Views from our table!

Outside Deck

Nepenthe is a greek word meaning anti-depressant drug. So good news depressed people, this restaurant is the cure!  But seriously, their hamburgers are in fact sublime. The fluffy bun is baked to perfection and practically melts in your mouth while the patty oozes it’s flavorful juice onto your tongue. Every bite reveals a new flavor, triggering sheer pleasure to arise. benin As your mind experiences emotions you had never discovered, you look out to the beautiful view of the open sea beyond the crackling fire, and realize the name, Nepenthe, fits this place as much as “awesome” fits Otto.

The Nepenthe Burger, worth the trip!

 Sushi Heaven. That’s not a way to describe the restaurant, that’s literally the name of it.  Maybe they just figured they’d save the trouble of describing it by making the name of the restaurant the description of the restaurant. After a plate of five rolls, my sushi pallet was broadened greatly along with my stomach.  What iI love about sushi, is the amount of flavor that is packed into one roll and Sushi Heaven took that to whole new level. Usually, all sushi, to me, tastes pretty similar, but not Sushi Heaven.

 It just so happens that we also tried making sushi ourselves in Carmel. I am still a newbie in the sushi making world, but I plan on being a master sushi chef by the end of the year.  Anyway, we made some mean rolls with the ingredients: nori, rice, carrot, cucumber, tuna, salmon, and crab.  We rolled them up in a disorderly matter with our ingredients of choice. They tasted great, but not particularly restaurant quality from the display side of things.

 We also visited a stupendous sushi restaurant in Sausalito, Sushi Ran, for Wescott’s B-day that offers Sushi Heaven some stiff competition! I’ve learned that California is, in fact, the place to go if your looking to get a killer sushi meal!

If you are near Carmel, CA, make sure you stop by Sushi Heaven on any day but Sunday!

I woke up that first morning in Carmel to a kitchen full of grocery bags. All the counters had disappeared and it was overwhelming. I found myself quickly moving towards the doorway leading to the living room where I stopped and turned. There, out in the open, on the counter was the yellow and purple package with the words “Fig Newtons” printed expectantly on the top. Still, I moved into the living room, trying my best to resist the urge to grab it and go.

Sometime later, Mom walked in wielding the same yellow and purple package. I felt the corners of my mouth tugging up and I couldn’t stop the smile that had already taken center stage. I all but inhaled half of its contents. But it was inevitable that my high would come to its climax and I would be left with only the feeling of dissatisfaction, however intuitive. Almost as if I was searching for some lost item. But why; what? The same feeling was felt at the towns local candy shop. I stood, unsure of what to get. There was so many different kinds of candies. It seemed like a hard decision, yet was it also something else, something—

Ah! I know.

Alchemy’s raw peanut butter cups in Ubud, Bali. They completely, thoroughly, wrecked me  And now, no matter what, they will always be better—a bit above the rest—superior to any pre-packaged food.

I  guess it’s just the way things are now and I’ll always be itching to go back.

Doesn’t get better than this!

Yve especially gets her share of the action. Everyday, at one point, she is spread out on the carpet with a sweatshirt and book. In fact Yve, the fuzzy carpet connoisseur herself, is here to tell us a bit about her profound love with the Carmel floors.

“I like carpeted floors because it’s like a cloud. Wherever you are the cloud is there, unless you have a hard wood floor somewhere. If you’re aching for a fuzzy blanket, just let your legs loose and fall to ground and the cloud will catch you!” Yve says.

Floor to floor carpeting also has its downsides. The fact that you can just lie down on the floor at any time can be a bad thing. Your laziness level at least doubles. It is almost like gravity is stronger and it’s hard not to drop to your knees and give into the power of the fuzzy carpet gods. Nice to be almost home!

Tuck and Jones spent hours playing with paper dolls they made on the carpets in Carmel!

We did this a number of times while she and her family were here in Carmel. Some days the waves were so big, it was hard to keep up. I’d like to say we became somewhat professional body surfers in those two weeks. Though… not really. Accompanying us in the water was a plentiful bunch of kelp that I kept trying to gift to Indi, but she rudely refused each of my offers. Anyway, we’d always end our body surfing expeditions by riding one last good wave and then we’d make our way back up to the house to take hot showers and to reheat ourselves. And no matter how hard I tried, I still found sand hiding away somewhere on my body the next day.

My cousin, Indi catching a wave!

Cute picture of us sightseeing on 17 mile drive!

Politically not correct picture of us drinking coffee and smoking bubble gum cigarettes

 Jet Lag. What does that mean? When I think of jet lag I think of my sleep pattern. I’m guessing that’s what most people think of also. It was until I flew from Australia to Los Angles that I thought sleep was the only victim of a time switch.

I came to Carmel feeling normal. I had a lot of energy; I went to bed on time, and I woke up at a reasonable hour. The next day was the same way: I had a lot of energy and excited to be back on American soil. I watched Chasing Mavericks on the couch, and went to bed; although this time there was no sleep involved. I lay on my bed with my eyes forcefully shut. For some reason this guitar riff at the end of Chasing Mavericks was stuck in my head for the whole night and trust me, that’s annoying!

For your information, don’t watch any movies while recovering from a jet lag. They violently adhere to your brain, and it keeps you awake whether you liked the movie or not. I fell asleep at around five in the morning and woke up at noon. Surprisingly, I also had diarrhea. I didn’t know at the time, but this was actually linked with jet lag too. My digestive track was thrown for a loop when I ate at different times during the day. Yve even pooped whole blueberries… a fact I would have rather not known! I also had a dull, annoying, persistent headache.

So with diarrhea, a pounding headache, and a screwed up sleep pattern, 48 hours had gone by and finally I recovered so I could experience Carmel!

After the jet lag, I was psyched to head to the beach for some skim boarding!

Finding a stick strewn in the sand, I speared a marshmallow; it’s fluffy white body bubbling into a golden brown. Very deftly my dad and I transferred the hot goods onto a bed of chocolate and with one swooping motion, he clamped the two pieces of graham crackers closed. The marshmallow gradually spread, multiplying surface area and forcing its gooey insides to spill out. This was happiness. Each bite said, welcome home. Welcome back to the United States. My mouth was sticky with marshmallow body parts and I stepped away from the fire’s emanating heat. The night air gave a refreshing embrace. Cool and crisp. We had made the full circuit.

Wescott and Otto heading down to Carmel, CA beach with all the fixings

The airplane window is like a catalog: a big, glossy catalogue that flaunts it’s not easily attainable, but very desirable merchandise. Do you know what you fly over on a direct flight from Australia to San Francisco? I have no idea, but the views from the airplane window would blow your mind! Although, I would resist the urge to open that window shade and peek out onto the wondrous landscapes if I were you. Why? Because as soon as you do, your “Places to Go” list expands profoundly.

While the airplane window can mercilessly take advantage of those infected by the travel bug, if you need inspiration I encourage you to look. That’s right. Pause that okay movie that came out a couple of months ago and look out into the clouds, over the mountains, or into the ocean. During the very first flight of this trip I distinctly remember looking out the airplane window; hovering just below the cloud line, we appeared to be gliding across a puffy snow bank that went on and on for as far as the eye could see. The whole scene radiated a calming stillness: just our plane, us passengers, and a fluffy, impeccably white floor. The most amazing part though was out in the distance, on the horizon the sun set and exuded vibrant orange and pink hues. Of course, to the people below, the sun was simply lowering itself from a thick layer of clouds that had selfishly concealed it for the entirety of the day; however for us, and all of those above the clouds, the sun put on a magnificent early showing.

Today, on the last International flight of the trip, I sit here writing this post. The captain just announced the commencement of our landing in San Francisco and the flight attendant asks we put away all electronics. Time to browse the catalogue.