Browse Category: yum

3rd and 1st Place

#1

Jes has been in search of the next best bowl of ramen for the past 2 years since we moved up to SF from the OC.  His #1 is at the food court at Mitsuwa in Costa Mesa called Santouka Ramen. It has tender pork, a good salty taste, and comes with a soy sauce egg on the side.

#2

His #2 is at Ramen Nakamura in Waikiki. It’s hearty, comes with gyoza and fried rice, and their broth is so savory.

#3

Last night we had dinner at Katana-Ya and I think we found his #3.  Since this one is the only one we can access immediately, I suppose this is his local #1 thus far.  We have been to so many ramen places and he always leaves a little dissatisfied.  Thankfully we’ve finally found something worth going to again.  I had read about this place and had it bookmarked but when Susie mentioned to me the other day that it was her favorite ramen place in the city the deal was done.   So on our usual Wednesday night dinner, we had to get some.  Ah…now we don’t have to go to Costa Mesa or Hawaii for good ramen.

Sunday Fobby Supper

Father's Day

Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there. Once again I was not home for this holiday and it kinda bummed me out. Fortunately, I have good friends around and one of them happens to be a dad now. So the Bangs and Sokol-Juns came over for dinner and had a Sunday Fobby Supper.

window

Jack had a good time hanging out by the window pointing to the pool and saying “agua agua” over and over again.  The dog also had a good time sharing his toys with everyone and humping his bed because of all the excitement.

beef noodle soup

Dinner was complete with Spicy Beef Noodle Soup and Mango with Coconut Sticky Rice. Jes followed a bunch of different recipes and it turned out great. There was just the right amount of kick in the soup, the beef from super tender, and the noodles were tasty.

mango and sticky rice

For the coconut sticky rice, I followed my mom’s secret recipe and made it the night before just in case I had to start over. Lucky for me I got it right the first time and it was oh so yummy…a little sweet, a little salty, and perfect with the manila mangoes that I bought at the store. Yay! By the end of the night, we were all so stuffed. What a satisfying way to finish the weekend.

Supervised Run Through the ‘Hood

View Larger Map

On Saturday morning, I rolled out of bed, brushed my teeth, put on my running clothes, and ran a 10K that started just outside of my building. Michelle, Vyl, and Bang came over and we ran from AT&T Park down to Candlestick Park.

run_01

It was a sunny morning and we got a scenic tour of the ‘hood while on foot. The finish was actually on the Candlestick Park field, which was also really neat-o. Vyl and Michelle ran ahead while I accompanied Bang to the finish line.

run_02

He was tired but I pushed him to keep going and he managed to only stop for water. We finished in 1:04, which is not bad for a guy who never runs.

post-race photo

Ryan and Jack were at the finish line and gave us a ride back to Mission Bay for brunch at a dive bar that serves brunch on the weekends.

jack

Jes met up with us and there was outdoor seating and Jack had lots of room to roam around as he munched on his toast.

Here are photos from the race.

Baseball games are fun.

Giants Stadium

Jes and I got some cheap Giants tickets at Costco a couple weeks ago and redeemed them on Friday.  For $24, we got two seats in the bleachers just in front of the Coke bottle slide and sat among the crazy Giants fans.  It was one of those rare SF evenings where the weather was cooperating with blue skie, temps in the high 60’s, and no fog rolling in mid-way through the game.

Sailboats

There were lots of sailboats out on the water practicing their maneuvers and we got a good view of them from the stadium above.

Popcorn

Coors Light

"Juice" box

We ate a Giants dog, nachos with a huge pile of jalepenos, popcorn (with lotsa butter), Coors Light, and white wine.  I also managed to get my “juice boxes” through the front gate, which saved us about 14 extra bucks and allowed us to start the buzz early. They had a bunch of “gourmet” food like clam chowder in a bread bowl, crab legs, tacos from Tres Agaves, Gordon Biersch garlic fries but we just wanted standard baseball food.  Where else am I going get them?!

Randy Johnson

The Giants won 6-4 versus the Texas Rangers and I watched my new favorite player, Travis Ishikawa, hit a home run.  Wooo!!  Randy “The Big Unit” Johnson was also the pitcher that night so I got to see him do his thang up on the mound.  We also sat near this big group of nerds, who were in town for the NASCAR event in Napa this weekend.  They were kind enough to explain what was going on in the game since Jes couldn’t have cared less for the game.  It was all about the Coors Light for him.

Jes and Nina

Anyhoo, it was a fun Friday evening for us and I have a new appreciation for baseball and the Giants.  They’re actually doing well this season so let’s hope they keep it up to help boost the value of my home.  Yay!!!

Here are photos from the game.

We be clubbin’!

girls

That’s Billy with the bunny ears in the back.

On Friday night, there was a moment when I had to pause and do a double-take.  Jes asked me what he was supposed to wear and I replied, “Club Attire”.   Whu?!  We were actually going out to a club?!  Yes yes…crazy, right?!  Well, it’s true.  Jes and I went out to Element Lounge for drinks and dancing with Ishya, Billy, Ranee, and Jamie.  We were put on the guest list and got to dodge the $10 cover.  Phew!

cowboy

Anyway, it was fun to see the cousins again and I had no idea that Billy had so many dance moves.  I especially like the cowboy dance.  Here’s a photo of it in action.

Thanks to Ranee for planning it.  It was just what I needed after a long and crazy work week.  We left the club around 1:00 am when they started playing Whitney Houston and Jes and I even did the whole “I’m buzzed and need to eat something greasy” thing afterward.  We went to Tommy’s Joynt down the street for a pastrami sammich and potato salad.  Good times.

Lazy Day

day off

I have only an hour or so left of my long weekend and it was great.  Today was my official day off and I lazied around with the dog all afternoon.  This photo is pretty much what my day looked like: me on the bed with the laptop and Koa nappin’ in his bed.  The window shades were open and I watched the clouds dance over the building.  The sun came in and out throughout the day and it was fun to watch.

chicken and waffles

koa

I also managed to get my butt out of the bed a few times to go out for a run and for lunch with Susie.  We had chicken and waffles at Farmer Brown’s Little Skillet, which is just a quick hop across the street and typically open only M-F from 11-2.  It’s a tiny window in an alley and usually has a long line.  We got there a little after 1:00 with no line and enough sun to sit out on the loading platform across the way.

When Jes got home from work, we went for another run and I got to try out my new headphones and the new music I just loaded onto the iPod.

Today was a good day.  I guess I’m ready to go back to work now…if I must.