Sure Beats Work

Last night was Valentine’s Day dinner for Michelle and me. Michelle was so busy with work that we didn’t have time to do anything last Sunday. Also, I forgot that I was supposed to do something. I took Michelle to Sushiya, which I’ve been to once before.

Live scallop. So incredibly fresh.

Live sweet shrimp. Well it was alive until they pulled the head off and fried it.

Spanish Mackerel.

More Spanish Mackerel.

They really give you all of the fish.

Diamond Roll. Wouldn’t be a special meal for us without something to burn the palette.

If you’re in San Pedro, go eat here. It’s truly a gem in a city where food is normally a much heartier affair. The fish is always fresh and the staff is super friendly. The sushi chef knows people are finding him on Yelp.

The groomsmen have booked their flights, and we’re all seated next to each other in what will be called the “We think we’re going to Vegas” section. Do they still offer free alcoholic beverages on international flights? Does Canada really count as an international flight? That’s right! We’re going to Canada, Vancouver to be more specific. Apparently it’s quite the hot spot for soon-to-be-hitched people to celebrate their final days of freedom.

We should rent a yacht and have a monkey knife fight. Those are legal in Canada, right?

Two words can sum up this past weekend. Eating and sleeping.

Friday night Michelle were looking for some Korean BBQ, but the place we’ve been to a couple of times was closed. We went to a local joint that serves Korean bar food. We were looking for something spicy and this did it. After dinner I was passed out by 10:00PM.

Saturday morning we woke up early to head to the LA Street Food Festival. The place was a mad house.

Wrong. It was a long ass line.

Once inside there were more lines. It reminded me of the lines to use the bathrooms at Coachella. Insanity. The first thing we got to eat was Panang Curry from the Yum Yum Bowls truck, because the line was the shortest. The rest of the time we spent in long lines, feeding each other as we got food from one line or the next.

Qzilla BBQ was probably one of the best deals, $5 for a sampler. They were delicious.

Fries from the Frysmith truck. Kim Chi, Rajas, Chili Cheese, Chicken and Sweet Potato, and a special Foie Gras Mousse.

Fried Chicken from Ludo Bites truck. My cousin Trevor got in this line as soon as he got into the event, and it was the last thing we got to eat. Delicious, but worth three and a half hours of wait? No way.

I’m pretty sure they had no liquor license as beers were done as donation only.

For those of you that couldn’t get into the event, don’t feel bad. It wasn’t worth it. I know the organizers were caught off guard by the popularity of the event since this was the first time, but even with a bigger venue I still wouldn’t recommend attending this. What they need to do is create night markets like they have in Taiwan.

After the food fair we decided to hit up Mr. Churro on Olvera Street for some custard filled churros before heading straight to Chinese New Year dinner. We thought we wouldn’t be able to eat anything, but we did surprisingly well for having eaten all day. We were exhausted from standing in the sun all day so we crashed by 9:00 PM, sleeping until 9:30 AM.

Michelle insists she has mono. I certainly don’t. Who has she been kissing?!

Alright, listen to me. You pull up right where she lives, right? Before you get outta the car, you lock both doors. Then, get outta the car, you walk over to her. You bring her over to the car. Dig out the key, put it in the lock and open the door for her. Then you let her get in. Then you close the door. Then you walk around the back of the car and look through the rear window. If she doesn’t reach over and lift up that button so that you can get in: dump her…Listen to me, kid. If she doesn’t reach over and lift up that button so that you can get in, that means she’s a selfish broad and all you’re seeing is the tip of the iceberg. You dump her and you dump her fast.

Fortunately Michelle and I live in the day an age of power locks. We make it work.

So the Saints have won the Super Bowl. I’m not going to pretend I’m happy about that. I was rooting for the Colts, but it’s not that I like them. I couldn’t care less about these two franchises. After my actual teams I cheer for, I look for teams to cheer against.

My NCAA grudges carry over into the professional leagues. So for teams that draft USC Trojans, they get an automatic booing from me for five years. Reggie Bush is why I wanted New Orleans to lose. A win would have been sweeter, but Reggie’s almost no show performance was an okay second for me.

Now that football season is over, it’s time to shift my focus back to basketball. Time to heckle OJ Mayo and the Memphis Grizzlies, even if they have no chance of winning.

Well, at least according to Michelle. Would you like some taco with that pepper?

Friday I got to meet up with all my groomsmen for dinner. The plan was to discuss what we’re doing for my bachelor party, but it was also an excuse just to grab some food and beers. It’s a good thing we didn’t make this a critical meeting for deciding what to do for the party, because we got nothing done. So far they’ve decided to either to ride bikes with baskets and streamers on the handles or kill a hooker. Uh, yeah.

Why can’t we do both?

Me: I bought some new sunglasses.
Mom: What happened to your old ones?
Me: I still have them. These are the same brand as my other pair, but those are more for running around. These are for-
Mom: Fashion?
Me: Lifestyle. We prefer to call it lifestyle.
Mom: And just what lifestyle is that?
Me: Alternative? I don’t know. You know I just talk sometimes without thinking.

These are the sunglasses I bought. For some reason they were half the price a few weeks ago. Also, note to self: clean the mirror.

I’m not by any means fat, but if you had to judge just based on my face you might think otherwise. I’ve just inherited my father’s lack of a jaw line so any weight shows very easily in my face. Every time I show up somewhere in my work clothes, someone always asks me if I’ve lost weight. That’s because my work pants I actually wear on my waist, and I tuck in my shirt. Perhaps it’s time for a wardrobe change, or maybe a jaw implant.

Think Jay Leno is willing to loan me some of his? Although I’d just be afraid he’d take it back after a few months.

Back in World History in high school one of the projects we had to do was a Model United Nations conference. We chose countries at random and had to discuss different world issues using the point of view of our selected country. I got Canada for my country. My partner and I had no idea where to begin with our policies and agendas. This was before the days of Internet.

Countries like Iraq were easy. Just hold up a calculator and threaten to press the button to launch a missile. So we did what any students would do in our situation. We just decided not to say much, and when we were required to speak, just agree with everything America said or did. It worked like a charm.