the beginning of my quest to eat everything on this planet. part 1.

me: hey boss, i'm gonna take a short vacation in two weeks.
boss: okay, have fun!

[a week later]
boss: hey, where'd you go?
me: japan.
boss: wtf! haha.

first stop in my journey to try everything tasty that this earth has to offer. tokyo.
the challenge: trying to see all of tokyo in a week.

of course.

beef tataki salad.

japanese eggplants with a miso glaze. frickin good, coming from someone who prefers only eating things that have a pulse.

udon. bomb.

cold soba. you grind your own roasted sesame seeds, restaurant must've been lazy. kristen, i jacked some of your pictures! first dinner in tokyo. risky. setting the bar too high? hell no!

tsukiji fish market at 4 a.m. with 30 minutes of sleep. tuna auctions. the rest of the market was HUGE.

this definitely made it worth it. sushi at 6 in the morning with an ice cold brew to get me through the day!!! probably made with the fish that we saw in the market.

roppongi hills. where i wanna live. the rich area of tokyo + nightlife + amazing food = happy tim.

kaminarimon, a big ass lantern, in front of a flea market, in front of a temple. nice.

legit. sanctity from the heat. a/c is seriously crucial here in the summer.

akihabara. a town for nerds, perverts (there's a bunch of cartoon porn shops) and people looking to buy cheap electronics. i swear if they start playing nba 2k9, i'm gonna burn this place down.

mitama festival. oc fair on crack. imagine a shitload of people, food stands lining both sides (and not that deep fried crap that they have at the fair), half naked drummers dropping a beat, in front a shrine. supposedly where they housed the remains of japanese war criminals. ooohh controversial, but i don't care right now, me rikey food.

done! shower, bedtime beer, sleep. good day.

da jiu jitsu.

i know that no one cares about brazilian jiu jitsu, but i also know that no one probably reads this anyways so...
my jiu jitsu game has finally come to a new level after plateauing for a good 6 months or so. my transitions are tight, my positional control combined with my new fatass weight has become a new threat to be reckoned with, my butterfly guard sweeps and my armbars whether they be from the guard, inverted, from the gogoplata position, from side control transition to far side armbar, etc...are my new weapons of choice. things that i need to work on: chokes, wrist locks, ankle locks, and turtle guard.

anyways...a few weeks back before my japan trip i went to the 2009 south bay brazilian jiu jitsu open. i came, i saw and i conquered. nothing feels better than getting your arm raised knowing that you just kicked the other guy's ass and also knowing that he knows it too. highlights: going without a corner man because my professor had family in town, eating a flame broiler teriyaki bowl an hour before my fights and still winning, instilling fear into my divsion that hopefully lasts well into next year and...my first flying submission in competition (flying triangle transition to armbar)! number 15 on my 100 things you should do before reaching black belt list...check! got my third stripe on my blue belt and the purple belt should come within a year from now or less. dare i say future black belt mundials champion...

official results finally posted

with my san diego daddy, he's so proud of me :tear:, haha

bueno.

i don't know if the universe is paying me back for 23 years of crap or if i'm just old enough to realize how much i appreciate life and it's little nuances, but everything seems to be falling into place nicely :]. work is bueno, brazilian jiu jitsu is double bueno and life in general is bueno deluxe. i've decided that i'm going to screw saving up for a year or two and to just spend my dinero traveling, eating the world's delicious food and seeing the beauty of the world while i'm still relatively young, before i have to buy a house, car, etc... thanks God, much appreciated. updates galore when i have time.

:]

dilemma.

do you take the money or do you take the happiness? what to do...?

brain hurting, i guess i'll think about it later.

up next: friday: northrop grumman golf tournament. imagine the tiger woods and the anthony kim of the company playing on the same team. game over. we got this. and family dinner for my dad's big announcement. long lost freak brother? long lost freak sister? saturday: south bay jiu jitsu tournament. super heavyweight? oh man, david versus goliath. except this time david is frickin huge too. and then some jbbq (japanese bbq) with the kids!!! sunday: tokyo!!!

spontaneity.

the best things in life happen when you just go with the flow of things.

spontaneous 4th of july big bear fishing trip:

couple of beers and some quiet time. old man and the sea :[

GIANT catfish :]good day

sorry, no pictures of food this week, just stayed in and bbq'd. massive ribeye's, baked potatoes, sauteed spinach, grilled corn, baked beans, gentleman's jack daniels whiskey, beer, scrambled eggs, thick cut applewood smoked bacon, grilled baguettes, waffles, italian sausage, spaghetti, chips, etc… enough food to feed a large mexican family for a week, eaten in two days. everything was cooked in butter because we forgot to bring oil. mmmm. i guess it's salads this entire week :[.

next up: spontaneous japan trip, on two weeks notice.

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.