European – thosecoolkims

The Olde Ship is jolly good!

It’s often been said that English food is bland, tasteless, and boring. As we found out on our honeymoon, however, it’s simply not true. Actually, English cuisine just tastes so familiar to the mainstream American palate. Meat, potatoes, overcooked vegetables, fries (ok, “chips” in English parlance), lots of gravy! In any case, we were feeling nostalgic for England. Why? Who knows? Maybe it’s the fact that we just got two Christmas cards from our distant relatives in Exeter and Devon. Or maybe it’s just because our honeymoon in England two years back was such a proper jolly good time and the memories of the trip randomly came back into our heads. Well, no matter, because we needed no excuse to have a proper English meal.

The Olde Ship in Fullerton is the real deal, or at least as real as it’s going to get Stateside. It’s staffed by real subjects of the Queen and really does look and feel like the countless pubs we visited while during our honeymoon. For being in California, where we’re pretty accustomed to themed but obviously fake facades on many buildings, this one looks and feels like England, both inside and out.

Was it good? Is the Queen Mother’s favorite color baby blue? Of course! Ed had steak and kidney pie with a Newcastle, and as you can see here, Ed enjoyed it VERY much. So full of meat and gravy goodness.

Here’s Ed admiring the dish he’s about to eat:

The excitement is building…

And a closeup:

That’s some grubbing!

And what about Carrie? There was no way she could say “no” to fish and chips! That was definitely our favorite pub food while we were in England. So, here’s Carrie smiling with excitement:

And the closeup. Mmmmmmm….

It’s good!!

We wish we had pics, but there was a pirate party going on in the bar. No kidding. There were about 30 adults all dressed as pirates. And we’re not talking cheap and cheesy costumes; many of these people went all out! They were singing Christmas songs with lyrics adapted to the pirate lifestyle. It was surreal, and we never did find out what the occasion for the pirate party was. Or, maybe they’re actually pirates and this was a normal, usual night out for them.

In any case, we highly recommend a visit. It’s super fun, and the food is undeniably authentic!

So SMART!

One of the biggest (and most favorite) perks of Ed’s job is his opportunity to bring home lots of different cars to test and drive. He has long anticipated the arrival of Smart cars in the U.S. and FINALLY – he got to bring one home yesterday to test! Carrie has always been terrified of the idea of him driving around in one – afterall, we live near Orange County, motherland to the SUV. It’s not too tough to imagine him being plowed by a giant Expedition on the road! Fortunately, we found it wasn’t quite as scary as she thought it to be, and we had a lot of fun driving it around.

It’s almost comical to see how short it is. You can fit two Smarts in one space!

Big bonus points for the groovy interior. (Ed’s fave color is orange, how much more perfect could it be?)

We each got a chance to drive it!

At home in it’s urban environment!

We got so much attention driving it – there were lots of stares and “What the …???” as we drove by folks on the road! It definitely seems as though it’s from another planet.

Overall, Ed’s review is that it’s definitely not a car for everyone – it’s a little too quirky to drive (tiny size, jerky transmission, really slow), and it just won’t do if you ever need to carry people or cargo. However, because of its very clever packaging and use of space, it feels very large inside – there is tons of headroom and legroom, and the seats are actually staggered to maximize shoulder room in this very narrow car. But as a fashion statement, the Smart can’t be beat!

Pretty Smart!

Ed’s loved the little Smart car that’s been available in Europe for years and has been extremely excited about the Smart finally coming to the US soon. Anyways, the day draws nearer and they’ve set up a temporary space in Venice that showcases the car in this amazing modern house on Abbot Kinney. We don’t know what blew us away more…the house or the car!

The Smart House is located at 1319 Abbot-Kinney. It’s three stories, very modern and very open. There was a Smart downstairs (and ones you could actually drive out in back…more on that later). We were both dying over the honeycomb screen and chairs.

The next two floors included the main living room and kitchen, as well as additional chill areas. All in white!

And finally, the best looking espresso machine ever…

The space is being used as a Smart art gallery as well. Lots of cool and witty pieces, mostly Smart related.

However – on to the car itself. It’s tiny and meant for really congested urban areas. You see them everywhere in European cities. It’s no “toy” car though…Smart is a sub-brand of Mercedes-Benz and is meant to survive crashes as well as any normal-sized car. Anyways, it was smart (knee slapper, we know) to locate this temporary Smart space in Venice on Abbot Kinney…one of the most congested and hip areas of LA.

The Smart is not only efficient (averages well over 40mpg), but it’s a very fashionable and stylish little piece, with body panels that are removable should you want to change colors on a whim. And inside, you’re met with cool shapes and fabric patterns, and it’s huge given the tiny exterior. Basically, this is a car as a fashion accessory as much as it’s a mode of transportation.

Driving it shows it’s a real car…it doesn’t feel unsafe and in fact feels particularly solid. Here’s Ed about to take it for a spin.

Anyways, we hope this car does well. We like everything the car stands for – the efficiency, frugality, and high style. Heck, it’s the only car that has a permanent place in MoMA’s collection for its design! And props to the Smart House too – the presentation of it all totally successfully communicated the Smart “lifestyle”. For more modern greatness, see the pics here.

And, another draw is you might even have a celebrity sighting while you’re there like we did…Jessica Biel was there today checking out the Smart House with a few sidekicks. Go check it out!