#229: Spice Island Tea House - Nicer on the Inside

The Best Place for Delectable Hole-in-the-Wall Dining

Most days, I'd like to believe I've tried almost every restaurant in Oakland. But every once in a while, I come across something new. In this case, it was the Spice Island Tea House on Atwood Street. While the outside certainly seems your average hole-in-the-wall Asian food place, Michelle and I agree that once inside, it's just a normal restaurant. Michelle ordered the Java Fried Rice, a plate with shrimp, chicken, bell peppers, chili peppers, green onion, and egg-strips, while I enjoyed the Chiang Mai Noodles in a red curry sauce with chicken, hot peppers, carrots, mushrooms, onion, and cilantro. We both enjoyed our meals and had more than enough leftovers to enjoy for lunch the next day. Since then, I've had the Tea House come up in conversation at least twice and learned that they actually host karaoke during the week and feature killer Long Islands. I guess I'll have to go back.

- Emily

72 down, 293 to go.

#89: Riverview Park - Where'd All the Water Go?

The Best Place to Go for a Jog in the City

It's probably more than fair to say we didn't really give Riverview Park a chance. Michelle and I left Oakland around 8:30pm to attempt to jog through the park. By the time we actually found it, it was getting pretty dark and we felt a bit uncomfortable getting out to run. Instead, we drove around in search of a trail or two to attempt in the future. We observed a few deer and other wildlife, giving us the impression that we were no longer in an urban area. In some ways, it reminded me of a park I'd find at home in Rochester, NY. But the odd part was that despite the name, we never found a view of any river. Can anyone shed some light?

- Emily

69 down, 296 to go.

#178: Schenley Park Plaza and #117: Pittsburgh Magazine - The Best of the Best

The Best Place for Green WiFi AND The Best City Magazine

Michelle and I are semi-frequent visitors to Schenley Plaza. We enjoy sitting outdoors, soaking in the sun, and enjoying the free music that is often played under the tent. Last week, we decided to use the free WiFi to check out Pittsburgh Magazine's "Best of the 'Burgh 2010." We found that a lot of the items listed as "Best of the 'Burgh" were also on LivingSocial's list of 365 Things. Oddly enough, Schenley's free WiFi was one of these items. Coincidence? We're not so sure. 

- Emily

29 and 30 down, 335 to go.

#110: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - A Little Slice of Nerd Heaven

The Best Place to Give Your Library Card a Workout

I love books. I mean, I really love them. I love to look at them. I love to buy them. I love to read them. And I really love to be the very first person to open them. Because I love books so much, I also love libraries. And, as far as public libraries go, I have never in my life seen one better than the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh. Not only is there a large collection of books, movies, and CDs, but they have made it sooo easy to use them! Anyone with a library card can go online and request the items they want. The library contacts you when they are ready for pickup and you pick them up! If, however, you are one who likes to browse the stacks, the Carnegie library offers a "self-checkout" similar to the grocery store (only this version actually is quicker than waiting for a staffer to do it). 

Recently, my friend Ms. Kelsi Bridgeman (née Robinson) suggested I read "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. When I failed to respond to her tweet, she e-mailed me a recommendation from Goodreads.com. She meant business. Anyway, it was this book that I requested through the library's interlibrary loan. It took only a few days before I had an email telling me the book was waiting for me. I walked from Pitt's campus to the library, picked up my book, and returned to my apartment in about 20 minutes. It's that easy. So go check out the library. I promise you won't be disappointed.

- Emily

PS - I started "The Help" this past weekend. It's pretty good. I suggest you give it a try.

28 down, 337 to go.

#71: Pamela's - For Old Time's Sake

The Best Crepes for Breakfast

On Friday morning, Michelle, Emily and several of their coworkers went to Pamela's in Oakland for breakfast. With students being gone, there was no wait and we were seated immediately. Emily had already eaten breakfast (Lucky Charms, of course), so it was left to Michelle to complete the task of eating crepes. It didn't take much convincing... Michelle ordered The Morning After aka "The Breakfast Special" (eggs scrambled with cheese and bacon) with banana walnut hotcakes.

The restaurant decor included a plethora of older games on the walls which led to a discussion of what games we played as children. A carrom board was the most popular game amongst the group. The low-key family atmosphere makes this a great place for anyone to eat. Don't forget to bring cash, as cards are not accepted.

8 down, 357 to go.

#9, #198: Mad Mex - A Cinco De Mayo Fiesta

The Best Happy Hour for Margaritas AND The Best Way to Celebrate Cinco de Mayo

LivingSocial has recently demonstrated an ability to throw a wrench into our plans. We woke up Thursday morning to find that we had no choice but to go to Mad Mex for a Big Azz margarita on Cinco de Mayo. And, because we already had Mad Mex's happy hour on our list of things to do, we decided to go big.

We arrived at the Oakland restaurant around 4:40pm and the place was packed. We were told that tables were only for people who would be ordering food (appetizers didn't count). After a brief attempt to find a seat at the bar, we decided we were getting a table no matter what the rules were. Michelle found us two seats nestled in with a group of four women and we were good to go.

We ordered a Big Azz frozen mango margarita and the Pickadippa with cheese dip, guac, and pineapple-habanero salsa all to share. Because of the simplicity, the food and drink both came quickly. Together, we voted the cheese dip to be sub-par, guac to be average, and the pineapple-habanero salsa to be good. Considering Michelle doesn't like mango flavored anything, we thought the margarita was delightful however, we agree that the presentation could have been better - it was Cinco de Mayo!

Mad Mex itself is a small, dark space. At night, this is no issue but during the day it felt as if we were Alice (in Wonderland) falling through a deep hole. As we left, we both felt we were in need of sunglasses to help adjust to the natural light.

6 and 7 down, 358 to go.

#166: Caliban Book Shop - The Shop Around the Corner

The Best Place to Find that One-of-a-Kind Book

Just a hop, skip, and jump past our office is a great little book shop filled with more than 25,000 books including first print edition, rare collections, poetry, Americana, and more. On Tuesday, we walked to South Craig Street in Oakland to explore Thing #166 – Caliban Book Shop.

Now that the academic year has ended, Michelle has started to develop her summer reading list. Going to Caliban offered her an opportunity to find a book that would be added to her list. Michelle felt overwhelmed by the numerous shelves of books but gravitated toward the suspense and drama section. Michelle browsed through the books and picked up books such as “The Other David” and “Great Expectations”.  After shuffling through several books, Michelle finally stumbled upon “The Black Book” by Lawrence Durrell. When Michelle read that the book was prohibited publication in England and in the US until 1960 and 1973 consecutively because of it’s sexual content, she was immediately sold.

For her 25^th birthday, Emily, by request, received a copy of William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies.” Her brother, in a fit of jealousy and rage, started pouting about how he wanted the book too. Since then, Emily has been searching for an inexpensive copy of the book to no avail. After perusing the bookshelves on the first floor of Caliban and finding nothing of interest, she discovered a back door on which there was a sign for paperback fiction on the ground floor.  Hoping it was really a nexus to another universe, she ventured through and found another small room filled with none other than paperback fiction! Lo and behold, she came across a copy of LOTF just two blocks from her humble abode for only $2. Feeling satisfied with her find, she maneuvered her way back through the aisles to make her purchase.

*Note – credit and debit cards are accepted, but only on purchases more than $5. Emily found out the hard way and now she owes Michelle $2.

2 down, 363 to go.