Our friends from Meniscus Zine, P and myself saw Jet Li’s Fearless on Sunday, courtesy of American Express, which was having a Fandango ticket giveaway for cardmembers. That paid me back for this year’s membership fee. The movie was not bad as Jet Li’s swansong. I kind of joked that it was his “Rocky III”; it actually stylized the historical account of martial arts fighter Huo Yuanjia. We spent most of the movie trying to figure out where the remote village was, and which Chinese ethnic group was being represented. Most of the farming on the mountain sides was very Hakka, but the headdress Huo’s love interest was wearing wasn’t right.
Afterwards, we went across the street to Max Brenner’s Chocolate Culture by the Bald Man, a bizarre emporium of food, drink and chocolate. You know how they put out the prize money on the poker table in the final round – it’s the same thing, but with chocolate. Great big bars of white and dark chocolate are put out on the center table like a coco-Fort Knox. Mounds of chocolate powders, beans, and blocks are in display cases throughout the dining room.
I liked the hot chocolate. Most of these other places make a really obscenely chalky hot chocolate that turns to sludge when it gets cold. This one was subtle, not excessively cloying, and is a beverage that you could actually sip along with your meal. Not bad. The crepe that I had (savory, with not a single bit of chocolate in it) was not bad either. I couldn’t sleep afterwards with all of the caffeine though.
Apparently Max Brenner has stores around the world, including Israel and Singapore. This Brenner dude has a lot of chutzpah.
Amazing Race 10 is in Mongolia leading around horses, jeeps, and yaks. I like the idea of going in the westery direction. Cheerleaders out, yay! The Korean dudes are in the back half of the pack, though.
T-minues 3 days before our trip to California. Let’s see what happens.
