Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cakes

October through December is great time for enjoying food. The holiday spirit kicks in and there's always someone making something special and sharing it with everyone. Jason, my good friend, and his wife recently made a dessert they refer to as "Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cakes" - apparently they make this every year during the holidays. I've never had it before since I'm not a fan of anything with pumpkins in it, but Jason's description of this dessert made me check my disdain of pumpkins. I gave it a try and all I can say is, "Thank you Jason! Can I have seconds, thirds, and fourths please?"

So I had to ask for the recipe thinking it was some super-secret family recipe. Well, it wasn't - he just sent me a link to the recipe at Food Network. God, writing about this dessert really makes me hungry...

Wife, I'm itching for something good. I busy blogging and I demand that you make me some Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cakes.

Umm, let me re-phrase that...

Honey, my friend's wife just gave me this great recipe for Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cakes. Maybe we can spend some quality time together making it this weekend? Here's the url to the recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_20677,00.html

Our 24 Hour Christmas Special

My wife and I didn't have much planned for ourselves this Christmas. We were following whatever plans our relatives had. Once we got that out of the way we realized we didn't have all that much to do. It's Christmas Eve so we though maybe we can do some special. Maybe go Salsa dancing or catch a movie, but none of that felt right so we decided to keep it simple and stay home.

We went to our neighborhood Blockbuster to rent the first 3 discs of 24's season 6 and picked up a late-night snack at Jack In The Box. After we got home, my wife warmed up some chicken soup and I opened up a couple of boxes of chocolate truffles for the 24 marathon that we were about to embark on.

So there we were, just the 2 of us, at home on Christmas Eve huddled together on our couch watching 24. Accompanying us are a steak and egg breakfast burrito combo from Jack In The Box, some homemade chicken soup, and a good amount of Lindt and Godiva chocolate truffles. As it turns out, season 6 was extremely captivating. We ended up staying up all night watching all the DVDs we rented and finishing up all the food except for the truffles. We didn't go to bed until pretty close to sunrise on Christmas morning. We slept just enough to give ourselves enough energy to rent the last set of DVDs for season 6 and finish watching them before Christmas day was over.

Sometimes the special moments are the simplest. My wife and I (appropriately enough) for 24 hours felt like teenagers - free from any of our regularly responsibilities completely captivated by the moment. This sounds cheesy, but true - Saint Nick was real for us this Christmas. He gave us a very special Christmas that both of us will cherish for years to come.

Shiraz Restaurant

Shiraz is a Persian food restaurant that I regularly have lunch with my friends. This place makes the best Beef Koobideh I've ever had. Koobideh is a Persian kabab of minced lamb or beef. It is usually served with rice and some grill tomatoes. Ordering the same thing over and over again is not my M.O., but the Koobideh at Shiraz is so damn good that I don't bother with anything else.

My friends and I went to Shiraz yesterday. The waitress recognized us and said, "You don't need the menu, right?" We all nodded in agreement until I changed my mind and said, "Not unless you have something new on the menu." Good thing I asked because she had some recommendations for us: Ash Reshteh and Fesenjoon

Ash Reshteh, I'm told by the waitress, means noodle soup in Farsi. The noodles and soup are complemented with lentils, dill, and few different types of beans. It is vegetarian dish, but the way Shiraz makes it I can taste lamb in it - that's a good thing in my book. This dish is so beautiful I don't even know where to begin. I'm so glad the waitress recommended this dish to us. I think this is my new "go-to" dish at Shiraz.

Fesenjoon is a dish that comprises of chicken chunks smothered in a dark brown sauce made from primarily pomegranate concentrate and walnuts. It is served with a side of rice. It looks very similar to the Mexican Chicken Mole Poblano, but it couldn't taste anymore different. The walnut in the sauce gives it a very rich texture similar to seasame paste or peanut butter and the pomegranate concentrate brings an unexpected, but welcomed tartness to the sauce. A very interesting dish. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to the adventurous foodie in everyone.

Whether it's the Koobideh, the Fesenjoon, the Ash Reshteh, or anything else on their menu they never disappoint. Shiraz has proven to be an outstanding restaurant. It is my favorite in the Tri-Valley area. I only wish there's one closer to where I live. If you're ever in the Pleasanton/San Ramon/Danville area, make sure to stop by Shiraz for a meal. You can thank me later.

Address and Contact Information:
Shiraz Restaurant
21314 San Ramon Valley Blvd
San Ramon, CA 94583
925.829.5558
www.shirazr.com

Yetnal Jajang - Noodles! Noodles! Noodles!

My love affair with noodles began when I was able to eat solid foods. I enjoy noodles in all shape, size, and form. Wheat, rice, vermicelli, pasta, in soup, in sauce, stir fried, baked - it doesn't matter, I'll try it at least once so I'm always on the lookout for a good noodle shops.

I recently found one near the Berkeley/Oakland border. It's called Yetnal Jajang. It's a Korean noodle shops. There are no frills at this place. Their menu isn't awfully complex and that's a good thing. They stick with what they're good at - noodles. It's comfort food. The experience is just beautiful.

I highly recommend the Ja Jang Myun from Yetnal Jajang. Most Asian food has it's own version of this famous dish which I believe is all based on the Chinese Zha Jiang Mian. In a nutshell, this dish is basically noodles served with fermented soybean sauce. Though the sauce can vary significantly in look and flavor, the key similarity is the sauce is always soybean based. The Korean version (Ja Jang Myun) of this dish is very distinctive because of it's dark brown, almost black, soybean sauce. It's one of my favorites because of its elegant simplicity. The smoothness of the sauce and well-balanced flavor just blends so well with the noodles that it's hard not to order it every time I see it on any menu. The soybean sauce and the noodles are typically served separately so that patrons can decide how much sauce they want with their noodles. There are a couple other choices for noodles at Yetnal Jajang, but I believe it is an absolute mistake to go there for the first time without ordering their Ja Jang Myun.


Address and Contact Information:
Yetnal Jajang Korean Noodles
4390 Telegraph Ave
Oakland, CA 94620 (510) 652-3900

Leap in the Mouth

I was recently in Palo Alto's Il Fornaio having dinner with a couple of friends. We were looking over the menu trying to decide what to order. I saw Saltimbocca Alla Romana on the menu and I said, "Saltimbocca...I had this before. It's good." One of my friends chimed in, "Yeah, that's good. Saltimbocca...means leap in the mouth."

Well, I can't pass up something so good that it leaps in the mouth so I ordered it. When the dish came I was expecting the Saltimbocca to leap in my mouth by itself, but to my disappointment that didn't happen. Luckily my disappointment ended there - Il Fornaio's Saltimbocca Alla Romana was absolutely amazing.

Saltimbocca Alla Romana is classic Roman dish. It's veal topped with prosciutto and sage. Here's is the recipe. Honestly, any dish with those things as the key ingredients has no reason to be anything less than delicious and Il Fornaio's Saltimbocca is one of the better if not the best I've had. So take advantage of the holiday season - take your family or friends to Il Fornaio for some Roman "leap in the mouth".


Address and Contact Information:
Il Fornaio
520 Cowper Street
(at the Garden Court Hotel)
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Phone: 650.853.3888
http://www.ilfornaio.com

What's your Traveler IQ?

Ever wonder how many places you are familiar with. There's this game that gives you a name of a place and challenges you to mark it on a map - speed and accuracy matters. It will display your "Traveler IQ" once the game is over. My wife and I wasted a good amount of time on this game. Find out how many places you can place on the map. Follow this url to play the game:

http://www.travelpod.com/traveler-iq

It's not Sorbet, it's Sorbetto

I'm shopping in Walnut Creek, CA. I've already walked past Gelateria Naia a few times now and each time I thought to myself I will give this gelato joint a try the next time. I finally did it this time.

Conclusion; Gelateria Naia is place where someone can get some really great ice cream. I ordered Kiwi flavor and I asked the clerk, "So the Kiwi...it's not gelato it's sorbet right?" and the clerk responded, "Sir, it's not Sorbet, it's Sorbetto." Oh, I'm sorry, didn't mean to push you off your high chair Mr. Sorbetto, but isn't Sorbetto just Italian for Sorbet? Well, my lack of familiarity with Italian language forced me to bite my tongue and not be my usual smart-ass self. Turns out there is a subtle difference according to this article - glad I kept my mouth shut.

Gelateria Naia is definitely not your run-of-the-mill great ice cream joint like Loard's or ColdStone. Their gelato and sorbetto are very true and pure to the flavor - meaning the kiwi sorbetto at Gelateria Naia practically tastes like kiwi and their chestnut gelato actually tastes like chestnuts. But the thing that stands out the most for me is the variety of unique flavors offered - here are some examples: Kiwi, Green Apple, Nutella, Chestnut, and Pecan.

If you're expecting traditional ice cream here, you'll probably be caught off guard, though I'm sure their vanilla or chocolate gelato are awesome too (I don't usually get traditional flavors so I don't know first hand). If you're looking for something a little different, Gelateria Naia will knock your socks off.

Gelateria Naia
1245 north broadway
walnut creek, ca 94596
925.943.1905
http://www.gelaterianaia.com/

Hotels do not wash their cups and glasses

My friend came across an investigative report that shows hotels do not wash their cups and glasses. Hopefully such exposure will get the hotels to change this practice. In the meantime, please watch this video and take the necessary precaution when traveling. Here's the video:



[ Original Article: Don't Ever Drink From Hotel Glasses ]

A very unique perspective about the Story of Oedipus

You have to read the essay titled Planes, Trains, and Plantains. It's apparently about the story of Oedipus. The author brings a very unique perspective. Just read it because I don't know how to explain it any other way. It's too funny - the author must have been high.

[Planes, Trains, and Plantains: http://static.scribd.com/docs/iyf3q21g5duht.swf]

Spelling properly - possibly overrated?

According to the folks at Cambridge University, it doesn't matter the orders of the letters in the word. It only matters that the first and last letters are in the right place because the mind does not read every letter, but just the words as a whole. According to this, we should be able to read the following paragraphs:

Paragraph 1 - Gnearel Koenbi: Yaers ago, you srveed my fetahr in the Conle Wras; now he bges you to hlep him in his srtgugle anaigst the Epmrie. I rgreet taht I am uanlbe to persnet my ftaher's reeqsut to you in preosn; but my sihp has faelln udenr aattck and I'm aiarfd my msisoin to Adlraaen has flaied. I've paceld ionfrmtaion vatil to the svurival of the rbeeiloln itno the momery stsyems of tihs R2 uint. My fthaer wlil konw how to rtireeve it. You msut see tihs dirod sfealy dielvreed to him on Arleadan. Tihis is our msot daeseprte huor. Hlep me, Obi-Wan Knoebi; yuo're my olny hpoe.

Paragraph 2 - Terhe's a psasage I got moemrzeid. Ekeziel 25:17. The ptah of the rgithoeus man is bseet on all sdies by the iqeniuites of the sieflsh and the trynany of eivl men. Blsesed is he who, in the nmae of carhity and good wlil, sehhpreds the waek thourgh the vlaley of the drankess. For he is turly his botrher's kpeeer and the fniedr of lsot chlidern. And I will sritke dwon uopn tehe wtih gerat vnegaecne and fuouris agner tsohe who attmpet to pioosn and dstreoy my bortehrs. And you will kown I am the Lrod wehn I lay my vnegaence uopn you. I been syain' taht siht for yaers. And if you eevr haerd it, it maent yuor ass. I nveer ralely qesutoined waht it maent. I toughht it was jsut a clod-boolded tihng to say to a mtherofckuer bferoe you ppoped a cap in his ass. But I saw smoe siht tihs mrnoin' mdae me tihnk tcwie. Now I'm tinhkin': it culod maen yuo're the eivl man. And I'm the rgithuoes man. And Mr. 9mm hree, he's the sephherd potrcetnig my rghietous ass in the vlaley of drkanses. Or it culod be yuo're the rghitoeus man and I'm the shpehred and it's the wrlod taht's eivl and slfeish. I'd lkie taht. But that siht ani't the tutrh. The turth is yuo're the waek. And I'm the trnnayy of eivl men. But I'm tyrin', Rnigo. I'm tyirn' rael hrad to be a shpheerd.

Original Article: http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/%7Emattd/Cmabrigde/

Be a man! Do the right thing!

I'm told by a friend that Russell Peters' "Be A Man" routine requires that you have an ethnic stake in it to enjoy it; you must either be Indian or Chinese. Well, I do have an ethnic stake in it. I found it hilarious the first time I saw it probably because Russell's imitation of the Chinese accent sounds exactly like my mom. Sorry Ma, I know you told me stop making fun of you, but I just can't help myself. Anyways, back to the main point - Is an ethnic stake required for someone to find this routine funny? Here's the video for you to decide for yourself:

Darth Vader and The Death Star according to Eddie Izzard

What does Darth Vader do when he's not kicking Jedi ass? Does Darth Vader eat? Does anyone on the Death Star eat? Does the Death Star have a cafeteria? George Lucas never answered any of these questions. Why? Because he knew Eddie Izzard would tell us:

My Favorite Linebacker, Terrible Terry Tate

I know the Terry Tate Office Linebacker commercials are old and I've watched them a million times, but I find still them extremely hilarious. Here are all the ones I know about:

Terry Tate Office Linebacker - One-Minute Version



Terry Tate Office Linebacker - Full-Length Version



Terry Tate Office Linebacker - Sensitivity Training



Terry Tate On Vacation



Terry Tate Draft Day



OSPN's Office Athlete of the Century - Terry Tate



Terry Tate Takes Out Streaker

My ridiculous British accent reminds me of a comedy routine by Russell Peters

My coworker told me that from time to time they can hear a slight British accent in my speech. I told them, "Dude, that like totally doesn't make sense. I like totally grew up in California, Dude." If anything it would be a Californian accent. They disagreed. They then thought that it was maybe because of the time I spent in Hong Kong. I straighten them out again, "Dude, you're smoking pot. Spending 3 summers in Hong Kong would not give me anything close to a British accent." So they proceeded to ask me to say a whole bunch of phrases hoping that my slight British accent would appear. That's never going to work. Everything they throw at me at from this point on won't work because I'm self-conscious now. I personally think my coworkers are working too hard. Anyways, this exchange reminded me of this Russell Peters comedy routine about the British accent:

Greenwashing: Is it really green or it is just marketing?

It's hip to be green these days. More and more businesses are providing consumers with green products. Slap the green eco-friendly label on it and it'll selling like gang-busters. Unfortunately this leaves truly green-conscious folks with a dilemma:

Is it really green or is it just marketing?

I recently heard from a radio show that we as consumers can go to TerriChoice at http://www.terrachoice.com/greenwash to determine for ourselves if a product is truly green. Here's an executive summary of the 6 criterion they suggestion we use:

1. Hidden Trade-Off - Paints a product greener than it really is
   
2. No Proof - Green claims that cannot be substantiated
   
3. Vagueness - Green claims so poorly defined that the real meaning is lost
   
4. Irrelevance - Green claims that are true, but are unimportant
   
5. Fibbing - Making false green claims
   
6. Lesser of Two Evils - Green claims that misleads consumers away from the true issue.
   

These criterion are what they call the sins of greenwashing - the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service. To get more details on each of the 6 greenwashing sins, download their PDF from their website. You can also report a greenwashed product by mailing greenwashing@terrachoice.com which also can be done from their website.

A website like this is good for everyone - the consumers and the corporations - because it allows the consumer to become more aware and educated. It also allows corporations to be held accountable and to understand what it takes to make a truly green product.

In any case, stuff like this starts always starts with the consumers. Educate yourself. Demand more from the corporations. If they fail the live up to your demands, report them so that they can improve.

Who do you think you are?

A friend forwarded a "Personality Test" to me. It's titled:

What type are YOU?

Follow the above url and you will find a series of shapes. Click on the shape you find most appealing. It's supposed to tell you what type of personality you have. Give it a try. The key is to be instinctive, don't think too much. Just choose. This will give you the most accurate result. Most of you will probably go through each shape one by one using a friggin mathematical equation to determine what is the most logical choice. Don't do this. You're only lying to yourself. This is a touchy-feely thing - not friggin quantum mechanics! Go with your instincts.

I took the test first and then I forwarded it to my wife. We both ended up choosing the same shape. Now before all ya'll give me your, "Awww that's so cute you guys must be soul-mates" nonsense (I will puke if I hear you say something like this) know that we chose the brightest and therefore the most eye-catching form. It's hard to imagine how anyone would choose any other one. At least my wife and I both stayed true to the point of the test. We both picked our choices within a few seconds after seeing the shapes. Anyways, the shape that we both chose shows that we are carefree, playful and cheerful.

Really? You think? I never would have guess...

Give it a try and tell me your results.

My Buddy's Theory: Bars play 80's music when it's about to close because...

I was in San Francisco's Sunset district sorta bar hopping with my 2 buddies, Wanger and Chang. I say "sorta" because we went to a grand total of 2 bars and I did not have any alcohol because I was under the weather. I know - sounds lame. Stuff like this happens after you're hitched, but not all was lost. You see, the 3 of us haven't seen each other in a while and Chang made a rare visit from SoCal. I couldn't pass up a good chance like this to give them a nice Christmas gift; MY FLU. Only the best for my buds.

As I said, I couldn't have any alcohol, but I could definitely live vicariously through them so I bought them a round and watched them enjoy it while I had my Coke with no ice. After catching up with each other for a good while, the bar suddenly started blasting Michael Jackson's "Beat It". Wanger immediately cut off whatever random conversation that was going on and said to me, "You know bars play 80's music when it's about to close."

I've never done much bar hopping so I didn't really understand his point - I had to ask, "Why's that?" Wanger explained, "They want to everyone to start singing." Chang interrupted, "It's like the climax of a show. They play 80's music." Wanger continued, "It's like those Irish pubs with their soccer songs."

They didn't answer my question; Why 80's music?

So I proceeded to ask, "So 5 to 10 years later they'll be playing 90s music, right?" Wanger replied, "Nah, there's just something about 80s music that gets everyone to sing along."

You see, just about every conversation with my buddies are of this nature - circular and inconsequential. What else can I do? Whip out my iPhone and pull up Google to find out why? It was a perfectly senseless and meaningless point that had already gone on too long. Any further effort to discover a rhyme or reason on this matter was just a waste of time. Whatever, I'll bite....

And just as I was about to buy into this BS, Wanger continued, "Yeah, bars were doing this even during the 70's. They were playing 80's music to call it a night even back then."

Alright buddy, hand over the car keys...

It's Not Soda Pop. It's Java Pop!

During one of my trips to Whole Foods, I saw this drink called Java Pop in the drink isle.

According to the Java Pop, Inc. website, Java Pop is the world's first USDA Organic Fair Trade Certified Coffee Soda.

Huh? Ok USDA Organic - I know what that is. Fair Trade Certified? I didn't know that this applies to something like coffee soda. So I assume I can purchase an unfair trade certified version? how about a fair trade uncertified version? oh oh or maybe even an unfair trade uncertified version?

Dude, it's just coffee soda.

Anyways, sounds funky doesn't it? Funky enough for my wife and I to give it a try. My wife loves coffee. She must have her morning cup of coffee. I don't drink coffee, but I love everything coffee flavored, particular any type of coffee ice cream.

I ended up finishing most of the 4-pack myself. My wife did not like it at all. In hindsight, it was not unexpected since she's more of a coffee purist. I, on the other hand, enjoyed it. Yes, it is funky. Yes, it is strange. The coffee flavor and carbonation combination initially throws one for a loop, but that's part of it's uniqueness. It is indeed a very unique soda - The first coffee soda I've ever had.

Mom's Words of Wisdom

It's Friday night. My wife and I were both preparing dinner. We were also babysitting our niece. She was getting a little restless so I whipped out our secret weapon - the dancing baby video. She totally loves this video. As expected, it calmed her down. But as with any child her age, we had to keep play this video over and over and over again. Unless you've been living under rock, you already know that this video has a baby dancing to the "Hooked on a Feeling" tune. My wife and I basically listened to this song while preparing dinner. After a while I got into the rhythm and started singing along at the top of my lungs. A funny thing happened not too long after that...

My wife said to me, "Can you just be quiet?"
I turned towards her and jokingly said, "Honey, I am singing for you."
I smiled and continued, "I'm just trying to be romantic."
My wife replied, "I'm tired. I'm in no mood to be romantic. I just want some peace and quiet."

This little exchange reminded me of something my mother said to me years ago - it was during a period of my life where I was bouncing from one girlfriend to another and my mother was disappointed that I refused to settle down with one.

My mother told me that if I want to keep a women, romantic little tricks don't work. I had to show them I'm mature, stable, reliable, and dependable. She told me dad used to serenade her all the time, it was quite romantic then....

but these days anything romantic amounts to fart (in chinese pin yin: xian zai lang man suan ge pi), I just consider his songs a passing breeze (in chinese pin yin: wo jiu dang ta de ge er bian feng)

How true my mom's words ring about a decade later.

My Highly Ineffective Brain

I came across this article a while back:

The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains

and I finally understand why I'm a total tard. Here is the executive summary of the article:

1. Use it or Lose it
2. Nutrition
3. Exercise Your Body
4. Stay Positive
   
5. Challenge Your Brain
6. Aim High
7. Explore and Travel
   
8. Make Your Own Decisions
9. Stimulating Friendships
10. Laugh Often

Doesn't look good for me.

1st habit (Use it or Lose it) and 5th habit (Challenge your brain). I watch too much sports on TV and when I'm not doing that I'm blogging or watching a senseless movie like South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut. Too much passive stimulation so 1st and 5th habit are definitely out.

2nd habit (Nutrition). I love my ice cream, fat of the steak, krispy kremes, etc. No nutrition either.

3rd habit (Exercise your body). Used to be true - I used to exercise regularly, but definitely not recently.

4th habit (Stay positive). I stay positive until things get rough then I start blaming everything on my wife. Scratch this one off the list.

6th habit (Aim High). Yes! I aim high very often, but so far I'm missed badly every time I've aimed high. Scratch this one as well.

7th habit (Explore and Travel). I enjoy exploring and traveling to different places. I think about exploring and traveling to different places, but I can't miss the Patriots going 16-0 in the regular season or 49ers getting a 1st down. Still nothing.

8th habit (Make your own decisions). I don't even need to answer this one. I'm completely lost without my wife as described in a past blog entry. Still nadda.

9th habit (Stimulating friendships). At the rate I'm alienating everyone on this blog, friendship is definitely out of the question.

Only one more left...

1oth habit (Laugh often). Yes! I finally have one. I definitely laugh often, very often...at my own stupidity.

Conclusion - I have a highly ineffective brain...

Not all is lost, I did learn something from this...

Mom and Dad, you're off the hook. It's not your fault I'm a complete idiot. Don't blame yourself for my complete failure at everything I do. I'm sure your genes are great. I just never utilized them. You are great parents, but I just never listened. As you can tell, most of my retardation is due to my own bad habits. It's actually because my wife pampers me so often that I never get to practice any of the good habits describe above. So really. Mom. Dad. It's not your fault. It's my wife's fault. It's your daughter-in-law's fault. Blame it on her.

Honey, sorry to out you like this, but my highly ineffective brain doesn't allow me to realize that I'm treading on thin ice until it's too late...

The original article: http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2007/08/22/10-habits-of-highly-effective-brains/

A bag of hot coffee, please ...

This morning, I went through the drive through at the Burger King in Brentwood, CA (the one in the SF Bay Area, not the one that O.J. is from), and I ordered a large coffee. So, I go to the window and pay for the coffee. The girl then hands me the coffee in, get this, a paper bag. Is that the stupidest thing you ever heard? Then the conversation goes like this:

Me: "You can keep the bag."
Her: "I have to give it to you in the bag."
Me: "Why?"
Her: "That's the rules".
Me: "Why?"
Her: "In case it spills".

I don't know if this is Burger King's corporate policy, or if it is just the policy of this one Burger King, but it just seems wrong. Who serves drinks in bags? It's a waste of paper. In this age of conservation, someone should sue Burger King for wasting paper.

Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

An awesome farmers market can be found just behind the Ferry Building in San Francisco. It's called the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. It's there for 2 days a week: Tuesday 10am - 2pm and Saturday 8am - 2pm. The thing I love most about any farmers market is that I can graze my way through an assortment of fruits, vegetables, and anything that happens to catch my fancy at the time. The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market is not your typical farmers market. It is perfectly situated at the edge of the pier so that anyone can enjoy a beautiful view of the bay and the ocean breeze while shoving something delicious down their throat. There are just as many stands that offer prepared meals as there are that offer produce. This farmers market is the closely thing I've found in the Bay Area to the night markets that litter all the cities of Asia. There's nothing, I mean NOTHING, that beats eating your way through a night market. That's why this one is special in my book.

Here are some of the highlights of my experience at this farmers market:

Roli Roti's Porchetta Sandwich


I cannot tell you how good this sandwich is - all I can say is I'm a complete drooling idiot when I watch Thomas, the owner (I'm assuming), prepare my sandwich. He'll ask you, "Authentic style?" Just say "Yes", otherwise he'll tell you to go away. He'll rub the Focaccia-like bread in the juices from the roasted pork on the chopping board. He'll cut up several slices of the roast pork and put it on the bread. He'll finish up by adding caramelized onion and some garnish. Voila, the Porchetta sandwich is ready to go.


Capt'n Mike's Lox Sandwich


They have a few varieties of lox. In my opinion all are worth trying. The thing about Capt'n Mike is they keep it simple and to the point. They focus on quality and you can definitely taste it. These Lox sandwich are served as open sandwiches. The bread they use is artisan quality. The lox is accompanied by the organic vegetable of the day (I've had it with tomatoes, grilled bell peppers, and onions) and cream cheese. You can choose from White Lox, Red Lox, and Albacore Tuna Lox. You just can't go wrong having a lox sandwich in an environment like this - the bay, the pier, and the golden gate bridge all right there. Just beautiful.

Hayes Street Grill's Salmon BLT

Ok, I actually haven't had a chance to try their Salmon BLT, because every friggin time I line up for it, they will slap the "Sold Out" sign on it before I actually get to the front of the line to order it. I've seen what this Salmon concoction looks like. I know what it smells like. Based on those two data points I know what I'm missing. The fact that it ran out on me more than once is really really upsetting. There's no doubt in my mind that the next time I'm at this farmers market, the Hayes Street Grill stand is the one I hit first. I also know that when I finally get to sink my mouth into this thing of beauty that I will not be disappointed. I better not be. I've waited too long for this Salmon BLT.

Too Much Stuff To Remember


This farmers market is huge compared to the one in my neighborhood and therefore has a much wider variety of things to eat. Honestly, there just too many things to remember. The Lox Sandwich, the Porchetta sandwich, and the Salmon BLT are things that I remember, but I guaranteed that it's only a small sample of my entire experience. The truth is I tried so many different samples of fruits, vegetables, and everything in between that I can go without lunch because I just start in grazing in the morning until the early afternoon.

If you have never been to the Ferry Building's Farmers Market before I highly recommend you go. If you've been there or you're a regular attendee I'm very interested to hear your recommendations and experience.

Ferry Building Farmers Market Information:
http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/farmers_market.php

Good Twin Evil Twin: Steve Nash and Liam Gallagher

Is it just me or could Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns and Liam Gallagher of the rock band Oasis be long lost twin?

See image below:



Just in case you couldn't tell the difference the one that looks completely drugged out (on the left) is Liam and the other is (on the right) is Steve.

Steve Nash's Bio:

• Fearless floor leader of the fastest basketball team on the planet
• Overall basketball stud
• Has eyes on the back of his head
  
• 2-time NBA MVP
• Involved in a few different charity organizations and founded the Steve Nash Foundation to help underprivileged youth

Liam Gallagher's Bio:

• Lead singer for Rock Band Oasis
• Enjoys getting drunk and then getting into fights
• Enjoys cocaine
• Penchant for violent outbursts
  
• Punching photograhers
  
• Penchant for flipping off people and anything in general
• Recently branded U2 as "Wankers"

Conclusion - Liam is the evil twin and Steve is the good twin.

Steve:



Liam:

Technology Bubble 2.0

This is an absolutely hilarious video about the "second wave" of technology innovation that's going on in Silicon Valley.

Illegal Black Market Transactions

My friend received this hilarious message in his spam folder:

------ Forwarded Message
From: Black market <XXX- EMAIL OMITTED -XXX>
Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:19:18 +0100
To: [XX - EMAIL ADDRESS OMITTED - XX]
Subject: [POSSIBLE SPAM] Black market

Black market is online again !

1. Heroin, in liquid and crystal form.
2. Rocket fuel and Tomohawk rockets (serious enquiries only).
3. Other rockets (Air-to-Air), orders in batches of 10.
4. New shipment of cocaine has arrived, buy 9 grams and get 10th for free.
5. We also offer gay-slaves for sale, we offer only such service on the NET,
you can choose the one you like, then get straight to business.
6. Fake currencies, such as Euros and US dollars, prices would match competition.
7. Also, as always, we offer widest range of [XX - OMITTED -XX] and exclusive lolita galleries, to keep out clients busy.

Everyone is welcome, be it in States or any other place worldwide.

ATTENTION. Clearance offer. Buy 30 grams of heroin, get 5 free.
Prepay your batch of rockets (air-to-air) and recieve a portable rocket-lacuncher.

For security reasons, please email me if you want to get address of our online shop.
XXX- EMAIL OMITTED -XXX

------ End of Forwarded Message

This is too funny. "Black Market" has every illegal business covered. I can just imagine the conversation between Black Market and a potential buyer...

Buyer calls Black Market and Black Market Customer Service Representative (CSR) picks up the phone...

CSR: Good afternoon sir. Thank you for calling Black Market. My name is John Doe. I will be your customer service representative today. How can I help you?
Buyer: Hi, I saw your promotional clearance offer - buy 30 grams of heroin and get 5 grams free. Put me in for 60 grams.
CSR: Ok. While I'm inputting your heroin order, can I interest you in some Tomahawk rockets for any potential terrorist endeavors?
Buyer: You carry Tomahawks? Well, in that case, I'll take 5 of them.
CSR: Sorry sir, We can only take orders in batches of 10. We need to know you are a serious buyer. Terrorism should not be taken lightly.
Buyer: Of course. In that case, let's make it 20 Tomahawks.
CSR: Great! I'll start putting in the order right now. While I'm doing that sir, can I interest you in a sex slaves? We are currently offering such services exclusively through the Internet, but my manager told me that I can offer it to buyers who buy 10 or more Tomahawks. Interested?
Buyer: Hmmm, you know I don't really need the 10 free grams of heroin from my 60 gram purchase. Can I exchange it for a sex slave?
CSR: Let me ask my manager. Please hold sir.
[....elevator music....]
CSR: Thank you for holding sir. My manager said that we can only do the exchange for a sex slave on purchases of 120 grams of heroin or more.
Buyer: Ok, put me in for 120 grams of heroin.
CSR: No problemo. What type of sex slave are you looking for, sir?
Buyer: Gay Asian male.
CSR: Ok sir, let me do a quick check against our database to see what's available
Buyer: Ok
CSR: Ok, we have 2 possible matches. It looks like we have a gay male 5 foot 9 inches of Asian ancestry ready for delivery in 2 months. We also have a straight male 5 foot 6 inches of mixed Asian ancestry ready to be shipped out tomorrow. Which one do you want sir?
Buyer: I want the gay one, but I don't want to wait 2 months...
CSR: Sir, these guys are your "slaves". You can do whatever you want with them.
Buyer: Hmmm. My concern with the straight one is he lacks "experience"
CSR: I understand your concern. They're professionals. They're quick learners. Furthermore, you can mentor them. Think of the mentoring as foreplay.
Buyer: That's a very good point - I'll take the straight one then.
CSR: Ok sir, is there anything else I can help you with today?
Buyer: Nope, I think that's it.
CSR: Ok sir, I am confirming your order for 20 Tomahawk rockets and 120 grams of heroin with a complementary Asian male sex slave.
Buyer: Sounds good.
CSR: And since you are our first callers of the day we will be throwing in a free trial packet of fake Euros.
Buyer: Great!
CSR: Please bring the cash to the secret location for the transaction. We will call you back in an hour to tell you where that is.
Buyer: Ok. Thanks a lot for your help!
CSR: No problem sir. Black Market would like to thank you for business. You have a good day sir.
Buyer: Thanks. Bye.
CSR: Bye.

It's so good that I'd rather not eat anything else

I just finished dinner. My wife did it again. She channeled Julia Child and made something so amazing that I just didn't want to eat anything else. It was so good that I was in no mood to share any of it with anyone. It was so good that I just wanted to be left alone while I was eating it. It was so good that when my wife asked me to try another dish she made I just ignored her. It was so good that when my wife told me she thought another dish was better and I considered putting her in the doghouse that she usually puts me in. It was so good that I had to blog about it.

She made African Tilapia Soup. I so love my wife when she does stuff like this...

Alright folks enough of the sales pitch. Pay attention. Here's the important part. The recipe. Hey Mom and Dad this recipe is for you guys in particular because I know you will definitely enjoy and it's particularly appropriate for this cold weather we are currently have.

1. Pan sear 1 live and fresh African Tilapia (Fei Zhou Ce Yu) on both sides until it's golden.
2. Put the Tilapia in a cooking pot
3. Add enough hot water so that the entire Tilapia is completely submerged
   
4. Add 5 cloves of garlic
5. Add 3 slices of ginger
6. Boil it for 5 minutes
7. Add one rice bowl worth of chinese sauerkraut or pickled cabbage (suan cai)
   
8. Add one rice bowl worth of wood ear (mu er)
9. Boil for 20 more minutes
10. Add a few pinch of salt
    

That's it. It's ready to be eaten.

Bon Appetit!

Good Niece Evil Niece

In my continuing effort to alienate my sister-in-law and my wife (cross reference my previous blog entries: My Two Wives and Highlights from my niece's birthday party), I will tell everyone that I believe my niece has multiple personalities: Good Niece and Evil Niece. The Good niece is the one that makes me say, "Awww, she so cute. Honey, you think we can take it home for couple of days?" The Evil Niece is the one that makes me say, "What the @%*$ is she whining about? Why the @%*$ won't she shut up?!"

Which one am I going to get? When am I going to get which one? How can I keep Evil Niece at bay?

Here are some past situations of how Good Niece becames Evil Niece:

Situation 1 - Yellow Submarine

My wife and I borrowed our niece and headed to Brentwood, CA for a fruit picking trip. It's a long drive from where we live so we had to make sure we had something to keep her entertained and occupied. A Beatles CD should do it. She enjoyed most of the Beatles songs, but the one that she really fell in love with was Yellow Submarine so we replayed it for her, but this time we made it a sing-along so she can learn it. Boy did she pick it up fast. Smart little thing - The Good Niece is still the dominant personality. She's laughing and singing with no whining or crying in sight. Unfortunately that was the only song she wanted to listen to from that point on and we were still quite far from Brentwood. Enter Evil Niece. We had to do a sing-along to Yellow Submarine for over an hour. I wanted to put a bullet in my head after 30 minutes. After 40 minutes, the thought of throwing her out the car crossed my mind. In the end, thanks to Evil Niece, I now hate Yellow Submarine. The only time I would consider playing it is if Evil Niece throws a temper tantrum and I know that's the only way to calm her down.

Situation 2 - Dancing Baby Video

It's the Thanksgiving weekend. My sister-in-law and her niece are staying over at my place. Good Niece decided to come and play with Uncle JS. I just happen to have the famous Dancing Baby Video handy and I decided to play it for her. Good Niece thought it was the funniest thing in the world and started singing along and mimicking the baby's dancing. I had my wife and my sister-in-law come over to watch Good Niece do her thing. We all thought she was so cute. Can you guess what happened next? Enter Evil Niece. For the rest of the Thanksgiving weekend, every time there was a chance she would come by and start singing, "I can't stop this feeling..." and wanted me to show her the dancing baby video. I'm taking a nap and she wakes me up to ask me, "Show me dancing baby video". I'm watching football and she wants dancing baby video. I'm blogging, she comes up to me...dancing baby video. I'm working in the backyard, she comes out to find, dancing baby video. I'm in the bathroom, "knock knock", dancing baby video. The low point of the whole thing - Imagine my niece, my wife, and I singing and dancing to the dancing baby video. Imagine that. Imagine my hips trying to move like that baby. Yeah, that's pretty embarrassing isn't it.

Situation 3 - Apple Juice

It's 10pm at night. I'm driving home after a full day of activities. My wife, my sister-in-law, and Good Niece are all in the car. My sister-in-law mentioned that Good Niece like to drink apple juice. That's a good thing. Apple juice is good for her. Auntie and Uncle will make you some homemade apple juice when we get home. Enter Evil Niece, "I don't like your apple juice. I don't want to drink your apple juice. I want the apple juice just like home." Ummm, it's 10pm and there's no place to get the crappy Costco sugar water pretending to be "apple juice" that you like. Just like that the whining begins and it did not stop. It's a like a bloody broken record, "waaah apple juice, waaah apple juice..." Mommy chimes in once in a while to tell Evil Niece that there's no way to get apple juice at this time of the night. "waaah apple juice, waah apple juice..." I tell my wife to find the Beatles' Yellow Submarine CD. No luck. "waaah, apple juice, waah, apple juice..." I pick up a scarf, make it into a ball, and tell my sister-in-law to stuff it down Evil Niece's throat. My sister-in-law gives me a dirty look. "waaah, apple juice, waaah, apple juice..." Ok, ok, ok, Uncle JS will show you the dancing baby video when we get home. "waaah, apple juice, waaah, apple juice..." This went on for about 30 minutes, but it felt like 30 hours. The thought of throwing Evil Niece out of the car crosses my mind again.

I give up. The next time my niece is coming to my place I'll make sure I have some apple juice stored away in the frig...

and dearest sister-in-law, here are the videos your daughter loves so much. You can now play it for her anytime she wants - your baby doesn't have to ask Uncle JS to play it for her anymore.

Yellow Submarine:



Dancing Baby:

I'm Rock-N-Roll

My wife recently found a new hair stylist. She did a great job on my wife's hair so I figured I'd give her a try as well. We usually share the same hair stylist for the sake of the two-hearts-beat-as-one til-death-us-part crap.

My previous hair stylist would never cut my hair the way I wanted. I would ask him to cut my hair shorter and he would refuse to do it. He would say, "You don't look good with short hair so I'm not doing it." I'd put up with it because the bush on my head would actually look decent after he's done with it and he gives a great head massage while shampooing my hair. The problem was after 2 months I'd start to look like I have a mullet (in case you didn't know - having a mullet is not something to be proud of) and since my wife's changing hair stylists, I figured I'd do the same.

The first positive thing I noticed about my wife's new hair stylists is she's a she. I'd much prefer a female playing around with my hair, particular when it comes to a head massage if you know what I mean. She asked me how would I like my haircut. During this exchange I realize she doesn't speak English very well - this hair salon mainly served Koreans and I don't speak Korean - so I decide to keep it simple and told her to clean it up, but keep the same style.

As she starts working on my hair, we are making small talk like all hair stylists and their clients do. She's very friendly - I try to joke a little with her, but the cultural barrier makes it a little bit difficult. She doesn't want to be rude and gives me a polite laugh here and there - like I said she's very friendly. I also begin to notice that she's pretty good looking as well. Things are beginning look like I'm going to have a new hair stylist. I figured if I spend more time staring at her instead of myself in the mirror, she won't know that I'm a self-absorbed ego-maniac until it's too late.

As she's finishing up, I noticed that she didn't do much to the hair just above my ears. I said to her, "The sides are still long. Make them shorter." She replied with her broken English, "No, no, don't look good short. Grow longer. I will curl later." I thought I misunderstood the last part - "I will curl later". She proceeded to plug the curling iron into the power outlet. I'm thinking I must've misunderstood her, there's no way she's using a curling iron on a man - it's never been done before. She then proceeded to shampoo and blow dry my hair and I began to think that the curling iron thing was just my misunderstanding. After she was done with that, she picked up the curling iron and started curling my hair. No way! She began with curling the back and finished by curling the sides. There was no misunderstanding.

I tried so hard to keep myself from laughing while she was doing this. Once I was done, my wife saw me and a look of confusion covered her face. She wanted to laugh too. I told her, "Don't laugh. Just pay the bill and let's get out of here. Tip the hair stylist extra. This is one of the funniest thing that happened all week." As soon as we made it out of the hair salon we both burst into laughter. My wife said, "You look like a girl!" and I responded, "Oh my god honey, I was biting my tongue to stop myself from laughing the whole time."

After we got into my car, my wife wanted to fix my hair, but I wouldn't let her because we were going to visit my folks and I wanted them to see it. I looked too funny for them to miss this.

Once I stepped into my folk's house, everyone was like, "Did you get a hair cut?" Not the reaction I was expecting. Where was the laughter? Then my brother walked into the room and saw me. First thing out of his mouth was, "Dude, you look that guy in the rock band, Liam Gallagher of Oasis."

Apparently, my curls had "calmed down" to a point where I don't look like a girl anymore, but more like a wannabe rockstar. Here are the pictures for you to decide for yourself.

Me:


Rock Star:


Note the captions above the images just in case you cannot tell the difference because I'm so Rock-N-Roll right now.

Ok, I definitely do not look as cool or as drugged out as him. Nevertheless, it's close enough. I have a new hair stylist now because, in my mind, she makes me look like a rock star.

Dude, I'm Rock-N-Roll...

Honey, we need to talk....

Wife,

We need to talk. I recently found this article: The 5 Surprising Symptoms of Infidelity and I want you to hear it from me first. According to this article the 5 symptoms of infidelity are:

1. He doesn't pay his bills on time
   
2. He's a do-gooder
   
3. He's rolling in the dough
   
4. He's a yeller
   
5. He's a mirror hog
   

Honey, look at the list and I think you'll agree that the only one that doesn't apply to me is "3. He's rolling in the dough". I personally think this article is rubbish. Pure rubbish because I love you and I would never be unfaithful to you. My opinion on this matter is the final word - there will be no further discussions.

By the way, I'll be working late tonight and I won't be home for dinner - something came up at the last minute. Don't wait up for me.

Love ya...

My Two Wives

My sister-in-law and her daughter stayed at my place during the Thanksgiving weekend. I was actually looking forward to this because I enjoy having more people around during any event that involves major feasting.

A quick note before I continue - My sister-in-law and I get along very well and I'm going to attempt to ruin that right now just like I did with this blog entry about her daughter

It's Thanksgiving morning. I did not set the alarm clock. There's no need. I was awakened by a frantically ringing door bell this particular morning. It's my sister-in-law. She just arrived at our house. Apparently she wants us to let her in. How self-centered. I stumbled out of my bed and tried to put on some clothes. I'm still half asleep and I almost ate it a couple of times trying to put on my pants while I'm screaming at the top of my lungs, "Hold on! I hear you! I'm on my way!" She continues to ring the door bell frantically. I finally open the door and she see my bed-head and my barely-opened eyes and said, "Why are you still asleep? Took you long enough to get the door. You know, it's freezing outside."

No I didn't, because I was nice and warm in bed until you woke me up, thank you very much...and Happy Thanksgiving to you too sis.

Not too long after that, everyone was getting ready to start the day. My wife and my sister-in-law were both working out the plan for the next few days and I was preparing to clean the hardwood floors. As I was prepping things I heard my sister-in-law make a comment to my wife, "JS is such a good husband to help you with the house chores." My wife immediately replies, "He's just doing it for show because you're here today. This is the first time he's done anything like this."

I'm flabbergasted - that's a flat out lie. Obviously, my wife was being sarcastic. Regardless, I felt a strong urge to defend myself by telling everyone that my wife and I decided the night before that I'm cleaning the hardwood floors and she's preparing the Thanksgiving dinner because the other way around would be a complete disaster.

Well, the sisters smelled blood and it's a sign of things to come.

Before lunch even rolled around, they had taken away what little power I had left. They both were ganging up on me on just about everything. If I said something and my wife disagreed with me, they both would disagree with me. If I did something and my sister-in-law didn't like it, the both of them wouldn't like it. Dear god, they were tag-teaming me any chance they could.

They're having way too much fun.

Ok, I get it - a wife is supposed to make their husband feel completely incompetent. I know it's a time-honored tradition among married women, but I now have two married women in my house making me feel like a complete retard. Slowly, but surely I begin to realized what I've signed up for...

Two Wives for Thanksgiving.

I feel sick. Let me tell you, there's nothing to give thanks about. By letting my sister-in-law stay with us for the next several days I've effectively gained additional responsibilities without any of the benefits. To make matters worse there's a whining little 5 year old involved!

I realized the predicament I'm in so I resort to the only option any reasonable man can come up with - I completely withdraw from any social interaction with them by pretending like I'm doing something really important. This plan works for about 30 minutes until everyone begins to settle into their chores for the day. My wife is in the kitchen preparing our Thanksgiving dinner. My sister-in-law is in the living room babysitting her daughter and helping out my wife as required.

Suddenly my wife calls out to me from the kitchen, "Honey, can you help me find a scissor? There should be one in the bathroom."

I purposely do not answer for fear that the both of them will use this as opportunity to gang up on me again. I try to sneak out into the backyard, but suddenly I hear another voice repeat the same thing, "Honey, can you help me find a scissor? There should be one in the bathroom." This voice didn't come from the kitchen. It came from the living room. It's my sister-in-law.

Dude...

The both of them do this for the rest of the Thanksgiving weekend. I hear everything that starts with "Honey" twice.

"Honey, can you take out the garbage?" Two seconds later I hear an echo, "Honey, can you take out the garbage?"

"Honey, can you clean this up?" Two seconds later, I hear an echo, "Honey, can you clean this up?"

Very friggin funny...

Sister-in-law's husband - I know why you were out-of-town. You've been married for a while now. You've probably been there and saw this coming. I took one for the team. You owe me.

Other family members who's reading this and can't believe I painted my wife and my sister-in-law in such a negative light - Go ahead tell them about what I've written. Tell all the other family members that I went overboard with this. I dare you. I'm empowered. I'm a bloody blogger. I've got stuff on you too and I can be very prolific.

Cringe Worthy: A Man-Cupid As A Ringbearer

Now I'm not one to take a cheap shot at stuff like this, but I'm making an exception for this one because it's just too good to pass up. My wife showed me this posting on liba.com's forum:

http://bbs.sh.liba.com/topic.php?forumId=48&topicId=2014768&page=26

A lady posted the pictures of her recent wedding ceremony here. She also described the dialogue and the sequence of each event in detail. My wife and I were cringing as we read through these postings. It's actually a lot like watching Ricky Gervais in The Office or Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm except this is real. These folks actually though this was a good idea. The posting is completely in Chinese. If you know how to read Chinese, click on the link above to see how cringe-worthy this wedding was. If you don't know how to read Chinese or you don't wish to waste your time, just check out this picture from the wedding:



(click here to see the original posting with the above image)

A picture is worth a thousand words. This picture basically sums up what's wrong with the wedding - They had a Man-Cupid as the Ringbearer!

I'm speechless...

Check out the dude sitting just left of the Man-Cupid. Look at his expression. He's like, "What the hell? It's the Archangel Gabriel! Wait, no, it's a friggin Man-Cupid Ringbearer! What the @#$%?! I knew it! I knew the bride and groom were licking acid while planning this wedding. I can't believe I'm related to these frigtards. Oh god! The photographer just took a picture of me with this ridiculous Man-Cupid and the bride's gonna put this image on the Internet so every idiot blogger can make fun of me."

My wife and I were laughing so hard when we saw this picture that we both realized that I needed to blog this.

The worst crepe I've ever eaten and I blame it on my wife

We are in Walnut Creek, CA. My wife and I just finished dinner. We had Japanese. This place was horrible so I was still itching to get some decent eats. I was not happy. During our stroll back to the car, I began lecturing her (actually it was more like whining) about how we should never go to restaurants that are in the Entertainment Book, "Honey, these restaurants are in the Entertainment Book because they suck. The only way they can get customers in the door is with discount coupons. We're not buying these books again. It's a waste of money. Wait, we should buy it so we know which ones to avoid..."

I'm on a roll. I'm excelling at being a total brat. I'm going on and on and on and just as my wife was going to plug her ears I fall silent. My jaw drops to the ground because I see Crepes A Go Go.

We didn't have dessert yet!

I am a Buddhist reaching Nirvana. I am a Muslim at Mecca. I am a Christian standing on a beach who just saw Mother Mary in the billowing waves. I AM A MAN WHO JUST HAD A CRAPPY DINNER AND REALIZED HE CAN SALVAGE THE NIGHT WITH A GOOD DESSERT!

I love Crepes A Go Go - particular the one in San Francisco. It's time to give the one in Walnut Creek a try. I think I started skipping. I turned to my wife and said, "Honey we are having crepe for dessert." She replied, "I don't like dessert crepe, besides I'm too full right now."

I did the right thing - I ignored her and dragged her into Crepes A Go Go. I ordered a Fresh Strawberries Nutella Crepe. I asked her what she wanted and she said, "I told you I'm not eating anything..."

Fine, your loss honey...

We sat down and the waitress brought us the crepe.

I am Al Gore winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

I started digging into the crepe. I was tearing it apart and shoving it down my throat like a lion who's having his first meal in a month. I am the King of the Beast. Then I realized something - I was the only one with a Nutella goatee. My wife looked completely dejected watching me eat. I wiped off my goatee and offered her a piece.

She looked at me and said, "I told you I'm too full to eat anything right now and I also told you I do not like dessert crepe."

What?! Are you high?! You don't like dessert crepe?!

Of course I didn't say that to her, but it's what I was thinking. I insisted and proceeded to offer her a piece of the crepe again. She just shook her head and I realized something...

It doesn't matter how good the food is if I can't share it with my wife - it's only good if I can enjoy it with loved ones. The crepe didn't taste good anymore. I couldn't take another bite.

Thanks wife. You totally ruined it for me. I am a cockroach trying to making my way in this world and you just crushed me with your sandals.

[Crepes A Go Go: 1432 N. Main St., Walnut Creek, CA 94596, (925) 944-5790]

I can do it too? Really? Yeah right...

I've read Tim Ferriss's The 4-Hour Work Week - I personally think what he has to say is very interesting and very doable. He recently gave a quick discussion about how to learn any language in 1 hour on his blog: How to Learn (But Not Master) Any Language in 1 Hour (Plus: A Favor)

Ok, what is Tim smoking? I can do it too? Really? Yeah right...

Actually, this thing is classic Tim Ferriss. I guess he's serious. Well, I'm trying to learn Spanish anyways. It would be nice to get past "hola", "adios", "gracias", "cerveza por favor" and "donde esta el bano?". I'll give it a try. I'll let you know how it goes.

Saving A Turkey With A Sacrificial Lamb

Thanksgiving 2007, we decided to pass on the turkey and go with a leg of lamb. There's at least one happy turkey out there somewhere...

My wife's original idea was to put a twist on Qaubili Pilau, a classic Afghani dish, by burying an entire leg of lamb instead cubes of lamb in the basmati rice.

Ooooh Yeeeah, that sounds awesome!

However, I inadvertently changed our plans. My father actually did exactly what she's talking about a few years back and I couldn't avoid mentioning this to her. I even went on to tell her that she should ask my father for the recipe. Well, she didn't take my advice too well. Apparently she felt that another family member stole her thunder. It's no longer an original idea - she didn't want to be a copycat and insisted that we do something else with the leg of lamb. Of course I'm quite upset that I won't be getting homemade Qaubili Pilau, but I resisted throwing a temper tantrum like my niece would do when we don't let her watch Dora The Explorer for 8 hours straight. I'm a mature adult after all, it would be really improper to throw a temper tantrum, so I just pouted for a few hours.

Apparently, pouting didn't change her mind so we, I mean, she decided to do something else; marinate the leg of lamb and roast it in the oven. Ok, that actually sounds really good so I turned my frown upside down.

Here's the recipe:

1) Marinate the leg of lamb in the following mixture for a day:

• chopped celery
• chopped onions
• chopped green onions
• chopped tomatoes
• chopped garlic
• chopped ginger
• Sichuan pepper and salt mixture (hua jiao)
  
• star anise (ba jiao)
  
• fennel seeds
• salt
• soy sauce
• cooking wine

2) Roast the leg of lamb in the oven for about 2.5 hours

3) Make some flour tortilla. It is vital that the flour tortilla is freshly made - this makes a big difference

4) Dice up some fresh cilantro

5) Slice up some fresh green onions

Slice the leg of lamb as thick or as thin as one prefers. It is served much like a traditional taco. Plop the lamb on the flour tortilla. Garnish it with as much green onion slices and diced cilantro as you want.

Voila, a roasted leg of lamb that is a fusion of Chinese, Mexican, and Afghani cooking influences for Thanksgiving.

Writing this is making me hungry....

Dear Boston, please send some of your Sports Mojo to San Francisco

Dear Boston, MA

We (San Francisco) envy you. Your recent success in professional sports can only be matched by our utter failure.

Your beloved Boston Red Sox recently won the World Series by crushing the Colorado Rockies 4-0. Since it seems inevitable that A-Rod will re-join the hated Yankees, they will just be good enough to not win the World Series which leaves the doors open for you guys. Your New England Patriots have captivated the entire sports nation with the march towards the perfect season. The worst that can happen is you may lose a game and be imperfect, but you will win your 4th Lombardi Trophy in 7 years barring any major injuries. Your Boston Celtics, after an initially rough offseason, landed Kevin Garnett hailing the 2nd coming of the Big Three immediately taking the team from bottom feeders to definite playoff and possible championship contender.

We, on the other hand, have the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A's - bottom feeders of their division last season. It will likely be the same next season. We had Barriod Bonds, but half of us never really cared for him anyways. The San Francisco 49ers are going to have yet another losing season. They are literally half a football team - they have no offensive. Have you ever tried to watch an entire Niners game this season? Don't bother it's painful. The Oakland Raiders are the Oakland Raiders. They don't even have enough fans to fill the stadium - most home games are blacked out on TV. To add insult to injury, the coach constantly tease the few but dedicated Raiders fans by not playing their number draft pick, JaMarcus Russell. And there's the Golden State Warriors. They gave us such high expectations by taking out the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs last season only to lose their first 6 games of the seasons landing them last in the Pacific standing. Guess who's next to last? You got it, the Sacramento Kings.

It's apparent that you, Boston, have all the Sports Mojo and we don't. Please share some of it with us. We could really use some right now.

In some sense you owe us. You might be asking us "Why?"

Well, here are 2 reasons:

1) Tom Brady



He grew up in San Mateo, CA. We raised him for you. Everyone compares him to Joe Montana because he probably grew up watching him. Boston, he is your poster boy for all the winning in your part of town because he learned from the best - Joe Montana.

2) Randy Moss



We did you a big favor with Randy. We filtered all the bad stuff out his system in Oakland and now he's going to break Jerry Rice's single season touchdown record. You know how much that hurts? Jerry Rice is a god in San Francisco and Randy, the guy we cleaned up for you, is going to top Jerry. That really hurts.

You owe us big time...

Yeah, I know there's still a long ways to go with the Pats and Celtics, but don't tell me Bostonians aren't enjoying the ride.

So, Boston, please send us some of your Sports Mojo. Thank you.

Regards,
San Francisco, CA

Medical Practices? Dear God...

This person chronicles the 10 most insane medical practices in human history. I don't know where they got this information and I don't know how much of it is true, but it is a hilarious read. The article is titled: The 10 Most Insane Medical Practices in History. If you have a short attention span just jump to #1 Female Hysteria Cures - this one is absolutely hilarious!

I AM CARNIVORE. HEAR ME ROAR!

My wife and I were in a carnivorous mood this weekend. We were in the mood to eat a lot of meat and our dining choices this weekend reflected that.

Coriya Hot Pot City

On Friday night, we decided on hot pot to satiate our carnivorous urges at Coriya Hot Pot City in Richmond, CA. For those who are not familiar with hot pot, it is served as a jamboree of uncooked foods (thinly sliced meats, seafood, tofu, and vegetables) with a pot of hot broth as the centerpiece. You put whatever you want in the pot at the time you want to eat it - cook times are at most a couple of minutes. Coriya is a hot pot buffet. Every table has a pot of broth. There is a burner underneath each table to keep the broth hot. There is also a grill which gives you the option of grilling instead of cooking in broth. The buffet counter is a limitless supply of pretty much all types of raw meats, seafood, and vegetables. As I said earlier, we are in the mood for meat, so we just went straight for the lamb. We just loaded up on thinly sliced lamb and for about an hour we practiced the same repetitive motion: drop the lamb in the hot broth, take it out when it's ready, and pop it in the mouth. I think I ate the equivalent of a whole lamb. It's a lot of fun to eat here because there are so many things to try, but this place is a buffet - quantity still rings louder than quality. I liken Coriya to a fun summer movie - not too much substance, but still very enjoyable.

Sam Won Kal Bi

On Saturday night, we realized are carnivorous urges were still burning strong so we decided to have some Korean BBQ at Sam Won Kal Bi in Oakland, CA. This place gives you a charcoal grill to grill your own meats. We ordered Spicy Marinated Pork (Daeji Bulgogi) and Salted Beef Tongue. They bring it to you raw so that you can barbecue it yourself. The Spicy Marinated Pork is one of my favorite Korean dish. I always enjoy eating it, but on Saturday the Salted Beef Tongue took center stage. I was initially quite skeptical about beef tongue, but I went with it anyway. I've never had it before, but I really enjoyed it. Beef tongue tastes a lot like "normal" beef (who would have known?). It actually tastes like really flavorful beef with a tad more jerky texture than "normal" beef. I'd definitely recommend this dish to anyone who enjoys beef. Oh, I almost forgot the most important thing; all those little Kim Chi dishes that comes with the meals. Sam Won Kal Bi did an excellent job with those dishes - that's always a good sign for a Korean BBQ.

Here are the restaurants I talked about:

• Coriya Hot Pot City: 3288 Pierce St Ste A105, Richmond, CA 94804, (510) 524-8081
• Sam Won Kal Bi: 2600 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA 94612, (510) 834-5757
  

Solving the Traffic Problems on Larch

There are traffic problems on Larch. In my opinion, the most critical problems are speeding and the amount of traffic. There are many options on the table: Extra signage, stop signs, speed cushions, traffic cameras, and roundabouts. I would like to add street dividers to the list. I believe a street divider at Larch and Camino Pablo to block off traffic to and from Camino Pablo is another option worth considering.

Here are my opinions on the following options:

Extra signage will not necessarily slow down all drivers. Having signage is a great reminder to slow down for those who care about our traffic issues, but it will not slow down those who do not care about our traffic issues because there are no consequences. We already have a sign at the corner of Canyon and Larch that warns about radar speed checks, but yet problems still exist. Extra signage will help remind the conscientious, but beyond that it isn’t very effective.

Stop signs are very effective, but it does have some unfortunate side effects. Part of the reason for reducing traffic on Larch is to reduce the traffic noise, but having stop signs will cause cars to rev up more often thus creating more traffic noise. Furthermore, I believe that we currently require all four homes on an intersection to sign off before we can put up a new stop sign. If I lived in one of those homes, I would definitely veto a stop sign at my corner because it will cause more traffic noise in front of my house. I was recently interested in purchasing a house that was on a corner with a stop sign before I ended up on Larch - we eventually decided to passed on it because there was too much car-rev-up noise that took away from the whole aesthetic of the house. Since I cannot accept a thing like this, I do not feel right telling my neighbors to “take one for the team.”

Speed cushions are very effective as well, but they have the same problem as stop signs - they will cause more rev up noise from the car. I have a problem with any solution that leads me to say, “It’s fine as long as it’s not near my house”. I don’t want a speed cushion near my house for the same reason I don’t want a stop signs near my house.

Traffic cameras are overkill for Larch. It seems a little “big brother-ish” for a place like this. It is great for busy intersections in metropolitan areas, but it just seems very out of place on Larch thus ruining the overall aesthetic.

Roundabouts are a very interesting idea for Larch. They are practically used everywhere else in the world except the US. They have proven to be safer than traditional intersections for both vehicles and pedestrians. Installing a few of these on key intersections on Larch should slow down the traffic. I would even venture to suggest that roundabouts on Camino Pablo are a better idea than speed cushions. Roundabouts are something we should look into more seriously. This article describes the pros and cons of roundabout in more details:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout

The only concern with this idea is we Americans are infamous for not knowing how to engage roundabouts (There are all sorts of jokes on the Internet about this). Of course there is a bit of tongue-and-cheek with this statement, but the relevant thing about this observation is we are not used to roundabouts. It should not be a big deal because the roundabouts on Larch would be small and not too invasive.

Putting a street divider at the end of Larch to block traffic to and from Camino Pablo is one thing not on the list on options for solving the traffic issues on Larch. This solution is a very effective way for reducing and slowing down vehicle traffic. One important assumption I am making about the street divider is Camino Pablo is meant to be a thoroughfare for vehicle traffic. Not Larch.

When I say street divider, I'm not talking about the white divider that you see all over Berkeley. This is a cement divider in the middle of many large roads that separates traffic flowing in opposing directions. It looks like a typical pedestrian walkway in the middle of a road. Here are a couple of images of what I’m describing:

http://www.theabandonedhouses.com/broad.php

The cement divider will be accessible by pedestrians and cyclists. It will only block the vehicle traffic going to and from Camino Pablo making Larch effectively a dead-end street where Camino Pablo and Larch intersects. This will significantly reduce vehicle traffic on Larch. It will also reduce the speed of the traffic on Larch because the cement divider will make vehicle traffic more Larch-resident exclusive. Larch residents have a stake in making the traffic conditions better so the speeding problem should be reduced. This is not to say a street divider is the silver bullet. In fact, this solution just like every one on the table has its pros and cons. For example, I suspect that there will be a lot of resistances to this idea because a new street divider will significantly change the traffic flow of the entire neighborhood possibly causing some unintended consequences. So we need to have more discussions about this option. The only thing I want to do is put this option on table with the other choices.

In conclusion, we all know there are traffic problems on Larch that needs to be solved. I give a thumbs-down to stop signs, speed cushions, and traffic cameras. Increased signage and traffic circles are definitely worth considering. I give a thumbs-up for a street divider at Larch and Camino Pablo to block vehicle traffic to and from Camino Pablo.

These are my opinions and I'm sure I have not considered all aspects of this issue. It's more important that the voices of the residents of the greater Larch area are heard so please post your comments and opinions on this matter. I look forward to reading and learning from them.

Leadership Survival Guide

This article summarizes the essentials of good leadership:

7 Simple Tips That Will Turn You Into a Powerful Leader

Here's the executive summary:

1. Goals: Keep them simple, communication them often, and set them high
   
2. Motivating People: Reward, empower, and encourage. Dangle the carrot
   
3. Walk the Talk: Practice what you preach. It gives you credibility
4. Inspire: Be positive and constantly push for improvement
5. Process Power: Establish processes and routines then fine tune them
   
6. Embrace Change: Change is the only constant in life. Task risks. Never stop learning
7. Advocacy: Be your team's strongest supporter. Do what it takes to ensure your team's success

Personally or professionally these 7 tips will help you accomplish things. Most importantly, it will make you a better person.

It applies to parents, children, managers, employees, teachers, students, et cetera, et cetera. It applies to everyone. These tips are a guide to dealing with people and getting things done.

It sounds like Tony Robbins blah blah blah crap, right?

What have you got to lose?

Apply them and see the results for yourself.

Let me know how it goes. I looking forward to reading your success stories.