Ramen <3 Curry - Majikku Ramen

I love curry, I love ramen, so the two of them must be delicious, right? Yep, you're right! BFF Cat and I went to 99 Ranch Supermarket for soy milk and other Asian goodies and we got food from Majikku Ramen beforehand (never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach, kids!). Not too shabby for Daly City. :-P

P.S. A little tidbit for those not from around here: basically the entire western side of this area is usually entirely covered by fog. The weather could be nice and sunny in San Francisco but the moment we get to the west side, visibility can sometimes be as little as 10-feet in front of you.

Cat's "mini" ramen was not as awesome as mine, but good nonetheless. And, yes, most of my photos of other people's foods have them waiting impatiently in the background. :-D

An American Classic

In-n-Out is possibly one of the best hamburger chains in the US. The ingredients are fresh(!) and the menu is simple, barring the whole "secret menu" addendum. But, it's nice that you can get your hamburger exactly the way you want it. The way I want my hamburger is "animal style with raw onions instead of grilled onions": they toast the buns, there's mustard, pickles, and all the fresh fixings. Yum!

That big piece of lettuce is what's called "protein style," wherein the buns are replaced by lettuce (for the carb-free diet fans). I've tried it and I must say, the buns are yummy. Eat the buns!!! Plus, protein style is soooooo messy.

Oh, and that In-n-Out pay their employees a living wage is nice compared to, ahem, the Mc Other Guys.

The Basics

I. Love. Pizza. Particularly thin-crust stuff (sorry, Chicago!). Another post about one-of-my-first-meals-back-in-the-US. (I know I wasn't gone that long, but it's a long time to go without superbly delicious pizza.)

Walking around the new 'hood (Haight-Ashbury), hunger got the best of me so I splurged about $4 on a slice of 'za and a soda (Dr. Pepper / Mr. Pibb is my favorite; other than that it all tastes the same) from Escape From New York Pizza:

The veggie. Very delish!


My dining companion. Seeing this really made me feel at home for some reason. Yes, foreigners, US cities are a little bit ghetto at times. It's part of the, umm, charm. (;

And P.S., speaking of pizza, Adam Young of Owl City made a playlist of songs to listen to whilst eating pizza. For reals. Enjoy!

Very Special Petfolio-Building Sessions

I love dogs! (And cats!) And I've decided to branch my fun+casual photography style to include pets. And in celebration of this, I'm having a "sale" of sorts for pet photo sessions. The session fees are heavily discounted and, well, you're gonna have some really stinkin' adorable pictures of your BFF(s).

What-the-dealio:

• $125 session fee includes a one hour session, 10 to 15 edited images in your gallery, plus a $60 print credit to spend as you like in your gallery. Notes: There are a limited number of sessions, and you must book by 11.15.2009.

Even if you don't have a pet yourself, please consider forwarding this to those in the San Francisco Bay Area who do. I'd greatly appreciate you spreading the word!

Any questions? Email me at chung.nguyen(at)gmail.com - thanks!

By this time next year, I (hopefully) will have...

• traveled abroad (on a long holiday)
  
• maxed out my 401(k) for the year
• settled comfortably in San Francisco
• dined at French Laundry
• lived my 28th year on earth with thoughtful reckless abandonment!

It's my birthday - yay!

Break! Fast!

I got back from Southeast Asia in the evening and in the morning, I ventured out into the city to get some stuff done as well as to eat! eat! eat! Here's my first breakfast back in the US from La Boulange de Hayes.

Yes, that's a gigantic bowl of coffee. I always wanted to get one of those!

This sandwich had just cheese, tomatoes, and basil, but I realized too late that there were olives in the bread. I hate olives (but I love olive oil). Olives are evil ("so evil" - just rearrange the letters and you'll know what I'm talking about!!!). I topped it with strawberry jam. Strawberry jam makes everything better! (:

There were two people sitting next to me chitchatting about their future (sorry, I eavesdrop when I dine alone; hell, I do it when I'm dining with someone!). They were probably my age, discussing graduate school and future prospects and stuff and reminded me, yeah, none of us know exactly what we want to do or should be doing. And that's OK.

Sustainable Sushi at Tataki in San Francisco

You know the saying: there are plenty of fishes in the sea. That's kind of true. With the pace that we're eating them, however, that won't be the case for long. So it's kind of neat for me to hear about a sushi bar (Tataki | Yelp) that focuses on sustainable dining, eating seafood that over time hopefully won't leave our oceans and seas barren.

Side-note: It seems like whenever one of us leaves the Bay Area for a trip, we head out for Japanese food before the departure. I love that tradition!

Started with crab croquette ("deep fried mixed crab, sweet potato, vegetables with sweet sauce").


One of the specials: Kampachi Tataki ("slices of seared almaco jack and avocado with jalapeno ponzu sauce").


An order of sashimi with 12 pieces of fish; salmon (sake) is always my favorite.


The Mix-it-up roll ("spicy tuna roll topped with crab meat with avocado citrus sauce").

On Budgeting & Being an Adult

Dear Kids,

While your parents may seem unhappy at times and have a ton of responsibilities, there are also some pretty great perks to growing up (and older). For starters, if, say, you're in a foreign country with a limited amount of cash on hand and you can't afford both lunch and helado (ice cream), as an adult, you can make the judgment call on what you'd like to have. If that situation presents itself, always go with the latter. (True story.)

Flavors: mandarin orange (top), cherry with chocolate (bottom).

Yum!

Sincerely,
The Almost-28-Year-Old Adult

Animal-Killing

I met up with a couple of friends for drinks late one night and we start snacking on some deliciously meaty foods. Sure enough, there were vegetarians in the mix. Don't get me wrong, I respect people's life choices (can you sense the but coming? oh, it's coming!), but meat is so very, very delicious.... And I LOVE TO EAT.

And then one of the vegetarians said something akin to: "I think everyone should be forced to at least kill and prep an animal at some point before they're able to eat meat." In the moment I thought, "Heh, no problem!" I've never had to kill an animal before eating it, though. But over my trip in Colombia, I really started thinking about it and I don't know if I can do it, or, rather, if I would want to kill an animal just to eat it. I started big (cow), medium (chickens), and then small (fish). Even with fish, the thought of letting it flop around on land unable to "breathe" until it died seems ridiculously cruel just so I could eat it.

So, I'm at a crossroads. On the one hand, meat is so good. On the other hand, I really wouldn't want to kill any living thing just to eat it. And I guess I've compromised: I'll continue my meat-eating ways (so good) but also minimize it whenever possible, especially when I'm cooking at home. Honestly, if I wanted to be a full-fledged vegetarian (not even seafood), I can do it. I'm definitely living in an area that enables that lifestyle with super-delicious vegetarian cuisine. But I love the smell, texture, and flavor of meat-products too much to give it up altogether, even though hypocritically-speaking, I know I would be hard-pressed to kill the animal that lost its life for my brunch (sorry, Porky!).

So, friends, where do you stand on this whole vegetarian thing? I know my niece avoids meat-products for environmental reasons but continues to eat seafood (hopefully sustainable ones!); what about you?

My favorite meal while in Colombia just happened to be completely meatless from Boulevard Sesamo in Bogota. The meal came with a fruit drink, soup, salad bar, and this platter which was well-flavored and delicious(!) for 7,300-pesos (approximately $3.50-USD).

There's No Place Like Home

To me, writing is like a muscle and, when you don't practice it enough, it atrophies. Simple as that. I'm trying to ease back into doing that which I love oh-so-much so please bear with me in the interim.

Allow me to tell you a story, then.

I met a boy while traveling. His name is Roberto and he hails from Madrid, Spain. He's been traveling around the world and mentioned that one of the most beautiful places he's been to in his travels was Colombia (yeah, the country well-known for salsa, coffee, and, oh yes, cocaine - and Shakira!).

As it so happened, I participated in the jetBlue All-You-Can-Jet deal wherein between 9/8/09 and 10/8/09, you can travel anywhere jetBlue flies for $599. Surprisingly enough, on top of a lot of major US destination, jetBlue also flies to the Caribbeans... and Colombia. Kind of odd, I thought. But remembering that Roberto had mentioned Colombia in our many conversations, topped with the fact that I've always wanted to go to South America, I decided, yes, let's fly to Colombia. And I did.

Roberto told me that if I went to the same city he did, he would tell me about a particular hostel to stay at with, who he described to be, the nicest man who worked at the reception desk that he's ever met. So at this junction, I'm basically thinking that my quest is a little strange, but sure, why not? I'd love to meet the nicest man you've ever met.

Not to spoil it or anything - but the man (Jairo Andres) turns out to be one of the coolest people I've ever met as well. And I'm glad for the opportunity to talk to him in between Club Colombia beer runs with fellow hostel-mates.

The thing that really stuck with me in our conversation was his genuine desire to see more of the world. Normally, my yuppie guilt would kick in right about then ("Why do I get to do all these things and he doesn't? Just because I was born at the right place, right time? Life is so unfair!!!") but I just calmly shared my travel adventures with him and encouraged him to start local and explore his town, region, and country. I had read in a book a quote that said (to paraphrase), "Sometimes a person can learn more from a walk around the block than others from a trip around the world." I agree with that to some extent because if you're traveling just to do exactly what you would be doing at home anyway, why bother? Whereas with those who are more observant, give them just a city block and they'll learn all that and more.

I gave him my email address so hopefully he'll stay in touch, especially if he's ever in this neck of the woods. Going around to so many places has made me really love the area/city that I live. San Francisco is pretty friggin' amazing, constant fog-infestation and unswimmable ocean aside.

It's good to be home.