California Capital Airshow, Long Beach Half Marathon, and Lunasia

Sacramento

plus Long Beach Half / fooding

The medal for the Long Beach Half Marathon is rather meh.

Post-race snacks.

Mike and Allison ready to order at Lunasia.

Har cheung fun are excellent.

Pineapple-bun-topped char siu bao are a nice touch.

Deep fried cheung fun, kinda weird. Nice crunch tho.

Ngau paak yip (steamed ginger beef tripe) done right.

Har gow are beautiful.

Shu mai, big and plump.

Pai gut, just average.

Lo bac guo, basic but good.

The spread. Well, most of it.

Shu mai close-up, not pretty.

Al's collectible Trader Joe's tote bags.

Dan tat are too much crust, but otherwise very good.

Tired runners.

USAF Thunderbirds just about dead center in the distance.

Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds performing at the California Capital Airshow.

The kaleidoscope, one of the RCAF Snowbirds signature manuvers.

8 of the 9 CT-114 Tutors going inverted.

Belly shot.

9 birds... 8 machine and one organic.

Ground effects.

USAF U-2 and T-38s.

USAF U-2 and T-38s did a lot of passes.

Nighttime parachutists + fireworks.

Neat, but my viewing spot was too far away to get good photos..

The spread at Heat Shabu.

Veggies are good.

Lamb is tasty.

American Kobe-ish beef.

Pork was very good.

Angus prime beef.

Sauces. Nom.

Veggies close-up.

Inside. Lots of regulars.

Courtyard by Marriott Midtown.

Stylish/odd.

Kind of spartan.

The blank wall contributes to the spartan feel.

Finished the Long Beach Half Marathon at a snail's pace due to injury, 2:56:12 (13:26/mile) chip time, 2:54:50 (13:12/mile) GPS time. Somehow missed Allison on the course as I passed her near the end, given the sold-out crowd of 28,000 runners maybe I should not be surprised? The last-minute course change, moving miles 8 to ~10.5 from the beach path to road above the bluffs, turned out to be a good one as well, as the wind and waves from the remains of Tropical Storm Rachel would have made it pretty bad had we stayed on the beach; moving just above the bluffs actually was much more pleasant (and safer).

The finish line with the at-capacity crowd was a hot mess, totally jamed trying to get out, but we all made it out and then to Torrance for dim sum. Of the (unplanned) three meals in a row of dim sum this weekend, Lunasia showed why they are worth the price-- food was universally better in all respects, and as a plus, the Torrance location had no wait so early in the morning.

Had an unplanned flight delay on the way to Sacramento after the race; had to burn my ticket to the California Capital Airshow, but went to plan B and found a nearby office park just to the west of the airport that had a few other air show watchers and ample parking. As this is the final season of the Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds before they go on hiatus, I was extremely happy to be able to catch them for what is going to be the last time for a few years. I missed the first part of their show, but was able to catch most of it, and one of RCAF Snowbirds' signature manuvers, the kaleidoscope, remains spectacular.

In a rather unique feature to the California Capital Airshow, nearby Beale Air Force Base has an ancient Lockheed U-2 spyplane that participated in the show as well, flying mostly in formation with a pair of almost as elderly Northrop T-38 Talons. With a massive, skinny wing optimized for very high altitude flying, the U-2 didn't do acrobatics like the more agile trainers and fighters, but that was okay, as it was still a sight to see.

Due to my delayed arrival, I missed most of the rest of the show, but I wasn't complaining. The night show, starting with some P-51 Mustang's at sunset, then parachutists with fireworks and a sailplane with fireworks, were kind of cool, but not as impressive as they could have been from so far away. There was supposedly a bigger act at the very end, but given it was full dark by then, I opted to leave and head to dinner.

Heat Shabu in midtown is simultaneously ordinary and very family-friendly. The restaurant is ample sized but not too big, the staff clearly has some regulars they know well, and a pair of just-adequate TVs above the bar shows sports. The AYCE menu is pretty good, nothing crazy, but the quality of the beef-- angus beef, American "kobe", pork belly, and lamb, were all very good. Broth was nothing special, the veggies were fresh, and the overall experience hit the spot. Parking in the alley is a bit limited but was just adequate on what was a pretty slow Sunday evening.