#also i could probably write a post even longer than this about nv's theme of loyalty regarding the vestals | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lcscuties · 7 years

Photo

Documenting my first experience at LCS in LA: Week 9 of Spring Split 2017

(writing about my experience, first impressions, + more pictures n videos/fancams n stuff inside :D click keep reading!! Note: this is a REALLY long post)

Henlo everyone, whew, it was such an exciting weekend! I want to write about my experience so here I go:

some notes before I start talking about it:

there are spoilers in this post so if you don’t want spoilers go watch the games first :3

FOR DESKTOP USERS: Whenever I try playing the videos in the post on my blog, for some reason every video after the first will not play. I don’t know if it’s because of my browser or theme or it’s just flickr, but if you want to play the video and it’s not playing for you, all you have to do is hover your mouse over the video and click on the title link of the video that’s right above my flickr username “Theberrylily8889six” right here:

[EDIT]: If you’re still having trouble playing the videos, here’s a link to my Flickr profile, you can just watch the videos from there.

also btw i know im not wearing a bra in the first pics hopefully that doesn’t bother you guys lol but I don’t really have boobs to begin with and like wearing the smallest bra just feels like putting unnecessary discomfort on myself like it’s not like I need to hold something nonexistent in place so it’s just bc i need to cover my pepperonis for society?? I wore them when I was younger and i would get like rashes and even scars from the underwire and i was like WHY AM I DOING THIS ok i can keep ranting about this but dis post is not about dat so onwards

this is quite a long post

I was supposed to go Friday but I remembered that LCS starts later on Friday, and I was taking public transport from like an hour away so I didn’t want to be dealing with that late at night in LA because it’s a little dangerous since I was alone. So unfortunately I didn’t get to meet Team Dignitas :(

Saturday

Anyways, Saturday was CLG vs IMT, and P1 vs C9.

CLG vs IMT

IMT stomped on CLG pretty hard, because Stixxay got really sick last minute, so they had to fly in Joey to sub support (he flew in at like 4 am OMG!!), and I was also surprised with the Aphro adc. I didn’t know who to cheer for as usual for most matches, I just wanted both teams to have fun rip. Also props to Joey for subbing last minute, the crowd was really kind and always cheered and clapped for his efforts haha.

Also I would like to point out that FLAMEDOCH IS REAL, the camera doesn’t capture this all the time but off camera Flame and Dardoch talk to each other the most on the team, they’re always laughing, they’re pretty touchy, and just overall super cute. Also I recorded a video of this on my snap but I’M SO ANGRY I FORGOT TO SAVE IT IT WAS SO CUTE but after game one Flame and Dardoch went to the break room holding hands and swinging their hands back and forth like a couple, I don’t think the camera caught this. TL;DR FLAMEDOCH IS VERY REAL GUYS AND IF YOU SEE THEM BEING TOUCHY ON CAMERA THEY’RE JUST AS TOUCHY ALL THE TIME OFF CAMERA TOO AO;SIFNAOIW;ENF

Then came the CLG and IMT fan meet. You have to take a picture with both teams btw. When I went up to take a group picture with IMT, Pobelter was like “Hi” and I was like “hi” back xD

After you take group photos you can talk with players and take some selfies real quick before they head back. Since I already met CLG, I didn’t take more photos with them but I talked with Darshan. Actually, at the CLG meetup I went to earlier, it was Darshan who told me exactly “Well I really hope I see you again in LA this season to support us!” and Saturday I told him “I remember you told me this exactly so I took a 13 hour train all the way down here just to support you guys!!!” lol. We had a nice conversation. Darshan is a really nice guy, and I also want to say that Aphro is too. This is the second time I met them and I’ve noticed this, they seem to be the ones to talk with their fans and really care the most.

I was also able to get a selfie with Dardoch, Pobleter, and Flame.

Dardoch to me seems like a kind person. I know he has a controversial past and I do believe he wasn’t the kindest in the past, but I really believe in “reformed” dardoch. He seems to care about his fans a lot these days. Also, when you take a picture with Dardoch he pulls you in so close a;oiewnefia;ejf....like he holds you so tight and snug and basically i was ded

Pobelter seems like a funny guy. Like...his personality is exactly like how his snapchats are LOL. Kind of like a slightly awkward yet super memey funny guy lmao.

and let me tell you about Flame man...this man is so BEAUTIFUL. Like, I’ve noticed he’s not too photogenic, but the photos really don’t do him justice. Like he’s actually EXTREMELY handsome in real life, it’s unexplainable, but he’s such a beautiful man OTL. Also Flame’s personality, he really is a “pup”! @pikaniuu always refers to Flame as a cute mans and a pup because he literally is one!! He gets distracted/immersed by little things and is a little oblivious in a cute way.

C9 vs P1

C9 also pulled the win against P1 pretty easily, well, they’re C9 so they always do pretty well. I brought the big light up C9 sign to the stage, and the camera actually caught me with it! Woooh (here’s a twitch clip of me hahaha)

Also they took a picture of me with the sign and put it on the riot flickr! wow much HD

here’s a video of me touching hands with C9 lol

Soo I got to take photos with P1 and C9 of course. I also had the giant light up C9 with me as well. When I went to go take a group photo with C9, sneaky was like ooo what’s that and he said it was really nice. Also, SNEAKY AND CONTRACTZ WERE BEING REALLY CUTE TOGETHER because Sneaky kept poking at his cheeks and Contractz was looking back at Sneaky doing the same. Idk it was really adorable, I didn’t get to capture too much of it but here’s a short video (I’ll try to gif it soon, it’s just sooo cute)

lmao I think Sneaky saw me recording them at the end xD RIP

After the group photos I was able to take a selfie with Meteos, and all of C9 except for Jensen (Jensen leaves the fan meet pretty early so I missed him).

not gonna lie Dark meteos is pretty hot irl. I also asked him to sign my C9 poster for C9. NO SHAME

Smoothie’s super nice. I told him I liked his new hair hehe. He talked with me for a while, ahh I love Smoothie so much

OKAY IMPACT’S PERSONALITY IS LITERALLY LIKE FLAME. THEY BOTH HAVE PUPPY PERSONALITIES, IT’S SO CUTE. When I asked them to sign my sign, Impact got really immersed and fiddled with my sign for a while. He was like, really excitedly, “WOW SO COOL!! , DOES IT LIGHT UP???? CAN I TURN IT ON??? *turns it on* WOWWWOWOWOOW OMG SO COOL.” And it was so fckin cute just seeing him so intrigued by my sign lol.

Contractz is a little shy but still cute as ever. Ahh it’s weird to think that he’s younger than me xD

Ray is such a QT! He didn’t talk much and is also a little shy, but nevertheless I loved Ray!

Lastly, I need to talk about Sneaky Daddy. Oh my god, he’s the one that left the biggest impression on me. He is literally so kind and friendly, he talks to you immediately when you go take a group photo with him, and if you go up to him to take a picture or sign something, he always makes a conversation with every fan no matter how shy they are. The way Sneaky talks to you, he talks like you’re already best friends. He makes you super comfortable around him, and he really seems to enjoy interacting with the fans. Also out of all the members, he’s the one who stayed behind the longest to chat with all the fans, even when it was time to go. He makes sure he gets a good conversation with everyone. My respect and fangirlism for Sneaky went up 1000%. Also not to mention his hair is fucking beautiful and graceful and his eyes are literal marbles and his skin is fair and smooth as fuck??? Sneaky is actually beautiful, like, he’s so pretty, his face is like art tbh. I’ve always noticed this but especially now I really feel like out of all the pros, Sneaky is the one who enjoys his job the most and to the fullest. I mean like he doesn’t just like winning, he enjoys learning from his mistakes and losses, he enjoys streaming, he values every one of his fans, he always seems to be a very good sport, he's extremely passionate about the work he has to put in to scrim all the time and improve. TL;DR, Sneaky is an incredibly kind-hearted, friendly, and genuine person.

They also signed my C9 Fansign! :D (lul @ Meteos’s signature on a C9 fansign)

FOX vs NV

So I only got tickets for NALCS1, but I stuck around a little longer and one of the employees said that they could let me in the other theatre to watch the last FOX vs NV that was still going on. Yay! So I got to catch the last game, which Echo Fox won. Unfortunately Team EnVY didn’t come out for pictures or the fanmeet (I really wanted to meet Apollo <3 T.T), but it’s understandable that someone wouldn’t want to go to a fanmeet when the team isn’t doing so well in the standings. Oh well. Anyways, I got to meet Echo Fox, and I took a selfie with Looper and Akaadian and I got to talk to Akaadian for a while.

I asked Akaadian who his favorite Brodie is. He was like “My favorite brodie? Hmmm...that’s a good question” and he said Zedxlol (for you guys who don’t know, he was on Team Liquid Academy with the rest of the brodies Moon and Dardoch, and they’re all really close). Then I was like, “Not Moon?” And then he was like, “Ah this is such a hard question, I love all my brodies in different ways. I guess as well it would probably be Moon, we’re really close. He’s really such a nice guy deep down.”

Looper is just so precious???? He’s so cute lmao and he’s also a shy boy >.<

Sunday

Sunday was TSM vs P1 and FLY vs TL. Sunday I also met up with @liquidhunny and her friends and it was really fun! (das us in the last photo of my photoset)

TSM vs P1

TSM played really well against P1. Oh, and let’s not forget that drink that Hauntzer spilled LOL. This matchup was really conflicting for me because in the particular matchup between TSM and P1 I’m a bigger fan of TSM and I wanted them to win, but if P1 won that mean C9 would take first place so it was like...AHHH CONFLICTING FEELINGS.

Here’s a video of the hand touching part. SRY THE CAMERA’S SMUDGY

When I took the group photo, Bjerg said hellooo to me and I was like helloo. If you look back at the group photos Sven is blinking...they took two photos and Sven was blinking in BOTH pictures OTL. Then after the group pictures, they had to leave quickly so I didn’t have much time to take selfies. I quickly found my favorite boy from TSM, Biofrost <3 and took a selfie with him. THE CAMERA ANGLE AND LIGHTING IS SO BAD BUT I DON’T CARE IT’S BIOFROST AND I’M HAPPY

Biofrost is very polite and kind of shy. He’s so cuuute >.<

And also, I would just like to say this. God DAMN Hauntzer is cute as FUCk. Jesus Christ lord have mercy. So, I’ve never been a huuuuggee fangirl of Hauntzer, just lowkey kind of liked him, but nothing crazy. BUT NOW THAT I MET HIM IRL YOU HAUNTZER FANGIRLS I FEEL YOU GUYS. I FEEL YALL. @ahriyoudoneyet I UNDERSTAND NOW. HE GOT ME SO SHOOK. WHEN HE TALKED WITH SVEN AND LAUGHED AND SMILED I WAS LEGIT ATTACKED. I WAS ATTACKED!!! HE LOOKS 1000000X BETTER IN PERSON MAN AND IT’S ALL THAT DUMB SMILE. WHEN HE SMILED I LEARNED THERE EXISTS THE BRIGHTEST SHADE OF WHITE IN ALL OF EXISTENCE RIGHT THERE IN HAUNTZER’S SMILE. CANCER WAS CURED AND WORLD HUNGER HAS ENDED. JESUS CHRIST. HE GOT LIQUIDHUNNY AND I SO SHOOK IN THAT MOMENT, I LEGIT HAD TO GRASP MY HEART AND HOLD ON TO MY LEFT BOOB FOR DEAR MERCY. TL;DR HAUNTZER’S SMILE MURDERS PEOPLE

FLY vs TL

Oh god. I just wanted both teams to have fun, as usual. I think I’m just slightly more of a Flyquest fan because I loved old C9, and also because I LOVE MOON. Fortunately after game 2 Flyquest won enough to get to playoffs, so in the 3rd game I was hoping TL would win so they would avoid relegations. Flyquest ended up winning, so I was a little happy for them, but maaan I felt so bad for Team Liquid T.T

A video of the Flyquest victory hand touching :D

lmao you can hear me saying MOOOON oh im such Moon trash

Anyways, it came time for the fan meet. And oh god, it was so painful to see TL out there. They looked incredibly depressed :(. Lourlo and Piglet seemed to be the saddest out of everyone, I really hope they cheer up ;_; Even taking the picture with them, I felt so weird because they were just so sad. You can tell they couldn’t even smile for the photos T.T

After the group photos, I didn’t want to inconvenience TL too much because of the loss, but I did just quickly ask Reignover to say hello in a video to @reignover and @yinglol, because I know how much they love Reignover xD It’s just a short little 4 second video, but hopefully it made their day.

With Flyquest, can we just take a moment to appreciate how smol Balls is? Someone gave him a flower crown to wear and he kept it on for my group photo, IM BLESSED.

After the group photos, finally, @liquidhunny and I went up to Moon. If you guys don’t know, she worked REALLY hard on a gift to give to moon which was made up of a fan art poster, a customized hat just for Moon, and I little notebook filled with notes and letters from fans. (Here’s here tumblr post about her gift)

And here is her final poster design:

ISN’T IT SO GOOD?!?! She printed me another copy of the poster THANK YOU SO MUCH AHHH

Anyways, we went up to Moon and she told him about the presents and gave it to him. Moon said it was so awesome, and then Hunny asked “Can I take a selfie with you?” and then Moon was like, “Can I hug you?” AND SHE WAS SHOOK AND I WAS SHOOK FOR HER!!! Moon hugged her, and I was so happy for her, and then Moon hugged me and i was shOOK like A;OWFEIAEWF I DONT DESERVE THIS BUT THANK YOU. You’re actually not supposed to hug the fans during the fan meet, but we didn’t even ask to hug him, HE asked Hunny if he could hug her and also hugged me!!! Ahh this was all so touching, and he’s such a nice guy.

Moon posing with Hunny’s hat gift :D

AINT DIS PHOTO SO CUTE Moon was so touched and it was overall just a super happy moment.

Moon actually thanked Hunny on twitter! AAAaaaaaahhhh

I also asked to take a selfie with moon:

I told Moon that he was like my FAAAVORITEE and I love his jungling and everything. Ahh. And HIS EYES ARE SO BEAUTIFUL ok I say this about like every pro but seriously they’re like green-hazel and just so pretty...??? That was the last pro interaction I had and it was just so great to end the day meeting my favorite player.

At the end of the event, we all took a group picture with the backgrop.

League/LCS brings people together and I’m so happy about that :D

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I had sooo much fun. It was super nice meeting @liquidhunny and all the pros.

One thing that I want to state is that: I expected that meeting all the pros would be very...perfect and happy? Idk how to explain it much, but, the reality is, pros are very, very human. Unfortunately, the losing team can get very sad, and it’s heartbreaking to see them in that state. But that’s the way that the pro scene works. Also, meeting these people in real life, you could really tell which people care about their fans a lot and are just really warm, kind, friendly, and genuine people on the inside (like I mentioned that I saw that Sneaky is like this, as well as many others). I don’t want to say or judge that the people that didn’t appear as warm as Sneaky or interact with fans much are bad people, because like I said, pros are very human and you’ll never know if they could just be having a bad day or are really down after a loss.

Also, I’m lowkey facing withdrawal LOL especially Biofrost withdrawal currently bc he was so adorable and honestly I should have looked at him more on stage >///<

Wowow what a long post and a fun weekend! I actually have the BTS concert next weekend MY HEART CAN’T TAKE THIS IT’S ALREADY BEEN DESTROYED OVER THE WEEKEND AND I’M NOT PREPARED!! AHHH!!

Thanks you guys for reading this and I hope you all can see them play in person one day!

152 notes · View notes

thegourmez · 7 years

Photo

J Winery’s Bubble Room

I was delighted to say yes to an invitation to check out J Vineyards and Winery’s Bubble Room, as my past couple of years blogging in the Bay Area has somehow resulted in remarkably few visits to wine country. Obligatory disclaimer: That means the meal and pairings I’m about to write about were absolutely free to me.

But oh so pretty, no matter how free.

Remodeled after a recent takeover by the Gallo family, the Bubble Room features the sparkling winemaking of Nicole Hitchcock and the food of Executive Chef Carl Shelton, both of whom seek to pay tribute to original owner Judy Jordan’s vision and passion for food and wine pairings.

The Bubble Room is a great name despite its conjuring of a 70s Playboy Playhouse adventure. The mood here is exactly the opposite, set right away with a glass of bubbles – J’s Cuvee 20 Brut NV.

It’s very smooth and tightly bubbled while served straight from the hostess stand. Get a seat by the window, if you can, to appreciate the beautiful light coming in and enhancing the visual presentation–this was a lunch meal.

Though the lamps do a great job of illuminating on their own. I can’t think of a better representation of sparkling wine in lamp form. Can you?

The wait staff is as fully informed as the tasting room pourers here, so whether opting for a more intimate experience in the Legacy Reserve Lounge—

–or the full-on five-course pairing menu in the Bubble Room, you’ll be well taken care of. I say the latter is more intimate, but that’s because the room is smaller and the conversations taking place are in closer quarters, huddled over the glory of flights and cheese plates. The Bubble Room is airy with room to breathe…as a good glass of wine might warrant. There are also patio spaces attached to both rooms, including a Fountain of Youth.

I did not partake, so I cannot vouch for its miraculous properties.

The Bubble Room menu is served four times per day – book a few weeks ahead for a weekend table, for sure. The menu, designed by Chef Shelton who most recently worked for Meadowood before coming on to J Vineyards and Winery last summer, changes every six weeks to best capture the shift of seasons. That means you are not likely to have the same menu I’m about to describe, but honestly? It’ll be just as amazing if not more so.

My meal took place in early spring, and Chef Shelton dubbed it “Starting to See the Light.” The theme was spot-on for the ingredients used and the presentation thereof. It was a well-considered and well-crafted meal. Revel in it.

Beginning with that amuse bouche of asparagus bisque and the beautiful, amazing, buttermilk snow on top. It was a chilled soup, which was both unexpected and as perfect as the first hint of spring. We may not get snow here in Northern California, but this dish absolutely captured that feeling of anticipation. Bright flavors were restrained by abounding iciness.

The second glass of bubbles, the 2010 Russian River Valley Brut, was aged five years and had a great smell, like a fruit-filled pastry pulled hot from the oven. Yeast buffered strawberry notes nicely, making it taste like a light treat. And it went great with the first course, which was probably my favorite of the meal, but that’s because I love seafood. It featured cubes of black cod and lump dungeness crab. In keeping with the theme, the greenery was muted in color, not yet at full bloom, so to speak.

I love that Chef Shelton used pickled celtuce to enrobe the crab, which required a bit of vegetable glue, as I learned. Celtuce is an Asian lettuce that steals from celery in terms of texture. I honestly thought it zucchini on first bite and loved it; perhaps the light pickle gave it more body. Celtuce’s fleeting vegetal flavor combined well with both the crab and the cod that displayed pungent qualities from the sea. A berry element from the bubbly accented all those flavor combinations. But the star of this dish was the Meyer lemon butter sauce that the rest of the elements floated within. It brightened them with a hug of richness.

We moved away from bubbles for the next two glasses, resulting in my discovery of a lively pinot gris, a varietal that must work hard to please me, usually. The 2015 J Vineyards Estate Pinot Gris had enough buttery elements to impress a chardonnay fan, but the ending acidic finish is what won me over. Mild orange and peach blossom in the nose and a sherbet creaminess throughout.

It was paired with it was a beautiful vegetarian dish that showcased a fuller range of spring’s bounty. The smell of roasted broccoli wafted my way as the dish was served; it featured several baby veggies form the brassica genus that strutted onto the plate along with a sunflower seed polenta and black garlic. Those seeds performed a great impression of rice grains, but their deeply earthy crunch instantly set this polenta apart as its own unique creation.

Yet even with that creativity, the paper-thin rinds of black garlic were the most impressive aspect of the dish. I’ve recently fallen in love with this method of garlic preparation – blame Chef Vaughn at the Union Square Hilton – and it shined in this dish, for sure. After the roasting process is complete, Chef Shelton presses and dehydrates the garlic before making it into a glass; i.e., a thin sheet bound by gelatin. My love for that jerky garlic nearly obscures my critiquing ability, but I would opt for less stem-afflicted vegetables if I were making the selections. I’ve also yet to find crystallized egg yolk that has an actual effect on the flavor profile of a dish…but it does look cool.

The one and only red wine course featured beautifully roasted rounds of lamb over a fantastic green lentil dish with fried sweetbreads and chanterelle mushrooms.

What impressed me most about this dish was how the chef came up with what shouldn’t be a novel idea – pairing elements of a mire poix with lentils – but is and they went great together! Large chunks of carrots, a small dice of celery, and onion powder graced the grains. I thought the presentation quite elegant, and perhaps an attempt at a tumbleweed effect or maybe a simple whirl of a spring storm. I appreciated the sweetbread treatment a lot, as I normally am not a fan of meat’s squishier organs, but small rounds fried? I’ll take it.

The 2013 Bow Tie Vineyard Pinot Noir went quite well with the lamb, providing more depth than many pinot noirs express though its central elements of strawberry Jolly Ranchers and baking spices of cinnamon and mace.

I could also imagine roasted seeds of strawberry in the glass along with bamboo and banana leaf notes, and I thought serving the wine lightly chilled was an excellent idea so it wouldn’t overpower the course. Perhaps in keeping with the early spring theme, none of the courses were bold in flavor, but all were nicely balanced.

At that point in the meal, I could feel the fullness coming, but luckily for you, I trudged ahead. And luckily for me too, as some of my favorite wines came next.

The brut rosé, the most brut of all J’s sparkling wines, had light strawberry and maraschino cherry notes enveloped in bubbles that grew the longer they spent in my mouth. For a fruit & cheese course? Fantastic pairing.

This course’s lightly buttered grilled sourdough dominated my nose, though the pickled beets, far more sweet than vinegary, left the strongest impression. We spread triple cream Red Hawk cheese from Cowgirl Creamery on the bread then piled on dried fruit, beets, and frisee. Every bite was delicious, and I’m amazed at how much softness and buttery consistency the cheese picked up from its wash in a brine rind. The deep, dark mushrooms provided enough contrast to keep this from being full-on dessert…which was next.

I’m ranking that vanilla bean panna cotta with citrus compote right behind the celtuce, crab, and cod course in terms of my favorite of the meal. The panna cotta itself was great, but the use of toasted wheat berries and cocoa nibs candy made it almost breakfast in sensibility, yielding the earthiness of toasted oats, creaminess of cereal, and a hint of coffee–cocoa bittersweet pull that I really dug. It contrasted sharply with the magnum of Vintage Brut 2009 sparkling wine, which I also loved.

That offered tropical flavors galore, beginning with a nose of coconut butter and jasmine and ending with kiwi, lime, and pineapple. The extra aging provides a backbone that keeps all those flavors in balance. I’d drink it anytime.

As is often the case, our meal ended with the undeclared course of cookies and chocolates; it’s a parting gift to the diner that is all the better if they don’t expect it to come.

Each treat was markedly different from the next. The macaron-like sesame and coconut bites were full of black sesame flavor and quite savory—I’d perhaps double the presence of the huckleberry jam on top. The tres leches cake, served in the spoon, was the most conventional offering Chef Shelton offered during the whole meal, but tres leches is quite a complex dessert without modifications. The last two items were a play on PB & J.

I’d recommend the chocolate peanut butter truffle first, as the inner core of creamy peanut butter oozes with intensity. The yuzu-lemon gelée is a wonderful last bite with all the appeal that lighter citrus fruits provide.

All that will run you $110 per person or $95 for members. Honestly, that’s a good price for the level of artistry Chef Shelton provides and the number of wines involved. Expect to linger over this meal, enjoying each and every bite and sip. Take a friend who’ll love it just as much as you do. Sure, it’s a special occasion treat, but you’re special enough for it anytime.

5/5

For more of my food, drink, & travel posts, visit the Gourmez!

#bubble room #bubbles #bubbly #healdsburg #j vineyards #j winery #Travel #wine #winery

0 notes