on my mind...

over thinking is overrated. too many things to worry about in the future (i.e. buying a house, finding the perfect career, finding time for yourself, etc...), which is why i've decided to drop all of my worries for the next couple of weeks and let things just turn out the way that they're supposed to. i guess listen to what God has to say for once. but it definitely feels good now that i've already mentally checked out until the most random/spontaneous japan trip ever!!!! only 7 more working days and i'm outta this b.

and to end off on an even happier note, here are a few pictures of some delicious food:

antipasti (left to right): bresaola nostrana (house-cured beef, wild arugula, shaved parmigiano, lemon, tuscan olive oil), ventresca, borlotti e cipolle (olive oil-poached tuna belly, cranberry beans, pickled red onions), and polipo e patate (charred mediterranean octopus, yukon gold potatoes, celery hearts, sicilian capers).

primi: tortelli di pere e pecorino al burro e salvia (pear and pecorino tortelli, brown butter, sage). freakin delicious. all it needs now is some shaved white truffles and a few gold flakes. mmmm.

pizze: prosciutto di parma e rucola (margherita with parma ham and wild arugula). mmmm.

pizze: pancetta, ricotta e cipollotto (fresh ricotta, house-cured pork belly, scallions, fennel pollen). so good. house-cured pork belly is like homemade bacon, ricotta is like God's cheese, and fennel pollen, who knows what that tastes like, but it's Frickin good, capital F.

gastronomical adventures. haha, that sounds kinda dirty.

i have a week until work is gonna get crazy so, i made a list. i love lists. places to eat before i die. kinda like the movie the bucket list except with food since i'm a fatass. i'm guessing that the list is gonna cost me at least one of my organs with all of the plane tickets and such, so sugar mamas are definately welcome, i make a good companion. in no particular order:

st. john (london) - roast bone marrow and traditional english fare.
elBulli (spain) - supposedly the most difficult reservation to book (you need to book one year in advance), plus round trip plane ticket to barcelona, plus hotel, plus a rental car to drive to roses for a ~$400 per person, ~30 course, 4 hour dinner experience with ferran adria at a 3 star Michelin rated restaurant. voted the #1 restaurant in the world run by the #1 chef in the world.
french laundry (napa valley, ca) - thomas keller's restaurant. foie gras, caviar, snippets of megan fox's hair, and anything else you can imagine.
per se (new york, ny) - thomas keller's restaurant on the east coast.
sin huat eating house (singapore) - located in singapore's red light district, you'll probably catch something just by looking at someone, but it's looks like its worth it.
le bernardin (new york, ny) - fish, the best in the world.
salumi (seattle, wa) - small sandwich shop owned by mario batali's parents. somehow they formed a super baby so seperately they'd be good too.
russ & daughters (new york, ny) - eastern european jewish style herring and smoked belly lox.
katz's delicatessen (new york, ny) - best ever pastrami on rye. katz's was featured in the movie when harry met sally…or so i've heard.
etxebarri (spain) - almost everything is grilled over homemade charcoal, mmm.
sushi mizutani (tokyo), kyubey (tokyo), or sukiyabashi jiro (tokyo) - best sushi EVER. each piece is served at the precise temperature when it tastes best.
hot doug's (chicago, il) - foie gras hot dog and fries cooked in duck fat. om nom nom.
oklahoma joe's barbeque (kansas city, mi) - best in KC, best in the world.
CUT - wolfgang puck's steakhouse. authentic wagyu ribeye goes for around $200 a la carte. it's the steak God would eat…if he ate steak.
minibar by jose andres (washington, d.c.) - cotton candy foie gras, philly cheese steak made with kobe beef and a lot of food that is deconstructed. ooh, the bill comes inside an egg shell that you smash to open. interesting..
alinea (chicago, il) - one of the best meals that money can buy in america.
urusawa - arguably one the most expensive dinners in the world. 30 course omakase, over 4 hours long, ~$500 per person including sake, tax and tip. kobe beef, uni galore, toro up the butt, a giant piece of black truffle made into tempura and gold flakes on a bunch of the dishes. ridiculous. and the general consensus is that for what you get, it's a bargain. 2 Michelin stars.
stonehill tavern - michael mina's restaurant at the st. regis.
fogo de chao - upscale brazilian churascarria
lawry's the prime rib - prime rib!
animal - another one of those restaurants on acid. foie gras loco moco, bacon wrapped chocolate bar, etc...
pizzeria mozza - comparing it to pizza hut is like comparing in-n-out to pedigree dog chow.
bouchon (las vegas, nv) - thomas keller's restaurant for common folk which is still pretty baller. good brunch if you're in vegas.
providence - 9 course tasting menu.
lola gaspar - duck tacos and french fries cooked in duck fat. efficiency.
ambrosia - shrimp scampi flambe cooked tableside and a crazy amuse bouche.
anjin - jbbq, kinda like kbbq except the j is for japanese.
langer's - pastrami on rye. pretty much katz's but in l.a.
philippe the original restaurant - french dip.
father's office - booze and burgers.
park avenue - one of the best restaurants in all of orange county and it's in stanton. who knew?
orange hill restaurant - good food, amazing view.
hollingshead's delicatessen - aa afterparty headquarters. nice deli with beer as far as the eye can see, including pliny the younger, 11% abv.
marche moderne - french appetizer's galore.
basilic - small french restaurant on balboa island.
red lobster - how have i never been here? i hear that the cheese bread is all the rage.

blue - the ultimate food run; no rush to complete; could possibly be the last meal i ever have
red - phase one of list completion; take out loans; rob a bank; begin the journey of a lifetime
black - anytime; mostly local
green - done!

feel free to make suggestions of possible additions.

meh.

where has the time gone? this past year has seriously been a blur, so much has changed for me since college and it feels like if things continue like this, that life is just gonna pass like gas. i think that i finally realize my age and the impending doom of what is yet to come for me in life, but i also reflect on how much i have already accomplished and all the things i've experienced, the highs and the lows. it's very comforting knowing that my life is just beginning and the fun starts now. keeping a blog is lame, i feel like doogie howser m.d. right now minus the blue screen, being a boy genius and the fact that nph is gay, but i think that keeping account of things will help me cherish life's moments instead of letting them insipidly pass by. i guess this is the precursor to my quarter-life crisis, either that or i'm really frickin bored during the week. either way, hope this makes for some good bathroom reading at least.

where to begin? well it's been about 10 months since i moved out of THE bubble into a different bubble, rancho bernardo, a suburb of san diego and i'm already looking to move back and vanpool to work as soon as my lease ends. as soon as i got the call that i had a job waiting for me, i was happier than ginger kids on crack. i was moved out and ready to go in less than a week. living alone was cool for the first month or so because you can do whatever you want, sleep naked, watch tv naked, drink naked, but when you start cooking naked it starts to get a little weird. anyways, for those of you that know me best, you know that aside from God, family, friends and crap there are only two things in life that i truly love: brazilian jiu jitsu and food, pretty much all i do nowadays.

pretty much my daily routine:

go to work super early because apparently old people never sleep
getting in some studying

a little bit of this after work
a little bit of that (spicy tuna-don with canned tuna. limited ingredients because i'm too lazy to go to the market. not bad though.)

bad habits, must stop soon

and a lot of this on the weekends! mmmm! grilled artichokes and prime rib.