last Man on Earth), and soap-opera stuff (like Strangers in Paradise).

A Comic Shop also has a selection of "for rent" comics -- a great one. The renter buys points on a card and rents each book for a fraction of the cover price. If the renter likes it, they can make up the difference. The renter can also trade in used graphic novels for points... An awesome system, and one that I think will actually save the comic shop genre of store from sad extinction. I give the place an A+, especially for the friendly cadre of geek boys who didn't look askance at a 30-something mama and child.

(We walked out with a Teen Titans comic for Alba. She has good taste.)



Cross-posted on Under Orlando

Pho and happiness

This morning, Alba and I ventured forth into the wilds of our new city. We had a full morning of various kinds of B.S. -- picking up a volunteer application for Dave from the public library, getting my car cleaned from the dregs of our 500 mile move, dropping off the financial aid form at the Y. After all of that, the little girl said, "Mama, I'm hungry."

Lucky for me I live near Colonial and Mills, which is the heart of the Vietnamese shopping district. Many of my favorite restaurants (so far) are here, and I remembered that my mother had mentioned Pho 88 as an excellent place for all my vermacelli needs (of which I have many).

The menu is the usual pho fare -- rice dishes, noodles both dry and wet, and spring rolls, egg rolls and various simple but tasty dishes. Some come with a side of fresh basil and mung bean sprouts, but I have yet to decode which these belong to -- the brothy noodles, I suspect. Pho broth is rich with the flavor of meat and basil, and I could drink it all day long like a small pho broth vampire.

Today, Alba managed to impress the server by finishing 2/3rds of her enormous helping of rice with barbecue pork (no small feat for a four year old). I had a vermacelli bowl with roast beef and egg rolls, and the most heavenly side of thick iced Vietnamese coffee (the kind that comes with condensed milk) ever.

Oh yeah, it'll be a favorite lunchtime spot.

Orlando land of lizards

Orlando, named for an event that never happened? Orlando Reeves (Rees?) died near Lake Eola (location of this morning's walk) during the Second Seminole War and thus the city got its name. But maybe not? Was he a miller who lived near by who had carved his name on a tree while visiting the area? A tree, once locate by the lake, which later visitors called Orlando's Grave?

This morning I saw lizards. Many many lizards. Brown Anoles? I think that's what they are called. I lost count after 25. They hang out around the sidewalks and sprint off when disturbed. Also I saw at least four great jungle cats (at least in their own minds) hanging out in several lush yards and sun-warmed cars. Once at the lake I saw many walked dogs and swans of multiple types. I'll learn more about the swans and share here.

Lake Eola seems to be a homeless-friendly area. I don't know much about what kind of support Orlando offers the homeless. I'll look into that too.

Mangoes!

Noodles. I haz them.

We checked out Oriental Market, the giant Chinese market on West Colonial, yesterday. We picked up a lot of things to stock the kitchen post move including fresh made mochi and a half case of mangoes! Alba is a huge mochi fan but none of us had every had fresh made. It was quite an experience. T. and I shared a green tea mochi and Alba gobbled down strawberry filled. The produce section isn't huge but the selection is amazingly diverse including things like fresh jackfruit and winter melon, shown below. The picture doesn't do the melon justice as each seemed to be the size of my 4 year old daughter.

This morning, after a walk around Lake Eola, I pealed and cut all the mangoes and went feral on the pits, gnawing off all the flesh I could not cut. Tonight's dessert will be sticky rice in coconut milk and mango.








Mmm, Tripe