Banh Mi? Bummed Me.

Ever since my wife and I started watching The Great Food Truck Race on the Food Network, we've had the desire to try Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwiches. After running 10 miles on Saturday morning, we set out on a quest to find these delicious treats.

After doing some online research, we decided on a Vietnamese restaurant called Saigon Cuisine. Little did I know that it was in Margate, about a 45 minute to an hour drive away. But, that was fine because we don't mind traveling for good food. (Whale's Rib) We picked up her parents and one of our nieces, who had never tried these sandwiches either, and we were on our way. What followed next was a comedy of errors and classic irony.

First, my GPS took us to the correct address, but not the correct city. By this time, I really started feeling famished and I needed to eat soon. Banh Mi paradise was about six more miles north and it felt like an eternity trying to get there.

Now, before we even left the house, I called Saigon Cuisine to make sure they were open and my wife called them back a few minutes later to make sure that they were serving Banh Mi's. She only did this because she read some person's review on the internet who had gone there specifically to eat Banh Mi's and when he arrived, they told him they weren't serving it. We didn't want this to happen to us so we called to make sure we weren't going to make the trip for not. Thankfully, they were serving them up and we were hungry.

After being seated, served out waters and knowing exactly what we wanted to eat, the waiter comes up to us to take our order. Jeanette asks him, "Are you serving the Banh Mi sandwiches?" And what did he say? "No, no more Banh Mi." (Insert picture of me in shock and disgust here) "But, we called and specifically asked if you were serving them. We drove an hour to eat here," my wife told the waiter. "You called ahead of time? Hold on, let me see."

He goes off to the back and we hear him talking to a lady, surely the same one my wife spoke to, and when he comes back he asks, "Did you place the order ahead of time?" What? No! We called you guys, buddy and you said you had Banh Mi's, MY Banh Mi's! He told us that they ran out. Now mind you, we had called only an hour before and the restaurant looked empty. Was there a Banh Mi rush in that last hour? Did a bus full of Miami Dolphins all of sudden have the craving for these delicious sandwiches and ordered everyone they had in stock? I don't get it.

I was beyond frustrated, disappointed and hungry. My hunger had me irritated and I needed to eat soon before I lost it. We decided NOT to eat there because we felt duped and didn't want to give them our business after what had transpired. That was our way of getting back at them. Take that, Saigon Cuisine!

So, after all was said and done, we ended up eating at GG's, an Italian Restaurant. We drove an hour just to eat some pasta that we could have eaten in our neighborhood. It was good, but after you have in your mind to eat a specific meal, it just isn't the same. AND THEN...

As we're driving back home to my in-laws house, we pass this shopping center and my wife, with her eagle eyes, sees Pho 78 Vietnamese Restaurant and says, "OMG, how ironic would it be if they sold Banh Mi's there? I have to call them and find out!" Now, this place is literally five minutes away from her parents house. If we drove all the way to Margate when we could have walked across the street to eat Banh Mi's, I was going to laugh because, how could you not?

My wife calls them and asks if they sell Banh Mi's and...wait for it..they do!

Un. Be. Leave. Able.

Obviously, we weren't hungry because we had already ate, but we decided we would try one for dinner. We had to. Eating this sandwich was supposed to be the big highlight of our Saturday and after all we went through to try and taste one, we couldn't pass up the chance.

My wife got a pork Banh Mi which we all passed around to taste and her dad and I liked it so much that we ordered two more. Definitely worth the trouble. Until the next adventure...

Growing Pains

I'm 6 weeks away from my third half marathon this year. I ran Miami in January, San Francisco in July and now the Miami Beach Halloween Half in October. This is the most races I've done in one year and my body feels it.

My last couple of runs have not gone well. My quads have been sore and my hamstrings tight and as of late, I've developed this pain in my left foot. I've also noticed I'm running about a minute slower than usual. This past Saturday I finally had a much better run, completing nine miles feeling pain free.

I'm getting a massage this Tuesday, my first one since before the San Francisco Half. I'm hoping it'll loosen me up and have my legs feeling fresh. There's still a lot of running to do before the next race and I need any edge I can get. I recommed massages to anyone who is active. They do wonders and I think it is an integral part of training just as diet and rest are.

In other news, my wife has come back for the second year in a row to coach a 3/1(run 3 minutes/walk 1 minute) running group for Miami Fit, a local running group that is part of the larger USA Fit family.

She has a lot more people this time around than last season, but she is feeling good and ready to take these folks across the finish line. She's ditched the music and headphones when she runs now and to her surprise, she's loving it. As a yoga practitioner, she's noticing the meditative side of running now that there's no music blasting through her ears.

In November, we plan on running a Turkey Trot (5K) in Washington, DC. It's the same one we did last year, but this time around we are going to run the 3.1 miles together, something we've never done before as we both run at different paces. It'll be nice to cross the finish line at the same time for once.

After that, I'm hoping I can take a little break from running and maybe get back on the tennis courts again, but I have a feeling that break will be very brief.

I'm not sure what races may be in store for 2011. Maybe my first full marathon?

Hobby Overload

A long time ago, in what seems like another life, I used to be a saxophonist. I studied at a prestigious college, played many gigs and taught privately. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to make a living this way and little by little, I started playing less and less and eventually, I stopped playing altogether. My three saxophones were relegated to the bedroom closet where they stayed untouched for about 10 years. Until a few weeks ago.

Thanks to my old Berklee classmate and fellow saxophonist, Hermann, who I reconnected with during my San Francisco trip, I decided to revisit my past and take out my horn again. He said I should start playing, even if it was just for my own enjoyment. Hermann holds down a full-time job, family and still has time to practice, gig, teach and record. So I figured I could fit some time in too, even if it was just a little each day.

Of the three saxophones that I own, I reached for the tenor first, which wasn't my main horn in college and it's definitely not my nicest one, but I love its sound. I already knew that it needed a visit to the repairman, but I was still able to knock out a few notes and scales from it and it was nice to see that I still had some of my chops left after so many years.

Running has brought me a lot of fun times and it's helping me keep healthy and active, but it's exhausting and leaves little time for anything else. I haven't played tennis in months and it looks as though I'm adding another hobby to my already hobby-hectic schedule.

The good thing about picking up my saxophone again is that it's purely for fun. I'm not taking it too seriously and I'm just having fun playing again. If I have time, I'll play for a little while, but I'm not stressing myself out over it. It's not like Jamiroquai or DMB is going to be knocking on my door anytime soon, although that would be sweet.

When my wife met me, I had recently stopped playing, so she's never really heard me play before. I know! Well, she's hearing me now and I just hope I don't scare her away!

Rain Run

The other day, when I got home from work, I knew I only had a small window of time to get my run in because it looked like some rain was coming. Hurricane Earl was brewing in the tropics causing some unusual weather.

Not long after I started, the sky began to look ominous and I knew I was going to get caught in the rain, but I didn't mind because I love running in it (one of my best long runs to date was during a rare cold and rainy day in Miami Beach).

The temperature was cool and there was a breeze, so it was a welcomed change from the heat and humidity. I was really moving along and my heart rate wasn't working overtime. It began to rain lightly, but I kept running, not having a clue that in just a few more minutes, some of Hurricane Earl's squalls were going to soak me.

This was some serious rain. Big drops began to fall and the wind picked up a bit more. I was beginning to get drenched. Even my nifty Bondiband headband that shields the sweat from my eyes couldn’t help me out. I was well in it and far from home!

Even though I was getting pounded by the rain, it was still an enjoyable experience and I was loving every step of it until I encountered puddles the size of kiddie pools.

My shoes and socks quickly filled up with water and I could hear the squish-squash coming from my shoes. I started to worry about getting blisters and I knew I had to get out of this storm quick.(Sorry 2Toms, but not even your Blister Shield was going to help me out).

I cut my run short and finally made it home. I took off my shoes and socks immediately and got the water out before going inside. When my wife opened the door, this is what she saw...Earl's squalls got me good.

If you haven't done a rain run before, you need to try it. Just watch out for puddles and make sure you don't trip and fall. You never know, it might turn out to be one of your best runs ever.