Just a couple weeks ago, I was a proud and obsessed owner of an iPhone 4G. I even wrote a post dedicating my love to it.

Now I’m a disgruntled owner of a “gently used” Droid Incredible that I bought via Craiglist, from a person who upgraded into an iPhone. In other words, I downgraded from an iPhone to her reject.

What happened? Short story shorter, I was an idiot and got my iPhone stolen at a supermarket which I also gushed about. Now I have to wait a whole year before I can get a new iPhone at a discounted rate with a new Verizon contract (the regular price is $600+!!!).

So. Damn. Ironic. And I’m so. Not happy. At all.

Every time I see my friends swipe at their shiny iPods, I feel like grabbing into my jeans pocket for my non-existent iPhone, too. Every time I pass by someone around my neighborhood with a cell phone, I stare at him or her suspiciously, wondering if he or she is the iPhone thief. Every time I see something cool and want to Instagram it, I remember I can’t because Droid doesn’t have the Instagram app.

Most of all, every time I reach into my pocket and retrieve my Droid, I scowl, wishing it was my iPhone.

It’s funny. There was a time when I didn’t have a cell phone, didn’t need a cell phone. I got my first cell phone when I was graduating high school because I needed a cell phone to keep in touch with family in a Mid-West university. It was just a regular Motorola phone that functioned for text messages and phone calls.

And I was content. Most of my friends had Blackberries, but I wasn’t envious of them at all. In fact, I never even thought about being envious. I was satisfied with my phone and I didn’t see the point of having a smartphone when I could go online on my laptop.

Then. I got my iPhone for journalistic purposes. My world changed. I was connected, 24/7. It was empowering. I had access to virtually anything at my fingertips at any time, any where; I no longer needed to “wait” for anything or anyone with my iPhone. And it struck me—how the heck did I survive without an iPhone?! Why had I been living like a Neanderthal for 23 years?!

Funny how fast we get accustomed and spoiled rotten by technological advances, isn’t it? I’ll bet in 5 years time, I’ll be saying the same about another new fancy gadget. Although it’s pretty silly, I’m still sulking a bit because I miss all my exclusive iPhone amenities and I can’t help feeling like my Droid is an inferior downgrade.

Ah. The whine of technologically privileged (and snobby) people, eh?

While I’m nursing my iPhone withdrawal, I’m also trying not to get too attached to the idea of visitors. Every weekend I’ve had someone sleeping over at my apartment, and this weekend was no different.
Joanna came up to visit again, but this time she came earlier on Thanksgiving night. She stayed for four days, three nights, and we had a blast together.

We basically stayed up late snacking and talking, and woke up past noon. On Black Friday, while some people were getting pepper-sprayed in Wal-Mart over the last Xbox, we had a relaxing, chill day.
We got up lazy and late, nibbled on leftovers and then puffed up Mt. Hollywood to work off the previous night’s gluttony. We stepped into the Griffith Observatory and bugged the curator with questions about the pendulum.
It’s called the Foucault Pendulum and apparently it sways to the rotation of the Earth. Very cool stuff. I feel smart already.

Then we drove down to Mid-City to visit the Grove, but first, we stopped for a very very late lunch at Doughboys Cafe.
I’ve been to Doughboys Cafe, where I had a super duper amazing tuna melt and French onion soup. I knew we would be well fed here.
The problem is that everything on the menu (except the cottage cheese and fresh fruit) sounded fantastic. We were distressed. So much food, too small stomach, too little time!

We eventually narrowed our cravings down to soup and sandwich. Since Doughboys didn’t do a soup/sandwich combo except for grilled cheese and tuna melts (they should really consider other options), we decided to get a soup or a sandwich each and share.

Joanna ordered the Monster:
Grilled focaccia topped with roast beef, grilled onions and mushrooms, Swiss cheese, served hot off the griddle.

This is a sandwich? More like an open-faced sandwich-like pizza. Oh, and it was beautiful. If I were Joanna, I wouldn’t be sharing. But luckily, she’s not like me and I got my fair share.
While Joanna raved about the tender roast beef, I was swooning over the focaccia and the onions. The grilled, dimpled dough was incredible—soft, yet delightfully chewy.

The Monster also came with fresh tomatoes, spinach and horseradish cream sauce as toppings so you can eat it like a humongous taco.
We licked finished the horseradish sauce, which was piquant (the kind that shoots a refreshing breeze up your nose) and surprisingly rich. I think it’s grated horseradish mixed with sour cream?

My order was the Stracciatella:
Shredded spinach, chopped green onions, slivered steamed egg and Asiago cheese in chicken broth with butter-grilled baguette.

What I loved was that they brought you a bowl of the ingredients, and then poured the flavorful, warm broth over in front of you:
How can anything so basic and simple taste so wonderful?! The broth, which is just basic chicken broth, got infused with the creamy egg flavor and the tender, fragrant spinach leaves. You slurp and you get this nutty finishing taste of the Asiago cheese.

Joanna and I decided, right there and then, that we were having this again for dinner tomorrow at home. And we did. I think it’s going to be a favorite staple for me now.
Alongside also came a generous strip of crusty, chewy baguette. I loved how fresh and warm it was; it definitely wasn’t yesterday’s leftovers.

Bellies warm and filled, we vroomed off to the Grove, which is just around the corner at 3rd and Fairfax.
Being Black Friday, it was packed. It seemed like every driver lost their sane manners and cut into my parking spot, despite the fact that I had marked it with my blinkers on for minutes.

Cursing the inconsiderate, greedy drivers and fantasizing about kicking their cars, we walked into the Winter Wonderland that was the Grove.
Of course, our disgruntlement dissipated. How can your heart not be pacified by Christmas cheer when you’re surrounded by gleaming lights and holiday jingles?

We walked around arm in arm, dazzled by the happy crowds and the happy music and the happy lights.
Joanna told me that being from the east coast, she always had a sense of superiority against the west coast when it came to Christmas. “How can you have a decent Christmas in shorts and tank tops?” she used to scoff. But coming to the Grove, she humbly said, “You west coast peeps do Christmas right.”

Ha!

After sampling make up and weeping outside the Apple Store, we stopped by Pinkberry and treated ourselves to some frozen yogurt because Joanna rarely gets it at the east coast and swears the froyo here tastes better.
Another thing the west coast does right, apparently. Another ha!

The rest of the night til dawn was spent at my friend Tracy’s house. A couple of my girlfriends and us pigged out on Thanksgiving dessert over Sex and the City and hours of gossip. It was a brilliant weekend, indeed.

Joanna is on her way back to San Diego right now, and this is probably goodbye since she’ll be hosting visitors until the day she returns to the east coast. I miss her already, but I’m so thankful I got the chance to hang out with her for four whole days.

It’s been awesome to catch up and her visits have been a healing balm to my soreness over the iPhone theft. It’ll take a while to get over the fact that I won’t have my iPhone or Joanna-filled weekends for some time.

Meanwhile, Joanna is trying not to get too accustomed and spoiled by Southern California. The girl just doesn’t want to leave. Her work period in San Diego is just temporary and she’ll have to return to DC in December, and understandably, Joanna is dreading it. Because obviously, west coast trumps east coast.

Triple ha!

P.S. Droid-lovers and east coast-lovers, please forgive my blatant prejudice here. I mean no harm, but I mean everything I wrote with a whole-hearted bias.

Question of the Day: What cell phone do you have? Are you a east coast or west coast advocate?

Related posts:

1. My Deadly Sin
2. The Old and the New
3. The best Thai Town outside of Thailand
4. Call Me “Unni” Again
5. The Past

Tagged as: beef, bread, cafe, doughboys, egg, focaccia, froyo, grove, Hollywood, Los Angeles, lunch, sandwich, soup, spinach