Review: That Deli! (aka a rare food review with no pictures)

Since I’m not in Gainesville anymore (for now), naturally I really can’t review Gainesville food anymore either. After all, any time I visit I probably will just go to my favorites (Bento/Gelato Company/Burrito Bros/???) for the weekend or the few days that I’m there. Fortunately, however, I’m coming back to a metropolitan area where the food supply is endless.

Here’s a disclaimer: I’m a big-time neophyte to the Orlando Food Scene. My non-national chain restaurant knowledge here in Orlando consists of the following few restaurants: Amura, Kyoto Sushi and Grill, 4Rivers, Briarpatch, Lazy Moon, Korea House, Little Saigon and Kimchi. And that’s it. My parents are too much of fans of places like Brio, P.F Chang’s, etc. And while those places aren’t bad…I’ve grown to take a liking to local, homegrown places. It’s not that Orlando doesn’t have them…the city certainly does. But they’re either out of reach in terms of money OR just location.

That Deli! is a fairly small deli in a fairly big plaza in Lake Mary (corner of Rinehart Rd and Lake Mary Blvd). I first got referred to it by my friend Neel and have always had it in the back of my mind; the desire to go only increased when I looked up reviews and saw that everyone was in love with it.

Naturally, therefore, it was only important that I kidnap one of my friends that I hadn’t seen in a while and make her go with me there. The restaurant space there is fairly small…just slightly bigger than a cafe space at your local Barnes and Noble. That Deli! has a wide array of sandwiches, soups and salads that really should appease any person in your party’s palate. From the meatiest of sandwiches to the most friendliest of veggie eats, you can find anything…and that was reflected in both of our orders. I ordered, naturally, a Chipotle chicken sandwich and Amy got a portobello mushroom wrap (I think). It was veggie, regardless. All sandwiches also come with a side ranging from chips to Mac n’ Cheese. Total for both of us: ~$20 (I got a drink, she didn’t).

Hint: get the Mac N’ Cheese.

Now you might think $20 is a little much for a deli (although honestly looking back I thought it was very reasonable), but you get a heck of a lot of stuff inside that sandwich. Not to mention, the side of mac n’ cheese is perfect because it’s not too small to rip you off but not too big to make you unbutton your pants at the end of eating your lunch. PS: the Mac N’ Cheese tastes just brilliant. It’s not too cheesy but it packs actual flavor to it… if that makes any sense.

Not to mention, both of our sandwiches were perfect. Every bite captured the perfect ratio of meat + sauce + cheese possible…and if I were to comment on any drawbacks, the only one I’d say was it was just a tad too spicy (even for me). The red onion didn’t help with that ensemble totally, but it didn’t flat out ruin it by any means. I saved it and enjoyed it very much so the next day. Amy was so entranced by the place that she went back with her dad only a few days later.

I’m dying to try their soups soon…but I’m going to try and make sure I don’t go until like a month later. I’ve had this nasty habit of going to a place I like a million times within a span of a few days (e.g.: Kangaroo Express for slurpees, Jeremiah’s for Italian Ice….).

Grade: A

Pros: Good selection, friendly staff, great sides, reasonable price and, of course, great sandwiches

Cons: Almost none…could’ve laid off on the chipotle aioli slightly. For Amy’s wrap, the portabellos could’ve been cut up for easier eating.

CLOSED SUNDAYS. Why is every damn good restaurant closed on Sundays? (chick fil a, 4Rivers, etc.)

NEWSFLASH: standalone cameras are (apparently) not cool.

My first camera was a Kodak EasyShare DX3500…I worked hard for that camera, saved every penny I earned from mowing the lawn. (Yes, I mowed my lawn. I even have proof of it…ask Kayla Marshall because she didn’t believe me either and asked for there to be photographic proof. I think it’s still in one of her yearbooks today). It only lasted me about three years, but it still was a somewhat of a pompous status symbol. Sure, I had to worry about breaking it every time I brought it to school (which wasn’t a lot of times) or it getting stolen, and its battery life was absolute shit (20 pictures max). But it was still a beautiful thing to tote around…and it actually didn’t take bad pictures at all.

In high school I decided to “forcibly takeover” my dad’s Nikon CoolPix 3200 after I realized that he wasn’t using his father’s day present enough (I’m a bad son, sometimes, sorry). Sadly it wasn’t that much better (3.2 vs 2.2 megapixels), but it did use Secure Digital Memory AND the battery life was much better (talking on magnitude of hours) (it also used regular AA versus rechargeable NiMH batteries that absolutely sucked). It was half the size of the DX3500…but it had a movie mode! Hooray. That camera got me through a LOT of pictures in my first three years of high school and it actually outlived my next camera (sorta).

Throughout high school I realized that the Nikon wasn’t that great…and so on Black Friday 2007 I went out and bought myself ANOTHER camera: the Canon PowerShot SD600. The Nikon had survived a particularly blustery day at the beach, a drop or two, but I felt like it was time to finally “upgrade”. It wasn’t much….6 MPs, improved movie mode, but a really long lasting battery. And this would be the camera that would take me to college…but not that far.

I now have three cameras that somewhat belong to my name, even though two of them I don’t use/my family uses. My whole point is that, since I never had a smartphone, and since I actually TREASURE the quality of my photos as well as the content of them I will always be attached to a standalone camera no matter what. My current camera, the Canon PowerShot S95, is an absolute beauty. I bought it in complete confidence that image quality would be somewhat similar to that of a DSLR and it hasn’t failed to disappoint.

So it hurt when I took out my camera for a night on the town and some person (I believe a girl, kind of matters only to visualize it) looked at me and said “you still have a camera?”. Granted, the girl I don’t think knew how I was back in high school (I’m surprised noone gave me a superlative for “most likely to be a paparazzo”), but she said it more in the tone of “Standalone cameras are so last century”. I was offended enough to mutter a “oh come on, really?” but it made me think a lot more about photography in this smartphone era.

Don’t get me wrong…I think smartphone cameras are great when they’re, well, great. My decision on a smartphone was basically decided by the camera (if the Galaxy Nexus had even a DECENT camera, I would have bought that instead of an iPhone hands down). Couple my newfound smartphone with the fact that I don’t take nearly as many pictures as I used to, and you’ll find that recently I’ve posted nearly as many pics from the phone as I have from a traditional camera.

But what does my iPhone serve as? It merely serves as the camera that’s always there when my real camera isn’t there. The times when someone gets pied in the face, when you see someone fall on their ass out at midtown, etc., those are the times when you don’t have a camera because you don’t expect to bring your camera…those are the times when you should be using your iPhone/smartphone for pictures. The pictures are good, don’t get me wrong…much better than cell phone cameras were just two or three years ago. They still, however, don’t compare to a picture from a $99 Canon…they just don’t. Yes, Stacy, even the Samsung Galaxy S II’s cameras don’t compare to, at least, my S95….as good as your camera’s optics are.

And I give people an odd look when they use ANY sort of cell phone camera at an event where they really shouldn’t. PLEASE realize that a zoom on your phone does NOT equate to a zoom on your point and shoot or your DSLR (if you happen to have one). In addition, please give yourself the chance to have polished pictures and use a real camera during special events. It’s OK, of course, if you use it to send a quick tweet/instagram/FB status update, or maybe even one or two pics for a background on your phone. But god forbid, if you’re at a wedding, a graduation, or something where a professional photographer is present…please, PLEASE just use your camera on your phone for those few tweets.

Now I can definitely hear someone saying in the background: “you ignorant asshole…some people can’t afford cameras”. You know what I say to that? Bullcrap. If you can afford a smartphone, you can afford a $99 camera that’s worth the $99. “But I got my smartphone for free”. Well then, one, your smartphone camera is a piece of junk. Two: You’re still paying (or SOMEONE’S paying) for a smartphone plan that costs at least $20 a month. $20 x 12 = $240 = More than enough money for a Canon ELPH 100HS/300HS. (No, I’m not promoting Canon…they’re just the only cameras I bother to keep an eye on these days since Nikons suck (thanks Ashton Kutcher)).

Again, I reiterate, it’s quite alright to take some pics on your smartphone when you’re out on the town casually. But don’t knock the people who bring out real cameras to the party…or to any other occasion where a real camera’s actually needed.

And just like that, it’s over?

I’m sadly typing this from a library right now after my (one and only) final exam this semester…you might be asking yourself well, why the hell are you at a library right now? To which I’ll say don’t worry about it…and in a way it’s only fitting. Because I’ve written a lot of these blog posts at libraries, as a sort of thought board while I was going through some tough times these past four years.

Just four years ago I started on a new journey…a journey that I was almost for certain was gonna feel as long as the previous journey that I had taken (aka high school). After all, I think we all can agree high school dragged on forever…and ever…and ever. And, yes, there was maybe a possibility that college would “seemingly” go by a tad faster than high school…

…but this? I can still remember a lot about high school..(yes, it probably “helps” that a good chunk of my friends were from high school, but still). I can still remember the days we would stress about our AP and IB classes and exams, when we would get all anxious and excited for our IB banquets, and when we’d gossip like crazy (oh wait we still do).

You get my point though.

In four years, all my friends and myself (more like all my friends) have accomplished so, so much. You’ve gone through hell and back with your weedout classes…you’ve maybe had to change majors in the awakening realization that you’ve found what you really want to do with life…you’ve had your name in papers or have done poster sessions…you’ve done big-time internships in big-time places….you’ve made new friends (or in Greek talk, you’ve met your brothers or sisters)…you may have made mistakes but you’ve learned from them….you may have gotten into graduate school, professional school, or gotten yourself into starting a career. But most importantly, out of all this, you’ve learned about yourself and the world at large. And that’s something that no degree can confer…life is more precious than a few letters like B.A. or B.S. or M.B.A. or Ph.D. College wasn’t about learning purely the academics…it was meant to learn the other things in life….a closer understanding of responsibility, respect and just straight-up being an adult. While shit, I know I have a long way to go in all of those areas…college is the catalyst that gets us finally thinking about those things. And now, no matter what path lies ahead, the real world will put us to the test.

This isn’t a  last post by any means…but it’s an appropriate post considering I won’t have time to write this later. But it has been an honor meeting you all, it really has. Every one of you has contributed to my life in some way, and for the vast majority of you you have contributed in the predominantly positive. AS the cliche saying goes…this isn’t farewell…it’s see you soon. And I truly, truly hope that I’ll be able to run into you on a street somewhere, or call you up and have a quick coffee sometime…by the next time you see me I’ll still be obsessed with my black tea lemonade from Starbucks. I promise.

 

#WaltGriffin4Superintendent

In the midst of all this negative news that’s been going on in Sanford, it’s important to note that there is another bit of news that is important in its own right and, for once, positive.

Seminole County is in the midst of choosing the next superintendent to succeed Dr. Bill Vogel, current superintendent for the past…ehh…10 or so years I want to say? I actually do remember Dr. Hagerty being around maybe the first part of middle school, so 10 seems appropriate. Dr. Vogel’s been able to keep SCPS forward despite a faltering economy, a stupid voter-base that decided to vote against a half-cent sales tax increase for schools, and having to forge ahead with the unfortunate closing of an elementary school.

The time has come for Dr. Vogel to retire..partially because it’s probably wore him down, and partially because he hasn’t gotten the county as energized about its educational future like Dr. Hagerty once did (not entirely his fault though…or even mostly his fault). But who can succeed him? The School Board has narrowed it down to three candidates…all very capable and have their own experience. But Walt stands out, and here’s why.

I first met Mr. Griffin in my 8th grade year…I was at a spelling bee, and for some reason I just happened to run into him. I had run into him before…in 7th grade, at the county mathematics festival that was held in Millennium. I only had shaken his hand, said thank you to him, and left. When I ran into him at the Spelling Bee the next year, I was surprised he had remembered completely who I was…that I came from Indian Trails and that I had won first place in my division the year before.

To have that kind of quality is just incredible. Think about it…this man probably meets thousands of people every year and yet he still remembered my name after me meeting him once. I had heard about his special abilities to bring schools from the brink of failure to the apex of success…but I really didn’t feel his positive vibes until I had this moment.

When I went to Seminole, he STILL remembered me, and was more than glad to help me in any way he could. And, when he left, he left Seminole in incredible hands with Mike Gaudreau. Seminole was no laughingstock of Seminole County anymore when he left…it was a force to be reckoned with.

Personal inclinations aside, looking at strictly experience and previous positions each candidate held, Mr. Griffin seems to know the system from top to bottom. The other two candidates, Scott Howat and Mark Porter, obviously have the same top to bottom experience. But, if you go to the SCPS website where all the resumes/recommendations can be found for each candidate, you’ll see something interesting: Walt has the only resume that is purely education-related.

Scott Howat’s resume, as a “taxpayer” (let’s assume I’m a taxpayer since I’m the son of a taxpayer), worries me. His last two positions have been in some sort of legislative/congressional relations role and, while his resume claims that he’s a negotiator for the district, I question that in a candidate for superintendent. Seminole County, in a funding crisis, needs a very strong voice to defend its education system. A person who deals constantly with legislators may prove to be a better negotiator…but in what way? One line in his resume should point to the answer: “Worked collaboratively with district, area and school personnel to assess the potential impact of current and proposed legislation”. In other words, he’s the messenger of bad news, and all he can really do is tell you how to deal with it. That worries me. Severely.

Mark Porter faces somewhat similar problems…he was Director and Assistant Superintendent of HR up in Minnesota. The things in his favor (sort of) are that he was a trial lawyer who represented unions, and that he was superintendent of South Washington County. The problem? He was a superintendent of 17,000 students. That’s a decent amount of students. But that’s almost the population of just the high schools in Seminole County combined. But at least he was superintendent, so the ability is there.

What I don’t get is why this is even a race in the first place? With all due respect to the SCPS board and the other two candidates, it all seems like a waste of money. I understand SCPS wants to find the best superintendent they could in the nation, but let’s face it we weren’t gonna turn up someone like Michelle Rhee. But Walt Griffin, in a sociopolitical sense, and in a purely educational experience sense, seems the best for the job. His position as Executive Director for the past 4-5 years should quell any doubts that he is unable to handle a macrojob or unable to handle legislative issues that could impact education in our fair county. If this was a jump from principal to superintendent, the concern that he has no experience would be legitimate. However, he has had five years in an executive management position, and he knows very well now what it’s like to have the pressure almost akin to what Dr. Vogel has felt.

In addition, Walt has been in Seminole County for a long, long time. He knows and understands the people and the communities that they live in. He went from teaching at a fairly well-situated middle school, to being principal at a middle and high school situated in fairly low-income areas. He’s a family man, and a good neighbor (as evidenced by my two friends who have known the Griffins since at least middle school) (also, not saying that the other two candidates aren’t family men or good neighbors). The same can be sort of said about Scott Howat…he’s lived in the Winter Park area for a fairly decent time (according to his resume). Mark Porter, being in Minnesota, doesn’t necessarily exclude him, but Seminole County needs a person who knows Seminole County. And again, Walt’s the only that fits the bill perfectly.

Now I could go on about this blog post and talk about their visions and objectives. But that’d be stupid for three reasons. One: I’m tired, it’s 3AM. Two: I don’t carry anything close to a PhD in Education, so who am I to say anything about objectives and visions? Three: objectives and visions can and will change. They won’t matter. What matters is who’s the person who knows what Seminole County needs more. And Walt fits the bill.

It’s Finally April

You’re probably going to hate me for mentioning that blog title, but whatever. For once, since the last time I actually posted to this blog, I’m dreading the first week of May. There are a multitude of reasons for that, but I’m also sort of hoping that the adage “April Showers bring May Flowers” is true…I’ll expand on a later post

In the meantime here’s what to expect:

• Does $%!& matter? series. Basically, in the past 22 years, I’ve learned that there’s a lot of stuff that seems so important and highly valued…or reviled. But, in the next 22 years, will it really matter? I’ll cover everything from the superficial, to the conceptual, to the technical, to the….whatever…-al.
• Some last-minute Gainesville food reviews.
• Some actual, personal reflection. Because, after all, it is a blog.

Peace out peeps. Long two weeks ahead.

Letter Project

This is a serious blog post, so please react or comment accordingly. It’s funny how time flies though…four years for college for some reason doesn’t seem enough (I know a lot of you wouldn’t agree). But here we are. And obviously the end of college is much, MUCH different than high school. High school end means simply wait until breaks to see each other again because we have noone else to hang out with when we all get back home (don’t worry I don’t think it that negatively). College end, however, means that people are truly dispersing (geographically or in mind).

It’s not surprising that colleges don’t have yearbooks. OK, they do, but they’re nothing like high school yearbooks. I’d go over the explanation of how they’re different, but it’d be stupid and inane (and quite honestly I don’t know the differences that well). Regardless, I’m coming up with a way right now to sort of personalize and make more concrete my farewells to people: letters.

I love letters and postcards…for those of you who know me, you might find this surprising considering my love of technology. But I LOVE letters and postcards…they convey that physicality and longingness that an e-mail just doesn’t do that great of a job doing. So I’ve decided to write letters to my friends. And there’s no real delimiters as to who’s included and who’s not.

OK, that’s sort of a lie…I already have a list of some friends who are getting letters regardless of if they want one or not. But there are others who I’m not entirely sure of.

So I encourage anyone who wants a letter to comment on this Note and say you want one; I’ll be more than willing to do it! I honestly don’t know how long it’ll take…but it’ll be before the start of next school year (aka July or August at latest). I also encourage you to either reply back or simply just write a letter of your own!

There are just some things to consider

• I’ll generally be positive, but I’ll be honest too.
• Depending on how good of a friend I feel you’ve been to me, the letter may be long or short….just like a yearbook entry would be.
• I’m not doing it on some stationery haha. Sorry.
• I would LOVE to do hand-written letters…but I’m a much better typer-thinker than I am a handwritten-thinker. I make plenty of mistakes, and a computer is needed for me to edit so easily.
• I ask that you reveal the letter only to yourself. I mean, I guess until twenty years later haha. These letters are indeed personal, and I hope to keep them that way.

-Sey

In the Immediate Future

Still procrastinating while packing, but here’s what to expect:

• More tech stuff in the next week; CES 2012 is here (and I’m not there, ugh) and so naturally I’ll be scrutinizing everything related to digital cameras, ultrabooks, and Android tablets and cell phones of all kinds. No, I will not look for a 3D TV for you.
• More food stuff…for instance, did you know that the Cici’s on Archer closed? yep, that it did. I’ll also take a stroll to The Smokehouse (occupies the former Rue Bar on Main Street), and I’ll FINALLY get a chance to go to Leonardo’s 706 with SOMEONE. (I don’t know who, but I’m dragging them there with me).
• More food stuff will be happening at the same time that I try to lose weight….god help me. I’ve already lost 5 pounds though so that’s a good start I think. But I gotta do better.
• I have parted ways with my Nikon D40…truth be told, I loved it…but not enough. It has served me well, but will go to much more deserving hands. The iPhone 4S will take over as my ultra-portable shooter and the Canon PowerShot S95 will take over as the “main camera”. Have to admit, though, I’m definitely eyeing the T3i soon enough.
• A friend of mine and I have made a pact to make sure we go out as often as possible. I’ve made this claim many times before…but hopefully this time it actually works. Maybe, sort of.

Looking to the finale

(I could’ve chosen some different title, but I’m lazy).

If I told you there was something that just felt different about this semester coming up, you’d probably say to me “well duh, Sey, it’s [most of] our final semesters of school”. And while that’s true and all, there’s already a bit more heaviness to that thought than I, well, thought.

I’ve been more than fortunate enough to still keep in contact (or at least keep tabs) with people from as way back as elementary school (shoutout to all my Keeth Cougars who read this blog). Granted, Facebook and Twitter help, but people could very well have just ignored me if they wanted to do so. The same sentiment applies to those in middle school (shout out to my Indian Trails peeps). And as for my Seminole High peeps, well, let’s just say college for me has been like the sequel to Saved by the Bell for the most part, haha.

But naturally, whether I end up staying in-state or going out-of-state, whatever my plans may be, other people have big plans too. We’re all, as surprising as it may be to imagine for some people, going to have lives, careers and families to take care of. While college still meant a return home, for the most part, the real world doesn’t afford that opportunity for some now. And while that doesn’t mean an abrupt end to communication by any means, it does mean a marked decline in that communication.

Honestly, I don’t know how I feel about that. And maybe, maybe just for once I have realized that I should stop thinking about it. After all, I can’t stop it right?

Humans welcome and sometimes relish familiarity, but they also crave adventure. We covet consistency, but desire for a metamorphosis and transformation.

And that’s what makes this semester so difficult…I’ve learned so much about myself, others, and the world at large in just these past 3.5 years alone (and I can argue that it’s really just been this past year). Most of what I’ve learned has been positive, but a sizable minority of it has been not necessarily negative but rather than disappointing. All experiences, however, have been invaluable.

It makes this semester that much harder because it puts me in an uncomfortable mind. Do I try and get myself to change now, and risk putting myself in a different light? Do I remain the same and just wait until my new start to go about these changes?

To put it in completely geeky terms…in other words I can’t decide between whether I want to do a beta version of Sey Hee 3.0 (I consider 1.0 up til beginning of high school and 2.0 high school til now), or just keep 2.0 around until I start the next phase of my life.

Of course, again, there’s always that part of me that says why you overthinkin, man? And it’s true, I really am overthinking it. So what I hope for, ultimately, is that this final semester of mine goes as smooth as possible.

That, my friends, is my ultimate wish. I know it won’t come true…in fact, it’s already hit some moments from almost right when the year began. But those have been set aside…and I hope that no more really happen. I wish for amends to be made, scores to be settled, and misunderstandings to be reconciled. These are bold wishes, at best, and are probably impossible.

But humans dream of achieving the impossible. And, as far as I know, I’m still a human.

Resolution(s).

I’ll just get right to it.

• Lose weight (20 pounds in a good few months…already lost 5).
• Make sure to be more open about my feelings rather than being so passive-aggressive.
• I refuse to be a pushover (kind of related to above resolution).
• I resolve to be more social and not clam up so easily in social settings where I’m not the most comfortable.
• At the same time, I hope to spend more time to myself, because I’ve learned the importance of self-reflection and, in general, the serenity that comes with alone time sometimes.
• Medical School. Enough said.
• An ongoing one: I’ll try not to take everything so personally…although I can’t help it sometimes.
• I resolve to be more confident about myself, confident about the things I do and the decisions I make.
• Blog more…I’m not blogging nearly as much as I used to. But the posts will be more informative AND will be more scrutinized for accuracy (or at least backed up with verifiable facts).
• In general, I’m going to be more on top of my shit….I’ve realized that I’ve been really prone to giving misinformation unintentionally lately and that’s gotta stoppp. Even in this crazy world of communication, misinformation and miscommunication are still as rampant as ever.
• I’m going to finish my book. No matter what.
• Take more pictures.
• That’s it.

Med/Vet/Law/Dental Applicants are like Girl Scouts

Allow me to explain.