Just a second, dinner

 I spent the evening playing elimination out on the street in front of Chez Swidler. There are elements of Calvin Ball to it with the following wrinkle -- I played with three children (Eyal, Avital and Yoni) and there is a different set of developing rules for each. It was a lovely evening and I lost repeatedly, though I eventually got a hang of the rules. Then inside for a game of Scrabble with Yoni. Very pleasant time was had by all.

Next was a walk to Cinema City. I know what you will say: "You've gone to Cinema City before! Why are you repeating yourself?" That's a fair question, dear reader and I shall endeavor to explain. I indulge in the foolish consistency of preferring familiarity. There is usually enough incremental change to require some measure of adjustment and that's enough of a task for me. That realignment within a larger context of the familiar is of what I am capable. I am wired that way -- neuroses require being early, being prepared and being comfortable with my surroundings before trying to assimilate anything new.

Cinema City is a short walk, and a nice one so I go there to see what has changed while wallowing in what has not. Under the overpass and up the hill, through security (which doesn't ask me why I'm carrying a camera -- hey Malcha Mall...suck it!) I walked around the circle of store I didn't care to walk in to, thinking about my meal opportunities. I have not yet had pizza! But, no, there are many good cows who died so that I could eat and it would be a disgrace if I fail to honor their moo-mories by eating them.

I saw a pub/restaurant and I thought to myself, "I have never eaten in anything that was a pub/restaurant!" So I walked over to go in. It was closed and that's a big turn off for me -- I generally refuse to eat in a restaurant that's closed. Call me crazy, call me stubborn, call me gelatinous. I'm just wired that way. Then I saw a place called Agadir (does that mean something in Hebrew or am I really about to eat in a Norse restaurant?). The sign in front boasted that theirs was one fo the ten best burgers in the world and a neon sign wouldn't lie, so there you go. It was in the same space previously occupied by Moses burger (home of the "dinner while you wait for dinner" story of a few years ago) so again, I had the familiar while I also had the change. Same location, same layout, new name. That's enough of a shift for me. In I go.

My plan is to eat and then find Josie of army fame and hope she hasn't eaten, so I can eat again. Plans are important. In the unfortunate case that she has eaten or has no interest in eating, or has no time to eat, then I will at least have already eaten, and will probably have second dinner alone. So I had a burger, onion rings and a Guinness Stout. The onion rings are closer to a tempura batter (though not a huge amount of batter) and whole pieces of onion, not minced. There was also a slight and pleasant spiciness to them. The burger I ordered done medium but it was served a bit over. Still juicy and one of the ten best I had eaten all day. All in all, a nice meal and you can dance to it.

I walked over to Binyanei Ha'uma because Josie told me that there was an "army event" there so I waited for the mass of uniforms, serious minded youth all, to make egress. We found each other in the parking lot and she explained that the event was a Chabad sponsored concert at which a variety of famous Israeli singers didn't sing their own songs but instead sang Chassidish niggunim. Yay army, I guess. She went partly out of religious fervor, but partly because it allowed her the evening and next morning off. We started walking and talking. Josie is a good dozen eggs. I truly enjoyed our schmooze about family, the army, Israel and life in general and specific. She is a wonderful and interesting person and since she was in uniform, I felt important.

On to Beer Bazaar -- the one in what was (I have been told) the Shaarei Tzedek hospital in which my dad (A"H) worked in 1976. I felt very close to him because I drank beer. I didn't realize it, but Beer Bazaar is a milchig place and I wasn't. So we munched on the free popcorn (Josie cannot drink  while in uniform) and I had a flight of beer (5 small cups, each a different type of beer). I drank them lightest to darkest because there are rules. Before we left, I asked to use the mens' room. I was directed to some outside port-o-dans. These were the nicest outdoor bathrooms ever. They had actual sinks and terlets and such. If I had to go camping, I would take these.

We walked through the shuuk saying "no" to all the people and restaurants. Josie saw a friend, and we even saw some other people in uniform (which is unusual for a Wednesday night). We walked out fo the shuk and took a right turn and ended up at Burger Market which is not a market, per se, but a restaurant. So, second dinner there. We wordered at a big electronic machine, got out order number (270) and talked more about schools and food. I didn't ask but I wonder, why do Israeli restaurants think that, in order to digest properly, patrons need to go deaf from the thumping and pounding music? We finished up our food and walked back to the Swidlers and stayed up talking for a while with Nava, and N and D. Then sleep.

That was a fleeting wish -- I woke up 2 hours later with a stuffed nose and no interest in going back to sleep. I sat around for an hour and a half and tried again. And then didn't wake up until way later than my schedule dictated. And here I am, about to go back out now. Hi, noon.