New Diet?

I'm proud of myself for having lost about 15 pounds since July but lately, or around two weeks ago I should say, I've been starting to revert back to some old bad habits such as eating out too often, especially at McDonald's since they're just down my street and doing that nifty free food Monopoly sticker game right now! Ahh, see what I mean? I get excited about stupid things sometimes. Fortunately, Billy and I dicussed this and I've come to the conclusion that in order to NOT eat BURGERS, or CHILI-CHEESEDOGS, or anything else that I know would ruin a week's worth of healthy eating, I've decided to officially go vegetarian for a month as of almost a week ago now.

Again, I'm only doing this for at least one month to see if 1) I can do it, and 2) to show how serious I am about getting healthy and I really want to attain that golden number goal of 200 lbs. once the New Year hits. I really think I can do it and I still have over two months in which to pull it off and I know it can be done. I'm not going to starve myself to get there either, but by eating more veggies and fruit I know I'll start losing it quicker and I should also mention that I have a pretty big bet going with Billy AND my mother about this so I can't let them have the satisfaction of winning now can I?

Only 25 pounds left to go...

Ramenlicious

In my opinion there are only two types of "perfect" food in the world.

1) Sushi.
2) Ramen.

Sushi is what I would eat if I had money to waste, while ramen would be what I'd eat later as a result of spending all my money on good sushi. Mainly because ramen is so affordable, and yes I did say good sushi because I wouldn't want to eat subpar or just average sushi. Not for the $6-12 a roll that most places would charge for just one roll! Ramen has this horrible reputation for being cheap and awful when if simply prepared correctly and made as how the Chinese or Japanese would make their ramen, it's freaking delicious! Most Americans only know of ramen as this Maruchan brand product that costs next to nothing and doesn't taste that great but buy it anyway because they're in college and have little money to spend on something better. Of course instant ramen will taste boring if all you do is follow the package directions. Real ramen like those that are found in noodle shops in larger cities, especially one's on the west coast and around New York serve huge bowls of deliciously prepared ramen with all sorts of different flavors and styles, cold and or hot. You can easily prepare authentic ramen soups now thanks to websites like ramenlicious.com with easy to follow receipe directions for really good eats. Google "ramen" and you'll come up with dozens of different sites that can show you how to best prepare delicious ramen. Being half-chinese I may be juuust a little biased on this topic but give ramen a "real" try and you just might be surprised at its versatility. ^_^

Dragon* Sake and Sushi Bar

Yes! It's been awhile since I've talked about sushi on this here blog and that is because there really wasn't any reason to with Nakamura Sushi hogging all the spotlight for the past year or so but there's a new sushi bar in town ladies and gents and that place is the dark and mysterious Dragon* Sake and Sushi Bar! It's located within the recently remodeled China Garden and opened a couple months ago and my friend Thinh and I have been dying to try it out for weeks. The last time we tried going there it just so happened to be a Monday and they told us that the sushi bar was closed on Mondays. Epic FAILURE...for us at least. If memory serves though I believe we went and ate at Nakamura instead (which is closed on Sundays by the way) and had a grand time eating the competition's sushi while thinking to ourselves, "how good could China Garden's sushi really be anyway? It's your typical asian-american buffet restaurant after all, right?" Well I can tell you tonight that we were absolutely wrong about those silly assumtions and had a GREAT dinner at the new Dragon* sushi bar which is located in what used to be the smoking section of the old sports bar area of the restuarant. When you first walk in, you will notice candles lit on cool little black tables, flat screen televisions, mood music, and it's darker than my balls in there but that's what makes it hip and romantic probably. Nakamura now looks like a Luby's cafeteria compared to this place. We seated ourselves at the bar, and we then realized that the place was EMPTY. Not a good thing you would think, but those worries left our minds once we were given complimentary miso soups without having even ordered yet. They also gave us this cold plate of some kind of pickled meat drenched in what I think was sesame oil that tasted utterly amazing. Sarah being the devout and unstraying vegetarian unsurprisingly chose to order the Veggie Rolls, which were incredibly huge and tasty looking. She could only eat about half of the eight peices "chunks" that they made for her. Thinh and I on the other hand, ate almost everything that we ordered which included an Unagi (Eel) Roll, the China Garden Roll, Yoo Hoo Roll, and the Alvin Roll, named (and probably created by) after the owner, Mr. Alvin Lin. I can't remember if Thinh also ordered the Kobe Roll or not because he did mention wanting to try it but I don't remember eating anything with tamago (sweet egg) in it so maybe not. I do remember drinking some pretty cold $9 sake though. My only regret? Not finishing all of said $9 sake! :(

I tried taking some pictures with my cell phone but alas it was too dark so here are a few pictures from their website, chinagardentx.com of some of the things we gorged ourselves on:




*Sushi bar did not really have any dragons nor did they serve any species of dragon unfortunately.

R.I.P.

Maybe it's just around me but death seems to be a close topic as of late. Not only did a 17yr old Central student recently die in a high speed wreck just down the street from where I work, another young man was shot and killed last week who's former girlfriend (and one of the suspected shooters I believe) had actually worked as a housekeeper for us a short time ago. On top of that, if you look at today's obits you'll see Ortiz, the Central student and below him David Lewis Johanson of whom I had known quite well...at least at the poker tables here in town. We knew each other by name and he was always very nice and courteous, a true gentleman. The paper said he died of heart surgery complications on the 13th in Austin. He was only 53. I'll always remember him as that snowy-haired guy with a cig in one hand and two cards in the other trying to figure out if I had AK when I raised him or 24suited as he often accused me of having. I'll certainly miss that old man.

My YouTube Find of the Day

After this vid, be sure to check out some of the related links...

33rd Annual Taste of San Angelo...

...took place today, and I had to work! >_<

For only $25 you could have sampled food and booze from around 50 local restaurants including my friend Justin's restaurant River Terrace Restaurant (www.theriverterrace.com) I'm a little pissed about missing this event since I completely forgot about it last year and I might not be here next year for the next one so it really sucks. Oh well, on the plus side I probably saved myself five extra pounds...

EDIT**

Almost forgot, this week marks my 2nd full year with "the company" and I'm a little proud of that since that was my initial goal when I started. Too bad I won't be there for very much longer hehe!

"For the Record" - Standard Times

I found this entry to be quite ironic, amusing, take your pick:

Vernon Jack Redwine, 1/42, pleaded guilty to a charge of driving while intoxicated. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

This guy had to have been caught by police many times to have been awarded a hefty 12 year sentence. I can't help but wonder if red wine really was his drink of choice or not. Also, doesn't his name pretty much obligate himself to having to drink all the time? They should give the guy a break. I mean, his ancestors must have really loved booze to have taken that last name in the first place right? It's not his fault he's an alcoholic with places to go if it's in his naturally .09 bloodline...

International Coming Out Day

I learned just a few days ago that today, October 11th marks the annual Coming Out Day for anyone who wishes to do so. Big events are held in large towns like Austin for this special day with local GLBT groups around the country but I thought it was pretty cool that there's a day for this. They say to wear support pins or patches or whatever to show support and awareness of GLBT people around the world which I think is a really cool idea. Too bad I don't own a pink triangle pin or rainbow braclet or anything snazzy like that or I would have today! There's a certain friend of mine that I will not name here that I think could use this day to tell us all "something" but that isn't my place or my business to talk about really since I myself know all too well how hard it was to come out to my closest friends and family when I was younger. Everyone does it in their own way and that's fine! Just uh, don't wait until you're married, have three kids and then decide to tell everybody because umm it might be just a little late then... ^_^

Register To Vote!

I think today is the last day to register if you haven't already and plan to vote for the next president of our country. I was asked to renew my voter card back in July when I renewed my driver's license and I finally recieved my voter card in the mail yesterday so that I can vote next month and you should too! I'm happy to live in a time and society that lets us choose our leaders by voting by the people and their representatives and know how important this next election is for the future of our country. We're living in a time of war and a horrible economy, not to mention worry about the future of Social Security and oil. Yes, every election is going to be touted as an important election but this one feels a lot different to me than the one four years ago with Kerry and Bush. We didn't have the rediculous gas price issues back then, nor did we have a bunch of billion dollar businesses go bankrupt on us and lead us to a near financial collapse. People today are having trouble getting morgages for homes, they can't sell their homes, and unemployment is at its highest in years while the stock market hasn't hit this low since at the least the '87 crash...

Throw in the fact that a black man may actually become president as well as a woman for vice president and you've got yourself something pretty damn historical. I'm not going to use this space to try and convice you as to who to vote for as much as I would like to see you out there actually VOTING. So read about the issues, go to each candidate's website and find out who you would like to be the next leader of our ailing country. I can't stress enough how important it is to research and learn about the person and party you vote for because without doing so, your vote will have been a waste of time. Nothing bugs me more than the thought of someone going to the polls and voting simply based based on the color of skin, sex, age or appearance.

Be smart, or stay home November 4th!

The Omnivore’s Hundred

Per the U.K. blog “Very Good Taste” I am going to try my hand at the Omnivore’s 100 - a list of foods that every omnivore should explore to broaden their palate.

To participate, just go to the original post and copy & paste the list before identifying the stuff you’ve eaten or won’t eat.

Instructions:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

"Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers."


The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred, as experienced by Albie:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

I've tried just over 30 so far, that I know I'm sure of. I wonder if Durian wafers count...I'll update this list once I figure out what some of these things even are.

*EDIT*
Okay, aparently Epoisses is a specialty un-pastuerized French cheese that is banned from the public transit areas of France because of its horrible stench. Hmm, reminds me of Durian fruit. I'm 110% sure its not available in San Angelo and neither is a lot of those Indian/Middle-Eastern/Russian/Japanese dishes since we don't have any restuarants that would serve anything even remotely similar to what's on this list! I'll probably try and make the Currywurst this month since its Oktoberfest time and I found a good receipe.

I'm starting to love this Borders...

Their website says that now until the 29th, if you buy 4 graphic or manga novels you'll get the fifth free. I got all excited until it said that it was "in stores only" and then realized that San Angelo doesn't have a Borders--just it's kid brother Waldenbooks. Which then made me realize that this town doesn't have enough book stores. I can only think of two in this entire town, and Hastings is as good as it gets here unfortunately. They have an okay selection yes, but its no B&N's. I remember the last time I was in Austin, I had the great fortune of going into this HUGE bookstore that I can't remember the name of that was two or three stories large in which I could have looked around for hours and it was so amazing that I actually even remember the disappointment I had about leaving it from that day still and that was a good while ago now! I particularly remember it having the biggest selection of poker books I'd ever seen and could only wish for Hastings to have...

Sigh.

Microsoft is taking over our living room...

Not much going on, I added a few new songs and fixed some broken ones on the playlist. Yesterday I ordered the Samurai 7 DVD boxset for an unbelievable $25 on Borders.com during a 2-day sale. I'm selling my Wii and everything with it to my friend James. It was my x-mas present from Billy but we both haven't had any real reason to play it now for the past several months and we're playing the xbox360 a LOT so it just kind of makes sense.

Playing some online poooker at the moment, see you next time space cowboy!

Back from Dallas

I've lost my phone transfer cable so everytime I've wanted to post something I've been putting it off but I can't find the dumb thing. It costs like $20 for a replacement so I'm not in a hurry to get a new one but at the same time I want picture posts damn it! I was in Dallas from Sept. 29th through October 1st and attended the yearly Animefest convention there and it was a blast. As soon as I can I'm going to put up some pictures of us in our awesome cosplay gear and of course we ate some amazing food while in Dallas. This made it our 2nd anime convention so far and this time we made sure to cosplay since we were so inspired from the Dallas A-kon convention in June. I easily had some of the best sushi ever at The Blue Fish, good vegetarian/indian food at Cosmic Cafe and then some great Thai food at a cute little place on Oak Lawn Ave. which was in the gay area of Dallas and I swear everyone eating there was gay or lesbian and no I'm not complaining. ^_^

On the poker front I've been doing very well this month ever since I've been concentrating on playing a LOT more sitngo's and more than ever I'm wishing I was on Pokerstars instead of Bodog since it takes a rediculous 8 WEEKS to get a check from them for a withdrawl...and since I don't want to wait until November for a check I'm going to just let it grow my bankroll which is probably what Bodog wanted anyway from us players (in the hopes we keep playing on their site instead of the competition) I've heard that on Pokerstars it only takes a few days tops so that is really messed up Mr. Calvin Ayre, your company can do better.

4 more days...

I tried on the nori eyebrows the other day and they looked alright. I also got the dress shoes I needed for the costume and Payless was running a buy one get 2nd half off sale so I got a pair of running shoes but I took them back yesterday when I realized that I already had a brand new pair of them at home from long time ago. I guess credit goes to Billy for spotting that lol. Hey at least that's almost $20 that could go to food...which it did, Subway to be exact. They're doing that Scrabble peel and win game like what McDonalds does with Monopoly so I've already accumulated like five of them so far. It's like gambling or the lotto but involving food--my kind of game! I'm such a sucker, its a wonder how I don't play the Texas state lotto or at least the scratch offs yet. Well now that Billy is working at a convience store I just might start...

Never Too Late...

Next week, Animefest!

Everyone is just about done with their cosplay costumes and later this afternoon I'm going to pick up my dress shoes to go with my suit. Billy spray-dyed my hair red to see how it looked and everyone agreed it was decent enough so I guess I won't have to permanently dye it red (whew). Supposed to go to Target later with Thinh to get the shoes and then we're supposed to go walk/running later at the park tonight like we did yesterday. I'm glad I'm finally starting to get serious about working out again. It feels really good also to have someone to do it with so it isn't so boring and even though today will be just the 2nd day, I want to run already!

I've also started to eat healthier this month, taking canned fruits to work, eating less, and just generally eating better...I'm not going to lie though, I sort of hate the idea of not being able to eat burgers and other greasy foods but hey its for the better good, especially if I want to lose weight which is the goal here. Like last night at Chili's I had to order something off the "Guiltless Grill" because even their entree salads had to many calories (Cobb was 1000+ calories!) and almost everything sucked on the "healthy" menu save the fish that was too expensive so i settled for the plain ol' Grilled Chicken Sandwich (490 cal) which came with a side of shredded carrots and brocolli, BOOOORING...but I'm getting used to it.