Saturday, September 27:

Breakfasted with totmode at the Ferry Building farmers'
market: I found a portable rotisserie stall called Roli,
where I had a Schweinshaxe: this was good but rather
saltily seasoned and cooked hastily (I'm used to the slow
long cooking such as they do in Europe), so the outside
was crisp almost to hardness while the meat near the bone
was barely done, with the gristle quite tough (I don't
really mind, but this isn't my preference). totmode went
to another stand and got scrambled eggs: chacun a son gout.
Had a good wander about with her, poking around the shops
inside and the stalls outside. I picked up a Kiona Chenin
Blanc/Riesling ice wine as a hostess gift as well as some
more immediate-quaffing red stuff from Australia for the
party.

* kalkat has once again graciously offered to host a deck
party at her house. This is an amazing event, trust me!
We'll be getting to Larkspur using the Golden Gate Ferry,
departing from the SF Ferry Building at 12:40PM, getting
into Larkspur at 1:30PM, and returning on the 5:30PM ferry,
getting into the Ferry Building at 7PM, just in time for
dinner. As soon as registration opens, this event will be
available on a first come first serve basis to those that
are confirmed.

Soon it was time to board the Larkspur Ferry, one of the
prettier mass transit options available in these States.
As kalkat had surmised, FTers made up a very large
proportion of the riders on this trip. It was a gorgeous
for an hour's steam up the bay.

At the terminal, we were met by kalkat with a bouquet of
balloons in FT yellow, who led us to the caravan to her
beautiful home. Thank you, and especially to the good-
humored Ken for opening it to us.

The spread was amazing. I didn't eat much, having had a
whole pig knuckle for breakfast, but rather foolishly
confined my attentions to the wine that I'd brought, a
rather ordinaire $13 Aussie Shiraz. What I do recall,
though, in the food department, was a lovely platter of
grilled vegetables with a lemony aioli. I love eggplant.

At length it was time to make the return trip, which ferry
ride was as pretty as the ride over.

* Benny8444 is hosting a college football party at 11AM
at Zeke's Sports Bar and Grill. For more information and
to register see this thread.

One can't be at two places at once. Just as well I wasn't
here, as my school was not exactly a football powerhouse,
and I'm not currently associated with or interested in one.
I admit slugging down beers is as much part of my life as
sipping Shiraz, but choices must be made.

* Dinner at Restaurant LuLu at 7:30PM in the Bis Room (no,
that doesn't stand for Butt-in-seat, sorry). The cost is $68.

A bit less than a mile to the restaurant, covered by the
rowdy FTers in no time flat; at least the conversation made
it feel like no time flat.

We were ushered into a big room to the right of the
restaurant, where groups were separated by a shoji-like
partition. The deck party crowd arrived early, so I got
myself a seat by the wall, so I could concentrate my
conversation on one person. It was a noisy room, much like
the night before, so it seemed sometimes like I was
concentrating my conversation on no person: at times the
lovely Elizabethh, who found herself sitting next to me,
would say something and I'd apparently respond to something
else. I swear, that was all it was, not the wine. I still
want to hear more about climbing Half Dome on her birthday.

Trapiche Broquel 05 Malbec was a decent mass-market red,
with blackberries, dark spice, and some plumminess. Easy
drinking, not too sweet though, well enough balanced for my
palate, which wasn't at its best. I didn't try the Diogenes
06 Sauvignon Blanc, as I don't care for feline urine.

The meal was similar to the previous one: ravioli, roast
chicken with salad (better than at Buca, I thought). I
didn't pay much attention to the food or deal with bread or
dessert, having had a whole pig knuckle for breakfast.

A quick quick walk to the

* InterContinental minibar party and/or bar crawl after
dinner (for those interested);

I went along, at the suggestion (urging is too strong a
word) of some of my friends, and when we got there conked
out almost immediately, without tasting any of the fruits
of reflected Royal Ambassadorship, victim of overheating,
sleep deprivation, and a bit too much wine. I was wakened,
thank you, lucky and other concerned citizens, in time to
get transportation back to Rockridge (how I regretted
agreeing to stay with my East Bay Fisher friends).