noodles, poop-notes, and books

Even though I've been living in davis in the few years since graduation, I rarely ever venture back on campus, unless it's to go to a specific place, like Mrak to pick up a diploma, mondavi to take in a performance, or the MU to go play pool. Other than that, I generally tend to shy away from campus. It's not that I don't like being on campus, but I never really have a reason to bum around there. Well, on Friday I had nothing to do, so after meeting up with Yingnan at Pho King 4 (horrible name btw) we ventured out on campus for a little bookstore/quad/arboretum adventure. But more on that in a moment. First, comes the pho.

The minute I walked into PK4, the smell hits my nose, that mixture of pho broth and cilantro is pretty strong there, which was weird because in my mind I was still going to orange hut. Heck, even uncle tom (the old orange hut guy) was there to greet us, as he was sitting at a table by the door enjoying his pho with some buddies. We quickly said hi and waited our turn to get seated. After we sat down and ordered, we (well, I) pretty much compared everything to hoa viet, as, having been in davis for so long with really only one pho place, I've gotten used to their food. By the time the food came, we were so hungry that we dug in and completely forgot to snap a picture of the food. Not to worry, it pretty much looked like this:

The pho was ok, nothing too phenomenal. Actually, it tasted kind of like hoa viet, which has by now become my measuring stick (I know, could've definitely picked a better place). While I was comparing the food/service to hoa viet, Yingnan was comparing the place (setting) to orange hut. Aside from the fact that uncle tom was still there, the place has changed quite a bit on the inside. Apparently there was a new door, and the counter shifted over a bit. Other than that I couldn't notice anything different, although I'm sure Yingnan definitely did. One thing I did notice, the coffee was a bit too sweet. Oh yes, did I forget to mention that I ordered coffee? The cà phê su dá came already pre-iced (robbing me the ritual of pouring it myself), but it did look promising (aside from the sweetness...oh well). This, of course, was captured on camera (only the important stuff...).

After downing the coffee and pho, we venture out on campus for a fun afternoon of bumming around. First we hit up the bookstore to see if they have any good UCD t-shirts. I don't know why, but I always feel like I have absolutely zero school spirit. It was time to remedy that with a t-shirt! After circling for a few minutes and staring wide-eyed at the prices of shirts these days ($28!!) we grew sad and decided to check out some other stuff. Apparently, they have started making notebooks out of recycled cow, elephant, and donkey poo. While I'm sure it was a novel idea, I just don't see how feasible this would be. I don't know if this would be very effective for note-taking, as the pages were kind of rough (their diets are very fibrous), although I'm sure to the parent's chagrin, the students these days would find it amusing.

sandwich boards!! I remember these from compass, but now it seems everybody has one...

On a side note, after mike and I started talking with random people (alex at OTH and Kim at the pool hall), I've been running into these people at random places in Davis. The other day I ran into Kim at hometown, and on friday, we see both! Kim had wandered into PK4 and Alex was hanging out in the MU coffee house. I'm not sure if God's trying to send me messages, but it was definitely strange.

this guy has opted to park his bike in a tree...novel.

After leaving the bookstore and coffee house, we decided to take a leisurely stroll around campus. Having not been here for quite some time, I took in all the sights and smells of campus. We pretty much just strolled around and looked at some random stuff. We encountered random people (including a 50 yr. old guy who overheard us talking about 50 yr. old grad students) and stared at random things (like bridge support mechanisms). Finally, as Yingnan and I parted ways, I decided to pay my old college professor a visit (the one who guided me through my research paper on banking contagion).

She was still in the same old office, working tirelessly to get published (she's up for tenure next fall). It was pretty cool to catch up and talk about old economic theories (I still got it!) and current reading lists. It's funny, we're actually reading almost the same things, since she is going through The Rise and Fall of Alexandria, and apparently just finished John Adams (David McMullough - same guy that wrote 1776!). She even named a working paper after Team of Rivals (a book on Lincoln - on my reading list too). Apparently both she and her husband are avid history readers, and acquired most of the David McCullough books while Borders was closing. Sadly, since I parked in a meter zone, I had to conclude the catching-up and history book-a-thon and get going. I said farewell, promised to visit soon, and headed on my way.

As I was walking to my car, I looked back at campus once more, taking in the familiar sights of the bus area at the MU and quietly entertained the idea of possibly going back to school once more. While no decisions were made over the course of this on-campus adventure, I could certainly see myself thrown back into the college life.