Bill "||||||||||x||||" F.'s Profile

Namaste!

Went to the *F*R*E*E* yoga class on Tuesday nights. (7:30pm on Tuesdays). Get there early, the place packs up!  There were probably 35-40 people in attendance, the floor was FILLED.  This is the second time I've been and the place seriously fills up.

It was pretty rejuvenating.  I'm no yoga wiz, but I thought it was a darn good class.  The instructor Christine (or Kristine?) made for a great time and made it comfortable if you couldn't hold all the poses (like me).

Really can't say enough about it.  It's free yoga, and they take donations, so be generous!

No cover and dancing/boozing, woohoo!!

Hey, if you're looking to dance DO NOT overlook this place!  The name scared me too.  When some (new :)) friends suggested heading here after bar #1 I was very hesitant.  The name scared me.  "Sorry, I left my corduroy pants, sports blazer and pipe at home, I wanted to dance, not talk about the stock market and politics."  But I was wrong!

After walking in (the entrance by the way is pretty cool, for no particular reason), and hearing the bass thumping, I knew we had hit the spot and they made a great recommendation.  The place doesn't seem like a "wine bar" at all.  They have a very large selection of liqour drinks and have pretty decent pours at reasonable prices.  

I almost felt like I had walked into a hookah lounge straight from India with an imported sound system.  There were sofas, pillows, seats, cushions, all VERY comforting.  Had a very very cozy feel to it.  But the DJ was spinning some great music to groove to.  We danced and danced, despite a few of us being half of the dancers on the dance floor.  We got there at 1 I think, and the place wasn't really crowded.  Must have been an off night.  But that didn't stop us from dancing.  This place I love!

PS- check out the weird artwork on the entrance walls.

As soon as I walked in I could tell this place was one of those hit or miss types of places.  It's kind of random.  The bar seems more like a pub theme, the middle of the room seems like a lounge and the other end of the room seems like either a rock band can set up or america's next top DJ.  It's not a bad thing, just very random.

The huge bouncer covered in tattoos wearing a kilt was um, interesting.  The drinks were reasonably priced, but pours were a bit on the weak side.  Crowd varies, different people come for different things I guess and the traffic is a lot of in and out (see: hit or miss).  Some people would come in and then turn right back out.  So I'm guessing those people didn't like the crowd of this night, or the DJ, who was playing a lot of hip-hop with a splash of top 40.  It was more bootyshaking music than just dancing music, so we didn't stay but for a couple rounds of drinks.

Solo bathrooms?  Boo!  At least the parking is free (if you can find a spot in the lot) and there is no cover.  I think the velvet ropes outside are a bit much though, heh.

Abbyssinia seemed like they are gouging their customers.  I had the meat combination (see photo) which was a whopping $18.  What is pictured is all that came with.  I was taken aback.  $18 for that?!  Are you bringing out a second dish?  Or maybe at least more than a half piece of sponge bread?  No?  :''''(

No, I didn't finish my meal despite being starving.  But I just didn't find it overly appealing.  It had a good amount of spice but I needed a little variety.  The salad was nice (and different), but how about a veggie or two, especially if you're going to charge $18!  Eeeek.

We had a big group, like um, 12 of us or something?  So I understand it's going to take a while.  But we didn't get drinks until about 30 minutes after ordering O_O.  Service was slow, and mine came out way later than everyone elses, but I guess, as some of the others were mentioning at the table, there's only 2 Ethiopian places in town.  Shame.  Cause this place is robbing people.  Even my neighbors dish was 1 scoop of meat with a small salad portion on it and his was $14!  Outrageous.  And my Heineken wasn't all the way cold =(  

They must be spending all their money on putting real diamonds in their disco balls on the ceiling (random).  But I gave it 2 stars anyways because the company was awesome.

Big ups to the Raleigh crew!  When it doubt, yelp it out.  And that's what I did, and had a great time!  Starting with a gathering for some overpriced and slow ethiopian (haha, despite my bad experience there the company was STELLAR), then moving on to Raleigh nightlife to dance the night away.  I needed my dance fix, and I got it!  w00 w00.  Everyone was having a great time.

David S. - Thanks for organizing something on the day I'd be visiting.  And the kids were a trip.
Christina G. - Grats *wink* and you keep "dancing" everyone off the dance floor.  I'm waiting on that yelp review of the Charlotte Realtor that has never been to "Charlotte".
Susan Z. - Do you want some lime with that tequila?  Salt?  Napkin?  Orange Juice chaser? Breath freshener afterward?  Haha!  When ordering a 'shot' couldn't get more complicated. lol.  Just teasing you girl.  I like how you don't require good music or other people to start dancing, that was awesome.
Ron W. - We can now officially be friends, hahahahaha.  Shhh, don't tell anyone.
Phil G. - G&T FTW!  Next time we'll get someone else to DD and you can show us your wicked dance moves.
@ others without accounts (yet) - Awesome to meet you all, if you get an account, friend me~

What do you get with over 5,000 people, 21,120 feet, and 72,000 glazed doughnuts?  Answer:  The Krispy Kreme Challenge.

This annual event starts at NCSU's belltower on Hillsborough St, and is everything it sounds like.  Runners gather at the starting line (this year the signups were capped at 6,000 participants), and then all dash 2 miles to the Krispy Kreme on North Person St.  Awaiting there are 72,000 doughnuts, 12 dozen for each participant.

Easier said than done... You run 2 miles, then get to the KK on Person and grab your box of dozen.  After about 3 doughnuts it gets ridiculous.  I managed to eat all my doughnuts and then started the 2 miles back to the belltower.  I had finished (not under the 1 hour mark, which was my goal, but damn it takes a long time to eat those doughnuts).

I dont ever want another doughnut again!  Until next year. =)

The first time I called this location, a lady answered and didn't ask if I could be placed on hold.  After I started inquiring about a scarf, she cut me off mid-sentence and told me she has customers can she call me back.  So I said okay.  Never got a call back.

Fast forward one day.  A male answered the phone.  I asked this time if he had a moment to discuss the status of a couple items.  I asked this gentleman about scarves, and he immediately knew which patterns of the scarves he had in inventory.  He was very courteous too.

The location, inside Saks Fifth Avenue, limits the size of the store and thus, navigating through the "display cases" in a museum-like fashion make it difficult if there's anyone else in the store but you.  The employees were very cordial, more so than the other LV stores I've shopped at.  I looked at their scarves but they didn't have that many.

Buyer beware, once you start "trying on" articles and bags, it's verrrrrry tempting to leave with one.  Resist, resist!

I misread and thought this was frozen yogurt.  Damn.  Frozen Custard?  What's that?  *takes sample*  tasty.  Unfortunately, it was only tasty in the sample size spoon quantity.  Even the small, which I had with butterscotch and chocolate flakes, was just too overwhelming and filling.  Not exactly what I was looking for.  Might have just been beacuse of the custard and maybe I dont like it because it's too heavy, but it just wasn't my thing.

Also, the service was pretty slow.

Huge TV's.  This would be a great place to watch a sports game.  If you want to watch anything else during a hurricanes game don't come here, because they dub out all other music/noise to broadcast the hurricanes game.

Our group ordered a variety of things.  Their menu has a lot of different things to offer.  But offering so many different things at the sacrifice of quality appears to be a present drawback here.  I had the Barbeque Sandwich with cole slaw side.  It looked a lot better in the picture at the top of the menu than what came out on the plate.  A "mushy" barbeque sandwich and stringy, dry cole slaw.

I also heard that my friend's potato salad was awful.  We all left hungry, the portions just weren't enough.

Also, if it's raining, dont sit at the table under the budweiser boat, as water drips on you from some source.  There weren't any available tables for us to relocate to.

Penguin is a staple of charlotte.  There's nothing I can quite put my finger on as far as why it's so unique.  Sure the fried pickles are amazing and will cause you to flirt with cardiac arrest, but other palces have fried pickles too.  I think it is a cornerstone of Plaza Midwood and is just a perfect spot for some greasy delicious food.  I rarely go, just because of the shear amount of grease in the food, but the fried pickles truly are amazing, despite feeling my arteries clogging with every bite.  Prepare to wait though, it's not a big place, and it gets pretty crowded due to popularity.