A few weeks ago we had some friends over to help warm our new home. I didn’t expect to take any photos, but after Jonathan picked up the Leica, I ended up snapping a few shots as well, including this tranquil scene of hands and wine glasses and pissaladières—the French pizzas topped with caramelized onions, anchovies, and olives.

Hands, wine glasses, and pissaladières

I sometimes wondered what it was like for those of you who followed my dispatches from our travels over the last year. If they were even half as interesting as Terrie’s updates from her Peace Corps training in Ghana, I can rest easy. Access to Terrie’s blog is restricted to friends and family, but I wanted to share one small slice of life that made me smile:

My favorite meal so far, and maybe my new favorite food…fried red plantain with beans…it was like caramelized sweet potatoes that you scoop up with baked beans…amazing! It was so good it made me teary and homesick for Thanksgiving.

Red Red! (fried red plantains with beans) by Terrie

A little over three months after saying our final goodbyes to Jeoffrey from the Cap Cleveland we met him and his fiancee Fatima at the Iloilo City Airport on January 18th. He had taken care of all the arrangements during our stay, so we prepared ourselves for a whirlwind final week in the Philippines.

On the bridge of the Cap Cleveland with Jeoffrey (October 2010)

At first we had to attend to some immediate needs: a much overdue haircut, probably one of the best I’ve ever had—and for only 70 pesos (or about $1.50), the cheapest. [Editor's Note: For the record, I've been reminded that the cheapest haircut I've ever had was at "Salon de Soleil". I stand corrected.]

Justin getting his hair cut

That night we went to a bar in the Smallville district that prided itself on having an extensive selection of beers from around the world. It was certainly the most we’ve seen so far outside the US. I treated myself to a Rogue Dead Guy and a Stone IPA, Steph had a Boont Amber Ale. We felt right at home. I wanted to order some homemade chicharon (fried pork skins), but they were out. So Jeoffrey ordered some chicharon bulaklak (literally, “flower chicharon”) and wouldn’t tell us what they were till after we tried them: deep-fried pig intestines. Chewy, but pretty tasty.

Afterwards we went searching for some lechon, which several Filipino friends back home had suggested after our babi guling experience in Bali, but we had trouble finding. Eventually we drove out to Tatoy’s and got our fix, along with some tasty kinilaw, a sort of local ceviche, and barbecued pork belly, which seems to come with every meal.

Sunday morning, we packed up the rental car, crossed the threshold for the last time, took a deep breath, and slid the key under the door. We were on the road at 11, heading towards Los Angeles to meet up with Stephanie’s Uncle Peter and his partner Steve.

I-5 was not new ground for us, so we motored through it, getting to their place in “the Valley” by 5:30. I’d only been as far south as Santa Clarita before, so Peter and Steve took us on a personal driving tour of LA, covering NoHo, Universal Studios, the Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood Boulevard, Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, and UCLA.

They were getting ready to take Sunset all the way to the beach, but after touring around for nearly an hour and a half, we were getting hungry, so we went back to their place for dinner. Stephanie and Peter caught each other up on various bits of family news, and Steve wowed us with tales of their favorite places around the world (they’re accomplished travelers). We didn’t get to bed until midnight.

Peter and Steve visited us in San Francisco back in April

We slipped out around 9 on Monday morning to meet up with some friends at Leona and Phil’s new loft downtown. Marcia was in town, working on the photography for her upcoming book, as was another Glitter Pony-alum, Chris Salvano and his girlfriend Ashley, both recent graduates of UCLA’s Library Science program, so they joined in the fun as well. As a bonus, the loft had direct roof access, so we threw together a little picnic-brunch up there with a stunning view of the downtown LA skyline.

Los Angeles skyline

Around noon everyone had things to go do so we said our goodbyes and hit the road again, heading west on I-10 towards Phoenix (and eventually Tucson).

I was in North Carolina for a wedding exactly three years ago (Abe and Kathleen’s), so it seemed only natural returning for the same last weekend (Patrick and Laura’s).

We flew out late Thursday night (technically Friday morning), but the plane was delayed in leaving, which meant we missed our tight connection in Dallas. So they routed us through Washington, and we arrived at RDU five hours late. Luckily we didn’t have anything planned for Friday afternoon, besides a hankering for some NC BBQ. Alice called just as we arrived, asking if we wanted to meet up then, rather than Saturday morning before the wedding. She took us to the Q-Shack near her house in Raleigh for a little barbecue “quatre heures“.

Then we zipped over to Phill and Susan’s house in Chapel Hill, where we’d be spending the night, in time to make a 7pm dinner reservation at Cypress on the Hill, one of the many new restaurants on Franklin Street. The food was lovely, but the best part was just catching up and talking travel. Afterwards they took us on a driving tour of some of the new developments around town and campus. It’s amazing how much growth has taken place in the last 5 years when I moved to California.

Saturday morning we bid farewell to Phill and Susan, and headed off to the mall so I could pick up a new shirt and tie for the wedding. We also stopped for a quick bite to eat, before heading down to Sanford, about an hour away. We changed our clothes in the car a few blocks from church, not an easy feat, and arrived at the ceremony with seconds to spare.

The reception was at the Carolina Trace Country Club. We sat around a table with a big group of familiar faces: Abe and Kathleen, Jean and Dave, Bev and Clark, Charles and Owen. Maybe it was the indoor light, or perhaps the conversation regarding our trip, but I was horribly negligent with the camera. I didn’t even get any pics of Laura and Patrick! But I did manage to take a nice one of me and Stephanie, her in a new dress, and me in a matching tie, during a quick break from the festivities.

Stephanie and Justin all gussied up

Late that night we drove back to Raleigh to crash at Abe and Kathleen’s place. The next morning we stopped at the nearby Raleigh Farmers Market for a quick bite to eat, before heading back to Chapel Hill for a brunch/meetup with Anton and friends at Sandwhich. Anton, Lenore, Bob, Bora, Paul, Sally, Tucker, Brian, Ruby, and Izzy, all came out to say hi, catch up, and hear about the trip. A good time was had by all. Big thanks to Anton for making it happen.

Props to Lenore for asking the waitress to snap a group photo

We had a few hours before we needed to get back to the airport, so Stephanie took a nap in the car while I surfed the web on her iPhone. Later we took a walk around McCorkle Place on the UNC campus, which now has the effect of filling me with a deep sense of nostalgia. Then it was time to leave once again. We drove back to RDU, returned the rental car, had dinner at Brookwood Farms BBQ in the airport, and caught our flight to Minneapolis. We were not surprised (or amused) to discover that our flight to SFO was delayed by two hours, which meant we didn’t crawl into bed until 2am Monday morning.

Airport barbecue: pulled pork, mac and cheese, Brunswick stew, and cornbread

The last weekend that Stephanie’s mom was in town also coincided with Eva’s birthday, so we spent the day up in Santa Rosa, enjoying the warm weather with friends and family.

Patrice showing the kids how to pop a cork

Eva and Dacian blowing out the last candle

Tout le monde (left to right: Justin, Stephanie, Cristian, Julie, Mo the dog, Patrice, Nailah, Davahni, Christiane, Eva, Dacian, JB)

Best outtake ever, as I race to save the camera from the dogs

Last weekend Nate and Sarah hosted an Easter party at their house up Petaluma. There were no children in attendance, so the easter egg hunt included 60 bottles of beer that they’d hidden all over the yard. Turns out brown and green bottles are remarkably well-camouflaged behind trees and under bushes. They also painstakingly created and hid these little confetti-filled eggs (made from real egg shells sealed with tissue paper) that we smashed on each other’s heads. Here’s a taste:

Confetti on Stephanie

Confetti on Justin

After visiting Terrie and her kids, we headed over to Joy and Kyle’s for a barbecue with Marcia and company. The budding suburban farmers that they are, Joy and Kyle recently added chicks to their homestead, which will one day grow into hens. Together they should lay up to 450 eggs a year—that’s a lot of omelettes!

So of course we got to hold their energetic little chicks. Taking photos of them in focus was another matter altogether.

Lucy is a Rhode Island Red

Penny is a Silver Laced Wyandotte

Penny on my shoulder

Stuff I’ve done with my friends

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