Tootsie on Tour: San Diego, CA
**Disclaimer: The content of this post reflects my own personal views, opinions, and experiences.
This post does NOT express the views or opinions of my employer.**
The venue: San Diego Civic Theater
(stock images)
Covid Tests To Date: 83
TL;DR TikTok:
TikTok by @tromboneontour
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Monday's travel day was nicely normal.
We landed around 3pm California time, and go to the hotel around 4pm.
We are staying at The Westgate, which is rather upscale in appearance.
For one thing, we got a real key to get into our rooms:
You can see some footage of the room itself in the TikTok at the top of this page.
Once I'd checked on my fridge I immediately called a Lyft to go to the Asian grocery conglomerate I'd discovered just north of downtown.
As soon as we got to that area I realized, I've been here before.
Yes...in 2019, while performing on the Ruby Princess. But at that time I'd only had time to visit the Mitsuwa.
This time I would hit the Marukai and H-Mart as well!
The Mitsuwa was just as awesome as I remembered!
A lovely produce section, great options in the food court, lots of fun and interesting snacks to choose from.
Here's some produce:
Real wasabe is actually very expensive ($150 per pound, and $8 for this little piece!).
What we eat in the states is usually horseradish or mustard-based.
I was delighted to see a "tree ring" cake, which is made up of fine layers of cake batter slowly rolled on a big metal tube.
You can watch one being made HERE. I wanted badly to try it but knew I wouldn't be able to eat it all.
Marukai is set up a little differently and seems to be more geared toward American Japanophiles, with a lot of anime and pop culture-themed snack foods and not a lot of produce. There I found what seems to be a yogurt-flavored water which I'm excited to try.
Then the H-Mart, which is the largest of the three and has the best selection by far.
There were loads of things that I wanted there: miniature pineapples, and abalone sashimi, and brown sugar boba ice cream, and a massive variety of beverages in every conceivable flavor. But with my tiny hotel fridge, I knew I had to exercise some self-control and only buy what I could eat in a week or easily fit in the fridge.
So here's what I ended up with in the end:
Let's give it a try!
Tteokbokki - a chewy delicious Korean rice dumpling (similar to gnocchi) in a spicy savory sauce. I followed the directions using my electric skillet. It was pretty easy...you pretty much put everything in the skillet, add water, and stir for 5-8 minutes.
The ingredients: rice dumplings, red sauce, and fish cake strips.
Here's how it looked when complete.
The dumplings had absorbed much of the water and the sauce had thickened.
This was VERY delicious. I ended up adding asparagus and a poached egg and it was awesome.
Very glad I tried this because now I'm gonna keep an eye out for it!
Honey butter chips - people absolutely RAVE about these on TikTok, and supposedly they were sold out for a long time during the pandemic but are now making a comeback. I don't like potato chips very much, but when I got to the H-Mart there was a HUGE display of them right at the front with a sign proclaiming, "THEY'RE BACK!"
So. I mean, obviously.
And I gotta say...these are REALLY good.
The smell alone is fantastic. It smells like sweet and salty butter...like buttered rolls or something.
And they taste heavenly. It's difficult to describe but definitely addictive, even for someone like me who doesn't really care for chips.
They were SO light and crispy, and so flavorful, just the right sweet and salty that you get when you combine savory salted honey and sweet butter. Pretty amazing, and not expensive at all. If you have the opportunity to try these, it's well worth it.
Dried crab snack - Just what it looks like. Tiny little whole crabs. Dried and seasoned with a sweet sauce and sesame seeds.
Now before you fly off the handle about how "disgusting" this is or whatever, please note that if you have ever eaten a softshell crab, that is exactly the same thing, only larger. And if you have eaten meat AT ALL, you have eaten something with a face and eyes and limbs. So before you criticize me/this, turn that finger right back around and point it at yourself, and either get over yourself or go vegan, whatever you need to do, but leave me and my dietary choices out of it.
Anyway, yeah, tiny little crabs. Most of the legs had broken off, but the claws were still on a lot of them, and the eyeballs and everything were more or less intact.
As with all dried seafood snacks, there was an unpleasant briny fishy smell when opening the bag.
These came in a cute little boat-shaped container, and it was easy to pour them into a Ziploc for later.
The coloring of the seasoning made me think they'd be spicy or savory, but actually they were entirely sweet.
Which was weird. I think I would have preferred at least a little salt.
They were good though, and had quite the intense crabby flavor, but they got chalky as you chewed them and I didn't really care for that texture. Wouldn't buy them again, but glad I tried 'em.
Yogurt flavored water - I wasn't sure at first if this was water or soda or seltzer.
The label claims "zero sugar", but there are 120-some calories in there, that came from SOMEWHERE.
I cracked it open and it was not carbonated. And it also did not taste at all like yogurt.
The flavor was like if you melted some Smarties candy into water and then drank it.
Did not feel bad about dumping this down the drain.
Boss flash-brewed coffee - This is supposedly one of the best canned coffees on the market. It's been difficult to find in the States so I'm excited to try it for the first time. The claim to fame is that they flash-brew their coffee; it's brewed using the pour-over method, directly into a chilled container to instantly cool it and lock in the flavor. I forgot to take another picture of this but rest assured, it's coffee in a can :p
It was actually really good, smooth and strong and delicious. I just wish they sold it in larger cans!
Longan fruit - related to the rambutan and the lychee. Looks like a grape once you peel it and is like a chewier grape in texture.
The flavor is kind of floral, and reminds me of champagne or some sort of light mild fruity/floral drink like that.
I've had these from a can I'm certain (at misc Chinese buffets) but never fresh.
Unpeeled, it looks like a nut.
Peeled and cut in half, it looks like an eyeball.
Cape Gooseberries - I've had these before, you can find them in American grocery chains as well. Despite their name they are not gooseberries at all; they are related to the tomatillo and grow encased in a shell similar to that of a tomatillo. Once this shell is removed you can eat the whole thing just like any berry. They are tart and bright, just a little sweet, weirdly like a cross between a tomato and a citrus fruit. This week I will eat them as a snack or add them to my breakfast cereal.
Poached eggs - these are eggs that have been poached in the shell. I don't know why American grocery stores don't sell these!
I carefully cracked the fat end of an egg on the counter. There's usually an air bubble on that end so I figured that might help in getting the soft egg open without the contents spilling everywhere. And it worked, I was able to continue peeling until I had about a third of the shell removed.
At that point I upended the shell over my dinner. A perfect little poached egg rolled out.
To heat it, I just put the lid back over the food in my skillet for a few minutes, then scooped everything onto a plate.
Delicious! I love it! Sell these at Publix please!
Onigiri - I ate these for dinner while I was doing my shopping. I got both salmon and tuna (not raw but cooked and mixed with mayonnaise). Onigiri is a handheld snack made of sushi rice stuffed with a filling (meat or vegetables) and wrapped in a sheet of nori seaweed. Delicious, simple, and a great grab-and-go meal.
Here's the salmon one, which I saved until I got back to the hotel. This is before I wrap the nori around it.
I had a lot of fun finding these unique food items, and enjoyed looking at everything even if I was limited in what I could get.
There are so many things I'd like to try someday! For now, I'm really grateful that I can afford to sample these snacks this week!
After that I took a trip to a regular grocery to get my usual stuff, but there seems to be an egg shortage here in San Diego and I also couldn't find my protein shakes, so it'll be a walk to Albertson's tomorrow. I unpacked and stayed up as late as I could to counteract jet lag.
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Tuesday, I was wide awake at 5 am. Joy -_-
Our covid testing was put off until after tonight's show.
I had a breakfast of hot buckwheat cereal with gooseberries and greek yogurt, then walked to the Albertson's.
It was a pleasant walk, the weather is very nice here. But as in too many cities on our route, there are SO many homeless people. Just, everywhere, on every block and every corner.
I don't know what the solution is especially with the current housing crisis. It's frustrating and sad.
At the grocery I was lucky to get the very last carton of egg whites, and found my shakes, then went right back to the hotel to see if I could nap or something. No nap, but I did have a few relaxing hours before lunch.
There is a Little Italy here in San Diego. The buildings are brightly colored and the sidewalks are lined with flowering trees.
Almost every restaurant and cafe has a patio or sidewalk tables so you can eat outside and enjoy the weather, and see the ships in the harbor. I went to Solunto hoping to get my loaf of local bread for the week, but once again because it was a Tuesday there were no fresh loaves to be had.
The bakery cabinet, on the other hand, looked incredible (see the TikTok post).
I somehow managed to avoid the temptation of everything in there and instead got myself a "Positano" sandwich: grilled chicken with sliced onion, zucchini, tomato, and mixed greens on an Italian baguette with pesto and mayo. Fairly simple, but fresh and delicious.
Down the street was a small Italian deli, so I popped in there to see if they had bread.
It was very crowded, mostly with people trying to get Italian meats. Weaving my way between big Italian dudes who were shouting at the clerks, I saw that there were several types of bread lined up on top of the counter: mini ciabattas, some nice-looking baguettes in paper bags, and large hunks of focaccia. The ciabatta would have been the healthier option, but I liked how the focaccia looked. Grabbed a block of it and got it home.
This isn't very traditional; it's big and fluffy, and real focaccia is actually rather flat. But I don't care, and I think it's fair to say both types of focaccia are considered Italian. The rosemary smells wonderful and I'm excited to indulge in this bread this week.
The rest of my afternoon was restful. I still didn't nap, but at least felt relaxed and enjoyed typing this post up in my luxurious hotel room.
Sound check went well, this is a nice theatre. A deep pit so I can't see the audience or the stage, but spacious and fairly comfortable as far as pits go. After sound check Bill (trumpet) mentioned that the lighting down here was "awesome", and so I asked him to take a picture of me. Bill isn't a photographer, but he has a damn good eye for it, and every once in a while he sees an opportunity for a good shot, and sometimes I get the benefit of that.
Here's the photo he took. Probably the best photo I've had in years.
Our evening show went well, it sounded pretty well attended out there.
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Wednesday I was happy to "sleep in" until 7am, which is 10am EST, so that might be the best I can do while we're on the west coast.
I had breakfast and filled out my MyFitnessPal food tracking for the week as best as I could, typed this blog up, and did a little cooking for coming lunches and dinners. Jameson's clinic in Maine is going well, it sounds like he is very busy every day. He's meeting new people and pouring a lot of effort into this project, and I hope it's satisfying for him, and that he comes back from it somewhat refreshed. It's good to get into a new environment and gain some new experiences, especially after the two years of stagnation we've all been through.
My big excitement for today was visiting Salt & Straw to try their unique ice creams!
(hence the importance of tracking calories!)
Salt & Straw is a chain based in Oregon, and it started as a food cart.
In 2011 they opened their first actual storefront, and from there their popularity grew until they were able to expand down the west coast.
They only have six locations currently, but you can order their ice cream to be shipped directly to you (probably very expensive).
They offer a flight of four kid-sized scoops, so that's what I got in order to try as many flavors as possible without having to eat a mountain of dairy. It still looked like a mountain of dairy to me!
I had not been able to just choose 1-2 flavors. These were all so interesting!
Lavender Honey - This one was my definite favorite. The texture was incredibly smooth, and the lavender flavor was incredible.
Pear & Bleu Cheese - Least favorite, not surprisingly. I don't like bleu cheese but wanted to give it a chance in a different format. It was still GOOD, I ate several bites of it, but after that just picked out the delicious candied pear bits and moved on to the other flavors.
Strawberry Honey Balsamic w/Black Pepper - This was a very intense flavor. The balsamic cut through everything else very strongly and burned with acidity, but the creamy strawberry counterbalanced that nicely. I couldn't taste the black pepper at all, and kind of wished they'd had packets of pepper to sprinkle on top or something (that's such a weird thing to say haha).
Marionberry and Coconut Sorbet (v) - No dairy in this one. It was more tart than sweet, which was helpful for cleansing my palate between flavors. Marionberry is pretty much a special cultivar of blackberry with a less sweet and more earthy flavor. It was good!
As I often do when I "indulge", I felt kind of guilty for getting all this ice cream.
So I scrolled back through my Instagram...and you know what I realized?
I've only had SIXTEEN desserts, total, since this tour started.
That's about two desserts per month.
Now this is not counting a hard candy here and there, or a square of dark chocolate once in a while.
I'm talking scoops of ice cream, and lemon bars, and cookies, and croissants filled with whipped cream.
Sometimes I am tricked by my own Instagram into thinking I'm "overdoing it".
Sometimes I let the Peanut Gallery get into my head.
But the truth is, while I'm indulging in treats, I'm doing it thoughtfully and responsibly.
And I'm glad I took a moment to remember that today.
Because this ice cream was delicious, and each flavor was well worth enjoying!
The walk back to the hotel was nice and gave me a chance to digest.
I had a light lunch and didn't do much, just job hunting and watching anime and researching the next city.
Our evening show went well, with an enthusiastic audience.
After the show I noticed EMTs standing around the homeless camp outside the theatre, and heard a woman screaming.
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Thursday, I woke to the unpleasant discovery that the water was not draining from my sink.
Maintenance came and worked on it for a solid half hour, but by the end of it the sink was free again so I ate breakfast and did the dishes.
Then a few job applications, then it was time for a Zoom class with Maestra, an all-female artists group that I've recently joined.
It was a nice presentation summary of what it's like to be on tour, including types of contracts, living and traveling situations, and suggested stuff to bring or to think about. As someone actually living that life right now I thought it was well done.
After that I made lunch, cleaned up, and went for a walk to Maple Canyon.
There are lots of public parks around including the very popular Balboa Park over by the San Diego Zoo, but I was curious about this park and how much of a "canyon" it actually was. I suspected a dry riverbed.
So it was! But a very nice dry riverbed, with lots of flowers and interesting plants, and dried eucalyptus leaves underfoot so that there was a fragrant smell as I walked. I didn't do the whole trail because I'm lazy, but walked as far as this big yellow bridge before turning back around.
It was such a nice sunny day, cool in the shade and not too hot.
Back at the hotel, a small snack and then a restful afternoon while the sun went down and it got cooler out.
The evening show was nice, no drama in the homeless camp that I could tell.
However there was a small earthquake, which we all felt in the pit. Whee!
I texted back and forth with Jameson, who was out at a martini bar, which made us both think of Slick, our trumpet player in the circus who passed away of cancer while we were still on that gig. I'll never forget the last time I saw him, or the fun times we all had together.
I want to live a life worthy of his memory.
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Friday. Good Friday, even!
Usually I get up early to do laundry, but I was feeling VERY over that this morning.
I "slept in", which was 8am, and had a good slow breakfast.
I decided to cut into my big peanut butter Easter egg now, because although my inner child squees at the thought of gulping down the whole thing on Easter Sunday, my outer adult knows that would give me a tummyache on a two show day. So, half of it today and half on Sunday.
I can see that it's not going to be quite the same as a "church egg"; it's not as creamy.
But, it's the closest I can get this year. And it's rich and delicious and fudgy, so what's to complain about? :D
Turns out I was in QUITE the mood today.
Perhaps it's because this tour is drawing to a close. Or because it lowkey pains me to not have work for the upcoming three-week layoff.
I feel like I need to be doing something, but I'm not sure what.
I've been networking as hard as I can, and applying to jobs, and bookmarking other jobs that it's a little too early to apply for right now. I have a plan for what to do over the layoff, including job applications and interviews and cleaning and house upkeep and cooking and filing for unemployment in two different states. There's really not much else I could be doing on these fronts.
I guess it's just that I'm PLANNING these things now, but not actually getting to DO them yet. And that makes me feel impatient.
What that boils down to today is not doing laundry, and not eating out, and only going outside to pick up a few filler groceries, and then drinking a glass of wine randomly in the middle of the day. Just because.
The evening show was fine. It ended around 11pm, which is around 2am EST.
I'm keeping that in mind for the layoff...I will have to adjust back.
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Saturday I woke up early, determined to do laundry.
There is only one laundromat walkable downtown, and with the large homeless population I had a feeling that it would be busy, but not until later in the day (idk if anyone else has noticed this but homeless folk tend to sleep in until the sun is well up). I managed to find some quarters at a convenience store and had the laundromat to myself until my things were in the dryer, at which point, as I suspected, homeless people started filtering in to do their wash.
Which, there is nothing wrong with that. It's only that it's a small laundromat, and the smell from many unwashed bodies can be strong.
Soon enough I was done and glad that it's one less thing to worry about next week.
Back at the hotel I put my clothes away and cleaned up from breakfast, and did a little nothing for an hour until lunchtime.
Heated some food, had the matinee which was just fine.
During the break I felt very tired and didn't get much done, just dinner and watching Downton Abbey and planning what to eat on the travel day (I've gotten into the habit of trying to buy breakfast and lunch before getting to the airport if at all possible, to save a little money).
The evening show went well. And tomorrow is Easter.
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Happy Easter, if you celebrate it!
I was hoping to hear birds singing this morning, but alas, all was quiet.
But, in fact, that was a magical thing too. San Diego is a very noisy city.
The lightrail runs all night long and chimes chimes chimes, and the people in the homeless camp scream and fight, and cars drag race in the street, and cruise ships blow their horns out in the harbor.
But this Easter Sunday morning, for once, it was noticeably quieter than it's been all week.
Fewer trains, and no ships, and perhaps the homeless folk were appeased by some ministry.
Whatever the reason, it was pleasant to wake to a quieter morning.
In addition to breakfast I treated myself to the rest of my peanut butter egg, and listened to a church service online.
My sister posted pictures of her son visiting our mom for the holiday :)
After breakfast I began packing up some things.
We had a 1pm and a 6:30pm show, both of which went well.
We haven't gotten any overage pay in several weeks, so I will continue not to rely on or expect that money.
After the shows we all packed up as usual, and I returned to the hotel to watch TV and pack some more and try to sleep.
I went to bed on an empty stomach which was a stupid idea, as I was wide awake at 4am absolutely starving and had to eat a snack.
But, now it is morning and I'm having the last of my groceries and some coffee as we wait for the charter bus.
Next we go to San Jose. After this week the band has a three-week layoff while the show continues on to Los Angeles.
The Musician's Union in LA has a contract with the Dolby Theatre to use only local musicians, which is why we're getting the boot.
I'm trying not to be too bitter about it, and just enjoy the break and the time with Jameson (which I really DO appreciate!)
This time will also be helpful in preparing for the end of the tour. Either I will find a new job, or I will return to CapTel.
As for the week in San Jose, I've got some exciting food adventures in store that I hope you will enjoy along with me!