I had hidden beef.

Jes and I had a very unique dining experience last night with Kevin, Karrie, and Kevin’s nephew Eric. We went to an ultra-exclusive whole-in-the-wall Japanese “restaurant” where you have to be invited and on a special list in order to be seated and served. The chef is a decendent of a family of Imperial Chefs from Japan and the place has no name, no signage, keeps the front door locked, and probably doesn’t take credit card payments. Luckily, Karrie was invited by the “inner circle” and we got to come along for the ride. When you enter, it’s a modest-looking place with only 3 table settings. The chef needs to know exactly how many people are coming so that he can buy and prepare the meals to the number. It felt like going to someone’s house for dinner. There was no menu and the wife brought out each dish and told us which sauce(s) to use or no sauce at all.
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Together, we had a platter of miniature appetizers (one per person), some fresh veggies with miso dip, and EIGHT courses of beef! The beef was the best I had ever tasted. First of all, I don’t think this cow that we had eaten was raised in the U.S. We joked about how this cow probably never saw the USDA, never saw the inside of a freezer, and most likely came straight from Japan for a pretty penny. The first two beef dishes were raw: (1) raw marinated slices or beef and (2) raw throat (yes – cow’s throat – pictured above). The wife then brought a mini-hibachi to the table. The next 5 courses were as follows: (3) tongue – disturbingly tasty, (4) filet mignon – the most tender I’ve ever had, (5) spare ribs without the bones, (6) outside of a rib eye, (7) inside of a rib eye, and (8) skirt steak. By the end of the meal, we were ready to roll over and die. The evening ended with 5 different types of ice cream/sorbet. MMM…best meal ever. Sorry for the blurry images…it was rather dark inside.

Finally.

We had a rather laid back Sunday today. I slept in for the first time in weeks. We had some brunch at a nearby cafe. Jes worked on his computer for most of the day while I uploaded photos and did some laundry. Koa even got to run at the dog park today. The best part of the day was that we finally booked our flight to Thailand. We’ve been trying to go for the past 4 years and have finally committed. We’ll be going from December 27th to January 10th. I can’t wait!

Strong work, boys!

This morning, Jesse, Jimmy, Pish, and Jay finished their first metric century, which is 100 km or 62 miles. The event was called the Cool Breeze Century and it started in Ventura, went up to Santa Barbara, and back to Ventura. While the boys rode, Eleen, Debbie, and I drove behind them, in front of them, stopped for some luch, met them at rest stops, and took lots of photos and video. We didn’t know where to start or how to get around with the lousy directions without a map so we hopped into my car that had GPS. The hills looked rather brutal but the boys performed well.
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Afterwards, Jes and I went to my parents’ house for my dad’s 61st birthday party. Man, each time I go to one of these things, there seems to be more and more people I don’t know showing up. Each person brought a Thai dish or dessert and someone even brought Thai karaoke. I was so stuffed by the end of the night. They sure do know how to throw a BBQ! Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Are you ready to go?

Camp is all done. Closing ceremony made me cry again and moving day was the fastest ever! I’m still sick, a little sad about leaving camp, but looking forward to my 2 weeks off.
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We’re at La Quinta Inn and getting ready for Jes’ metric century ride. The bike is pumped, the boys are in their rooms, and Jes is a little sick. They’re meeting in the lounge at 7:30 and roll-off is at 8 am. Woohoo!!

ah…playtime!

I woke up this morning with broken legs. My legs are so sore. I hobbled around like an old lady all day. I hope this doesn’t last long.
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In other news, the past two weeks of Camp have been very busy and I’ve been stuck in the office most of the time. But now that it’s the 3rd and last week, the paperwork is done and it’s time to play! I spent most of my day outside taking photos, chatting with old friends, and reminiscing with Brooke, who came to visit today. My 3rd summer running this dog and pony show has been bittersweet but I’m going to enjoy it now. Bring on the waterslide!

Goal met.

The AFC Half Marathon is all done! Getting up in the morning wasn’t as painful as I expected. Unfortunately, there were some party girls down the hall that kept everyone else up and Nikki ended up with only 1 hour of sleep. We were out the door by 5:15 and on the charter bus by 6 am. My peanut butter sandwich was not very appetizing so early in the morning but it did its job. My time goal was 2:15 and I finished in 2:12:35!! Yay me!! Nikki finished under 2 hours, which was her goal so she did well too. Now we’re home. I took a super nap in the car, super nap at home, and my headache is finally gone. *sigh* It’s too bad I have to go to work tomorrow.