Flânerie Fun

Had a great time on my Sunday flânerie – I remembered a game my driving instructor had played while teaching me to get speeding tickets. It’s called “Right, Left” and it’s simple: turn right at the corner, turn left at the next, right at the following, left at the one after that, and so on. As it happened, my corners in that order took me exactly from the village to my front door. Had I gone left, then right, I’d have wound up downtown, which would have been okay so long as I had a fiver for an iced tea and my limo pass to get me home.

I took more steps on the winding route than if I’d taken a more direct one, but I’d also have missed the gorgeous gardens, the sound of kids playing their backyards, and shaky chalk drawings on the pavement. There’s a plethora of quirky little streets in Fairfield and no one but the locals use them—a walk through the village or along the water can be a challenge at this time of year because everyone and their literal dog comes down to enjoy the area, but half a block over and you’re in a Trisha Romance painting. It’s marvelous.

I was also packing a full-size bottle of Torani gingerbread syrup, courtesy of the friendly staff at the Moka House. I finally got my weekend Asian Mist and a lesson in making one from the curly-haired cutie working the bar. Use less hot water, he advised, rather than half-water, half-milk; the tea will be stronger—and don’t add the syrup until the tea is steeped. If you add it before then, the tea won’t steep properly. Three pumps of syrup for a 16 oz. cup, or to taste. And darn, I forgot to get the vanilla powder I like to sprinkle on top. It was fun to chat with the staff about how good the drink is, and I really appreciated their openness regarding the one drink that brings me into their shop. So I assured them I won’t be able to duplicate their version and will keep coming in for the real thing. It doesn’t sound nearly as amusing aloud, but my version is likely to be christened “Asian Missed”.