We went to dinner at a Japanese place Kamado's, which was connected to a Hunan Chinese place, both owned by the same Chinese people, whom Treneon knew.  We got a huge sushi boat, rolls and beef teriyaki, and they gave us miso soup and seared tuna tartare on the house.  It was sooo good.  We also got mochi ice cream which was eh--the ice cream good, mochi bad (Dave tried eating all the ice cream out of the mochi).  We had tons of food left over, which Pete dutifully and steadily ate up like a reliable garbage disposal.

    Back at their place, Pete suggested we could go clubbing, or to a pool hall, or to the casinos.  We looked at each other and after bickering back and forth ("I'M okay to go out but HE looks tired."    "No I REALLY wouldn't mind going out but SHE looks tired")  I think we conceded we were both tired and decided to stay in.  We played Grand Theft Auto on his XBox for the first time and couldn't believe how violent and realistic it was and what a terrible influence it must be for kids.  We were hooked instantly.  We took turns trying to crash the truck off the road on level 1.  I was terrible at it, gave up on the mission and just ran around trying to pick up hoes and beat up cops.  

    Then we watched Bad Boyz 2, during which I fell asleep and they all made fun of me for that ("How can you sleep through all those car chases?")

Sunday 4/25/04  Jazz Fest and Bourbon Street

    We woke up around 8:15 and had breakfast at Waffle House, Dave and my first time at one.  When we walked in everyone stared at us and we felt very non-white.  I got their waffles since they HAD to be good, but were just OK; the best thing they have is their hash browns.

    As we drove toward New Orleans, the sky turned foreboding and it started to POUR.  From that point on it didn't let up all day.  They said it'd been nice and sunny for the past week and this was strange.  Lucky us!

    We parked in Harrah's and cabbed to the Jazz Fest.  New Orleans' Harrah's is the nicest Harrah's I've ever seen by the way.  At Jazz Fest, cover was $25 per person to get in and there was a dinky banner, "Welcome to Jazz Fest."  It was pretty quiet.  I was expecting more fanfare to be welcoming us.  It was muddy; Treneon's and my flip-flops splattered mud all over our legs.  Our feet got wet quickly.  I wished I hadn't brought my new white and blue Coach bag. 

    There was a bigger and more colorful "Welcome to Jazz Fest" banner after you passed bag inspection.  As we walked farther into the Fest, there were lines of booths selling food and crafts/souvenirs, huge Mac trucks selling beer.  All the souvenirs were overpriced.  We saw a big blown-glass bowl and Pete said, "Look, it's $5."  But I looked closely and corrected, "That's $500!" 

    Treneon bought a crawfish etouffee which was like a bowl of tomato-based soup rice with rice, veggies and onions and pieces of crawfish--it tasted OK but I decided I don't like crawfish much, mostly because they look rather like insects.  Dave and I bought a soft shell crab Po-Boy.

    We came across a stage sponsored by Acura where an African-type band played lively music.  It was mostly black people in big colorful costumes and a couple Asian guitarists.  We stood watching with our umbrellas, people all around us in ponchos dancing and grooving.  We smelled pot and noticed three middle-aged guys sitting right in front of us casually passing around a joint.  Then to our left a middle-aged man and woman were sharing a pipe bong.  We were surrounded!

    After getting our fill of secondhand pot, we moved on and stopped in the Acura tent to admire the cars, especially the NSX which is Dave's dream car.

    We next found a big tent with rows of chairs inside.  Onstage a Harry Connick-like guy was singing and playing the trumpet with a backup jazz band including a piano, bass and drums.  They played pretty familiar tunes like C'est Manifique, Night & Day etc.  For one song he said he was "dedicating this to Mr. Marsalis" and we looked around wondering if he was there.  We watched a good while, then went back out to get crabcakes from a booth--they were $4 each!  For a 3" diameter patty--good grief.  It was really good though.  Or maybe I convinced myself it better be.

    Dave and Pete had to use the porta potties and both came out of there grossed out, so even though I was thirsty I tried not to drink much.  The next tent we hit we realized was gospel, so we left immediately (gospel is jazz?)

    The last tent we hit was Blues.  That was pretty good, but we had to stand the whole time with our umbrellas.  By then I was kinda tired, wet and uncomfortable, and we girls didn't want to have to use the porta potties, so we left and looked for a cab back.

    A black guy approaced us offering a cab ride so we climbed in.  Just as before, Dave took shotgun and the guy started chatting animatedly with him (Pete whispered, "I feel bad for Dave!" as the guy started yakking and Dave listened politely).  We noticed the 'cab' was a plain unmarked blue car with no taxi fares posted and no meter.  The guy tried giving us a tour, pointing out some sights, a park and an above-ground cemetery, and stopped to let me take photos.  I thought it kinda weird and wondered how much the fare would be.  We drove through a super ghetto area that looked like East Compton LA, and he pointed out the Projects like it was another tourist attraction.  When we got to Harrah's he asked us to "make an offer."  Pete said we'd paid $16 to get there, so we gave him $20.  After we were out safely, Treneon said she'd been worried.  He was rather sketchy.

    In Harrah's we watched the end of the Rockets/Lakers game in a lounge.  Surprisingly, even though N.O. is close to Houston, most people there were rooting for the Lakers.  We were like the China contingent rooting for Yao. 

    Then we walked down toward Bourbon Street, stopping in a cafe, Cafe du Monde, for some beignets and iced coffees.  Dave and I really liked the beignets (I've had them before, was his first time). 

    We passed many restaurants and buildings with balconies.  Balconies are a big thing here, they run all around a building on the second story.  On Bourbon during Mardi Gras, Treneon said, the floats go down the street and people are crowded on the balconies, throwing beads down to people.

    We stopped in front of a restaurant with lots of raw oysters in the window and were drawn inside.  We got a dozen oysters, for only $8.95 and they were huge.  We also ordered fried alligator so Dave and I could try for the first time.  It did taste like chicken, "but chewier--which reminds me that I'm not eating chicken but alligator" said Dave.

    We walked to the river and took some pics of the Mississippi and the nearby bridge.  A Carnival cruise ship was floating down.

    They have trolleys here too that look a bit like SF's, but not as old and creaky, and there are no  crazy hills, so they just go in a straight shot.

    The rain alternated from a steady downpour to violent torrents.  At a particularly violent time, we ducked into a bar called Tropical Isle to escape.  It was loud, gaudy and touristy, with a special drink called a Hand Grenade, "the strongest drink in New Orleans."  Well of course we had to try that, so Dave and I shared one.  It came in a very phallic looking neon green plastic bottle--a long shaft with round sac at the end.  The drink didn't have any alcohol taste at all, so we scoffed about the "strongest drink" claim.  There was a live band who sang songs like "I Will Survive" and "Love Shack", while a group of six girls and one guy danced giddily. 

    We left and stopped in a souvenir shop and I bought two shot glasses.  Dave and I were now turning bright red--that drink had a delayed effect.  Pete and Treneon made fun of us. 

    We went into Mike Anderson's Restaurant for eats, got another crawfish etouffee which was really rice in a sauce ("This is how it's supposed to be" Treneon explained--I'd thought it was supposed to be soup) and a huge fried seafood platter with fries, onion rings, fish strips, oysters, shrimp, stuffed shrimp, crab--all battered and deep fried.  Oog...  was feeling constipated all day.  We had a side salad and each of us had a few leaves, and that was our only vegetable for the day.  We also got another half dozen raw oysters.  It was a real seafoody day.

    For some reason Pete really wanted to go to a strip joint.  They were everywhere interspersed with all the bars on Bourbon (though most were dead--we passed the gay area where the bars were most lively there by far.  In one we caught a glimpse of a wiry guy in small undies dancing on the bar and Dave groaned, "I didn't need to see that.") 

    So we popped into a random strip club, the guy outside lured us in with "No cover charge, but you have to buy one drink minimum."  Treneon asked, "One drink each?"  He rolled his eyes and said "Yes, each."  But inside it was totally empty, there was one girl on stage dancing for a small group.  So we left right away and Pete took us to one his friend told him about--Rick's Cabaret.  It was Treneon's birthday eve so she wanted to go too and apparently neither of them had never been to one.

    Rick's was topless with g-string, not totally nude.  There was no cover charge either.  They three ordered coffees and I didn't want anything.  We watched the girls on stage and then Pete asked the hostess for a lap dance girl.  He and Treneon bugged Dave to get one first (no one consulting me--thought that was kind of strange) while Dave said he'd get it for them, so there was some haggling back and forth as to who was getting it for whom, while I glumly watched the stage and sports on TV, not really wanting to be there.  They got a curly blond haired girl with big obviously fake and far-apart-set boobs, who was quite chirpy and friendly.  She gave Pete a dance first.  As she rubbed her saline jugs into his face, Treneon just watched and laughed.  Much as I'd like to think I can be cool about it, I think if I had to watch Dave do that I'd throw up.  Then Dave paid for a dance for Treneon (from same girl).  Pete watched entranced.

    After Pete and Treneon had done their cute couply thing of getting lap dances in a strip club together for the first time, we went back to Harrah's and played some blackjack, losing Pete and Dave's $100 in about 15 minutes, then Pete and Treneon said Hi to half a dozen people they knew (dealers and managers) who used to work on their Baton Rouge casino boat.  They stamped our parking card for free parking.

    We konked out in the car ride home.  Back at their place, Dave stayed up until the wee hours trying in vain to beat the first level of Grand Theft Auto.  He almost had it one time and asked me to help him navigate toward the endpoint on the little map, to finish the level.  I told him "left"s and "right"s to guide him toward the "N", but it kept moving around for some reason.  Finally with tons of cops on his tail, he said, "Are you guiding me toward the pink dot?!"  That's when I realized I was looking at the compass guide and "Oh, N stands for North".  He lost.

Monday 4/26/04  Evening in Houston

   We got up around 10AM to get ready to go to Houston and visit Dave and Pete's old high school friend, Ted who's a PhD student at the University of Texas.  First we had lunch at a Vietnamese Pho place, a very authentic little hole, with lots of Chinese/Vietnamese customers.  Dave and I keep saying we're surprised Baton Rouge has this kind of stuff. 

   Pete and Treneon packed tons of pillows, blankets, towels and an air mattress because we didn't know what Ted would have.  In Houston, we turned down the wrong road toward his place at first, which was filled with really nice houses, all brick and landscaped, with fancy cars in the driveways.  We turned back and found his apartment complex which was a bit more modest. 

   As Pete and Dave had said, Ted was a tall 6'2" white guy and super nice fellow.  It was hot and sunny and a bit humid but not bad, comfortable around 80 degrees.  He had a small one-bedroom and I wondered how we would do sleeping arrangements.  We were hungry and asked him to take us to a good big Texas steak place.  So we drove around and passed several steakhouses that Ted billed as "very very very expensive".  After quickly eliminating those we decided on "Houstons".  We said, "Great!  Nothing's more Houston-esque than 'Houstons'."  Treneon said, "But it's a chain, we have one in Baton Rouge."  Oh well.

   It was a nice traditional steakhouse place, dark wood and brass.  Aside, Dave told me that we should definitely pay for this one and I agreed.  I knew that meant I should pick it up.  Looking at the menu it wasn't that cheap--nothing came with the entrees, the salads and sides were all separate.  But the waitress asked you what kind of salad and potato you wanted, as if assumed you were getting them.  So it was $22 filet mignon plus $4 salad plus $3 potato etc.  Pete also ordered appetizers, spinach dip and smoked salmon, both really good.  Dave ordered a burger and I felt like doing the same, for cost's sake.  But we'd been the ones bugging for a steak place and Pete gave Dave a hard time for ordering a burger, so I felt obliged to get a steak.  We were in Texas after all.

   Treneon got the Hawaiian ribeye and Pete a med/well done fillet--both tasted better than my med/rare mignon.  

   Dave left mid-meal, I thought to go to the bathroom, which was weird, but then the waitress brought two desserts, ice cream brownie and key lime pie, with candles in them so I knew he'd asked for them.  We sang Happy Birthday to Treneon. Both desserts were excellent.  We were totally stuffed.  As I got ready to strategize on how I'd get the sure-to-be-monstrous bill, I locked eyes with the waitress and tried to signal to her with my credit card without letting Pete and Treneon see, which was impossible because I was also sitting the most inside the booth.  The waitress brought the check straight to Pete without even hesitating, so of course he wouldn't let us touch it.  Stupid waitress!

   We then went to Jillian's, my first time at one outside of Boston.  Dave got two $25 playing cards and we did a racing car game first.  The first time we all started off sync and it turned out Dave and I were only racing each other (he won, probably because I somehow got flipped backwards during the race and was going in reverse a good while).  So we all five started together again.  I chose the Easy level car and Automatic since I clearly didn't know what I was doing.  It was a pretty long race (we chose Advanced level course) and quite fun--the seat shakes and sways when you turn, and shudders when you collide with someone.  I guess that's standard nowadays, we're out of touch with what kids have now.  At the very end I somehow edged by everyone and got first, amazingly.

   Pete and Treneon played a dumb firefighting game, they looked very bored the whole time.  Then we played hoops, Dave and Ted played each other and both got scores in the 40's.  Treneon and I played each other, we were neck n' neck until I got one more 3pointer at the end to get 21 vs her 18.  Then Pete and Ted played, Ted got over 50 points while Pete only got 14.  I told Treneon, "See, you beat Pete." 

   We played an air hockey competition.  Dave and I went first.  He scored 3-0 against me right away and said, "C'mon Grace, I'm embarrassing you" but I tied it up and finally won 7-5.  Aww yea, who embarrassed who now? Pete then refused to play Treneon so he played Ted and scored 3-0 right away, but then Ted tied it up at 6-6 and the air abruptly stopped.  We all boo'ed.

   Dave wanted a rematch at racing so we went again.  This time Treneon picked an Easy car too and again I got first, and she got 2nd.  I wondered if it the was type of car?  But the guys are too macho to pick Easy car and Automatic.

   We got a pool table upstairs.  This place even had a glow in the dark bowling alley, and table shuffleboard.  Dave and I played 8-ball against Ted and Treneon (Pete was teaching her) and no one really "won" because someone sank the 8ball in the beginning and we kept going.  So we played Knock Out instead with everyone.  It went on forever because every time someone scratched, we'd all get to put one of our sunk balls back on the table.  And believe you me, we scratched quite regularly.  So 'dead' people kept coming back to life.  Finally we had to abolish that rule.  Dave and I were the last left and finally after we both missed several ridiculously easy shots I won.

   Dave wanted still another racing rematch (he just didn't believe I was really the best driver. neither did I really) so again I stuck with the Easy Automatic and again we raced.  Dave rammed me and cut me off, I yelled expletives at him as he cackled with glee.  But I still came in 1st and Treneon 2nd.  So the women rule.

   Ted suggested we go to Rice Village (when he said that I pictured a little Asian village with huts and rice paddies but then I realized, "Oh rice like the university" and he gave me a strange look like I was a little slow) which was a cool strip of bars, many with outdoor seating.  Although a bit quiet because it was a Monday.  We chose one but only Dave and I got beers, and the rest sodas.  We sat outside.  They egged Ted on toward a busty blonde girl sitting alone but then her very large male companion joined her so we stopped.  

   Back at Ted's I crashed on the couch as they played Hold 'Em with pocket change.

Tuesday 4/27

   The next thing I knew the morning sun was coming in and woke me up, it was hot.  Pete and Treneon were on the air mattress, Dave on another single mattress.  The couch was quite comfy.  I thought, "I feel like I'm back in college."  Ted had gone to lab for a bit.  We each showered as Dave and I read one of Ted's books of trivia questions, "Is That Your Final Answer."  I got a lot wrong.  Ted came in and saw us reading it and said, "That's terrible trivia!  It's much too easy."

   We went to lunch at Ocean Palace, a HUGE dimsum and seafood restaurant in a Chinese area on a street called Bel Air that Treneon was very familiar with (Ted had never been there and said we were introducing him to a lot of culture).  Pete and Treneon ordered too much--we had all the different kinds of dumplings, two orders of chicken feet (Ted bravely tried one), two tripe dishes, lopo gau (my request), do hwa, spare ribs, zhong zhi.  No vegetables.  This time I actually found the waitress first and took the check, making sure Pete and Treneon didn't get their hands on it.  Treneon said we had to give them the order slip first and then they'd give us the actual check, so she made me give it to her so she could settle it with the waitress.  "I'll give it back to you and let you pay, don't worry," she said.  I was very reluctant but they acted like I was being silly, so I handed it over.  As I watched like a hawk, sure enough she reached for her purse and quickly gave the waitress her credit card.  I literally stormed over, grabbed the waitress and made her switch the cards, even as the waitress smiled and said, "Next time, you get next time."  I said, "You don't understand, they've been saying 'next time' all week!"  and I literally tore the card out of her hands and gave her mine.  I was almost seriously pissed and said, "Treneon, that wasn't cool!"  The bill was probably a third of last night's dinner amount anyway.  Ted looked amused/bewildered and we explained that Chinese parents can get into fist fights over the check.

   We went to a pearl milk tea place that had the biggest selection of flavors I've ever seen.  It smelled funky like gas, and we hoped no one would light a match.  Ted said he's been afraid to go to these places because he's overwhelmed by all the choices.  We assured him, "You're safe with us."  As he read all the flavors, he said he felt the familiar urge to turn and run out, but we made him stay and he successfully got his first boba.