The view is different from a bike

It's been a few weeks since my last posting. I was fortunate to be given a bike and have been riding almost every day. I am happy to report that yes, firmer gluts can be obtained via biking. Of course, as I'm gasping for air while riding up a hill, the last things I think about are my butt cheeks.
The East Bay Active Friends Couchsurfer group met up at Mua Lounge which made for a great night. Loved the atmosphere, but with my tiny bank account, salivation was my drink and meal. It's got that nice mix of edgy and upscale.
Last weekend, Uptown's the Fox Theatre was also meeting ground for the Furthur Fest. If you're like me, you'd need someone to explain that it's the continuation of the Grateful Dead concerts or ex-Grateful Dead. Somewhere the guy from Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream is calling me stupid. Needless to say, there were many drunk and happy folks. PS- You'd have to know the Grateful Dead to know why I mentioned Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream.

Eat Real Festival

Sucks to be you if you missed out on the Eat Real Festival at Jack London Square the last weekend of August. Actually sucked to be me because I had NO money. Well, it didn't suck that bad because BHboy was nice enough to treat me to some food and there were tons of free samples. I think I ate 4 yogurt samples from Stonyfield. YUM. YUM. It was also HOT, HOT, HOT out there so we just parked ourselves right by the music stage which still had shade.

Check out the huge paella pans (or whatever you would call those behemots).

The one thing that did bother me was I saw no signs of compost and recycling bins but all the vendors used compostable utensils and paperware. Things that make you go hmmmmmm?

On the way back, I passed by The Home of Chicken and Waffles which has 4-7 Happy Hour deal of 2-1 drinks and a clockbeater entree e.g. you arrive at 4pm then that's your entree price.

Champa Garden before surgery

Had my gum surgery yesterday and still recovering, but luckily I was able to get treated to Champa Garden over on 8th Ave and East 21st St. BHboy also bought me a to-go box of their Panang Catfish curry. YUMYUM. It was a good mix of people that included Couchsurfing and City Slicker friends. A few people discovered the joins of Beer Lao (light and dark). Here's to dreaming about chewing food again.

Art & Soul Festival

This weekend is Art & Soul festival in downtown Oakland. I've not actually gone attended (mainly because I have a thing against paying a cover charge) but I've boogied on down to some great music from outside the fenced area.
Next weekend is Chinatown Fest. For sure I'll try to make that if my recovery from gum surgery doesn't stop me.

Guess where?

Grand Tavern then had my heart stopped

Went to Grand Tavern with BHboy and Paul from Couchsurfing. Met a couple of cool guys and the owner, who is a really cool and welcoming host, have is free fries. Considering that the $8 for 8 beers tasting was already great deal, I had no complaints. Allagash White is an amazing beer-buttery and smooth aftertaste.
Then we had some amazing pizza at Lane Splitter on MacArthur across from the Lake Merritt parking lot. Has a Heartstopper pizza and a bit of pepperoni and Carnivore pizza. Great food. I also like that they have composting bins.

Luchadores at "Best of" Aug 7

Just got back from a cool freebie event (especially as we all got buzzed) at the Oakland Museum which was the site for East Bay Express' "Best Of" Party. I mainly hung around the stage area, watched a bit of wrestling and Indian dancing. Found a potential model, ran into someone I met at People's Grocery farm party and a few other Couchsurfers.