Dinner at Kolani's

We had an excellent dinner at Kolani's -- a Hawaiian sushi fusion restaurant. It was the first great sushi I've had since getting out to the West Coast. They also did a version of Nobu's roast cod, although it was done with sea bass, but still it was great. It was superb...and priced at that level too. Afterwards we went for a stroll around the ice rink, which was cheerfully lit up at night.

I also enjoyed some time up at Heavenly Valley, which was bright and clear, but could use fresh snow. (The trail to the right is looking down Comet on the NV side) I'm not sure why, but the general quality of the skiers/riders there is much worse than most ski areas I've been to. It's not only ability (or lack of) but also just general cluelessness about conduct, lift lines, etiquette etc.

One thing cool about Sacramento

has been the spectrum and quality of Vietnamese restaurants. I guess in the 20 years I've been gone, there has been plenty of Southeast asian immigration so there are a wide range of Vietnamese specialty grocery stores and restaurants. I've had some great bowls of soup, as well as barbecue recently as well. It's quite different from Chinese, Thai, Japanese etc.

Many of these are just as good as Pho Pasteur and Nha Trang in NYC.