Who else thinks that the new silver colored DC lids are great?

You know how every once in a while you hear about some South American who saw Jesus or Mary in their tortilla? Well This morning we had a similar experience. Reagan cooked breakfast, since we were both awake early. This is a picture of Reagan’s egg:

Of course it doesn’t resemble any divine being, but I think that it sort of looks like the head of a Snork. What do you think?

This may seem like a dumb question, but where did the pink ginger go? I’m referring, of course to the Gari, that the delivery guy always brings with the sushi. I swear, it always used to be pink. Starting about 6 or 8 months ago, it has been an off-white color. At first, I thought it was just an anomaly. But after several months, I figured that something must be up. I’m not making this observation based on one sushi place, either. I’m talking about various sushi joints, from the north end of the island, all of the way down to Battery Park. Was the pink ginger supplier outbid by the white ginger supplier? Is there only one pickled ginger supplier for the whole island? Has a recent study found that pink ginger is a carcinogen (like the red M&Ms from the 50′s)? I have wasted about 20 minutes researching the answer to this questions now, without success. Does anyone know?

I think that for most people, part of the appeal of sushi (and possibly food in general) is presentation. I love looking at it. It is so neatly compartmentalized. Depending on what I order, it generally comes packaged very symetrically, as well. For whatever reason, all of those things are very satisfying for me. I’m not sure if that means I’m right, or left brained, or OCD, or something like that. I can also appreciate the fact that it is delicious. So that should count for something too.

The upside to living at my desk (again) is that I have such a wide variety of options for dinner every night. Reagan told me that she was having pizza today for lunch. It sounded so good when she told me, that I pretty much decided right then, I was going to have it for dinner. It was delicious, and I can feel it making me fatter as I’m sitting here typing this.

The apartment hunt has come to a stalemate. Reagan and I found a place that we really like. We submitted an application, only to find out that the deal, as advertised, was not exactly what it appeared to be. Yep, we got sucked into the ‘ol bait and switch. We really do like the apartment though. So we are currently in aggressive negotiations to get a deal we are comfortable with, on the place. Who knows if it will pan out. I’m kind of hoping that it does. Because frankly, I’m tired of looking. Plus, I suddenly have zero time to look.  Anyway, cross your fingers for us, that our offer will be accepted.

I ate a whole package of these today. I started around 11:30 and just finished the last one. What’s wrong with me?

Today I found out the hard way that Coke has a “best before” date. I noticed when I was pouring it in the cup, that it seemed like it wasn’t fizzing as much as usual. But the real distinction became apparent when I tasted it. Yuuuuuccckkk. I looked at the bottle, and it had expired on March 31. I thought that soda had a shelf life of at least 50 years. Nope. I’m going to have to dig through the stash and purge all of the old stuff.

I’m not exactly sure why, but I have always been a huge fan of burritos. I have even done some pretty questionable experiments when it comes to making burritos. Here is a page left over from the Fatkins diet that I used to publish on bootysmak. I’m always on the lookout for really good burritos. I consider myself pretty open minded too. I once ate a burriger at a pub on Amsterdam. It was pretty good. But I can’t, for the life of me, figure out why, in New York City, is the Mexican food so sub-par. I mean, this place is supposed to have everything, right? It isn’t like I haven’t tried to find a good burrito, either. I have had my ear to the ground for about 2 years, trying to find a really good burrito joint in NYC. So far, the best places that I have come up with, are both chains. One is Blockheads, the other is Chipotle. Neither of these places are even from NY, and since they are chains, they don’t really even count. Chipotle and Blockheads aren’t as good as Moe’s (another chain). But Moe’s doesn’t even have a Manhattan location. The closest location is in Nassau County. It is a little bit pathetic if, indeed, a really good burrito place does not exist in NYC. While I’m ranting about chain restaurants, I would just like to point out that it would take another three pages (which I won’t include here) for me to express my disappointment in the establishment that calls itself “Burritoville.” Talk about a misnomer…

Anyway, I want to find a place that I can get a carne asada or chicken burrito, that is like 2 pounds (or more). I don’t want the usual under seasoned meat with the quasi fish-like aftertaste, that I normally get at NYC “Mexican restaurants.” I want it to be super spicy, with lots of salt, cilantro and habanero. I want something like the burritos that you could get at the taco truck, on the street in Tijuana, for 3 dollars. Is that too much to ask? Every time that Reagan and I go to Long Island and eat at Moe’s, I’m reminded of how lame it is that I have to drive so far to get a good burrito. Does anyone know of a place here in the city where I can get a burrito like the one described above?

I have been throwing down a lot of Sushi lately. I’m not really sure how come. I was on a Subway sandwich kick for about 8 months. I must have eaten it at least 3 times a week, for dinner. Apparently now, I have started a sushi kick. When Nate and Melanie came to visit, one night we ate at Sushi Yu. I’m sure that our homies in the Heights are familiar with that place. Anyway, we order from there all of the time, but I would generally get the chicken teriyaki, or tempura. The reason for this, is because back in the day, when I lived in Hawaii, there was a Sushi joint right where I lived. We knew that guy that ran it and he would hook me up with all the pre-packaged stuff at the end of the day (the stuff that would have gone bad, by the next day). It worked out well, since I generally spent most of my money on surfboards, etc.. I was always hungry enough to choke down whatever wasn’t selling. It was usually the less popular stuff that was left over, like eel, squid and other super chewy stuff. So, being too broke to eat anything but stale sushi, made me develop a bit of an aversion to it. Back to Sushi Yu–> so, there we are with Nate and Melanie. I was like, “I think that I’m going to get a little crazy and order something besides the teriyaki.” I asked for three rolls, I don’t remember specifically what they were, except that one was chicken tempura (as a safety net). When my food came out, I was totally digging it. My aversion to sushi was completely eradicated. I still shy away from the sashimi. In fact, I generally only order vegetable rolls. But the fact is, I have become pretty much addicted to them.

Ok, now for the real reason that I am writing about my food tonight: I tore open the soy packet to mix it up with the wasabi. As I did so, I happened to notice on the soy packet, that the company had been around since ’45. As a matter of fact, 1645. Holy crap! Yamasa is the brand ‘o soy sauce that Aja gave me with my food tonight. Here is a link to the corporate profile on their webby, if you want to take a peek.

One more side note, since the randomness is flowing at full volume tonight. Reagan and I watched Lost in Translation, recently. Bill Murray plays a washed up movie star who runs into Scarlet Johansen’s character, while in Tokyo doing a promo for Japanese whiskey. There is this one scene where he is in the spa telling his wife, on the phone, that he doesn’t want to eat crap like pasta anymore. He wants to eat healthy, like the Japanese. I never really thought about it before then, but I can eat about 18 pieces and still not feel disgustingly full or sluggish afterwards. Also, who doesn’t love spicy things? I have always been a fan of peppers and hotsauce, but wasabi is like a totally different animal. It is amazing to me that something can be so delicious, while at the same time, giving you the sensation of being poisoned by a chemical attack. The juxtaposed sensations are euphoric. I think that I’m going to try to sell the last sentence to a trashy romance-novel writer. Hahahah

Sunday night, after we got back to the Heights and unloaded the car, it took me about 30 minutes to find a parking spot. I ended up parking on a meter on Broadway down by Piper’s hospital around 2 A.M.. Since I was already there, I decided not to wait until the sun came up, to visit Piper. She was sleeping the whole time, so I ended up just talking to her nurse for about a half hour. She had been running a fever and was on antibiotics. Apparently, she also was having some GI issues and was pretty dehydrated. They stopped her feeds and just had her on the IV drip, again. She also has a catheter, so that they can measure her output. It seems that she was on the upswing again yesterday, though. Reagan had a really good visit with her in yesterday evening. Go here to read about it. Reagan also distills the various activities that we had on vacation.

When I started walking home from the Hospital, Sunday night, the smell of hot trash hit me like a ton of bricks. It reminded me of all of the things I didn’t miss about being away. The hot muggy weather wasn’t helping me get excited about being back, either. When I got into work yesterday, I had an email from one of my coworkers inviting us to dinner tonight. I had totally forgotten about restaurant week! For those unfamiliar with the concept, Restaurant week is when many of the uber-fancy dining joints in the City offer a few of their 3 course meals for the fixed price of $35 per person, making their establishments temporarily more budget friendly for the less-rich. Amazing.

Anyway, I’m glad that Piper is doing better, and I’m glad that we are going to dinner tonight. So, despite the hot trash, I’m glad to be home.