I am gonna say it!

MAJOR Ranting alert!!

Ketchup sucks. Yes, I am grumpy tonight.

Sure it is one of the newer creations by Dolce group. It has a nice ambience and design. Waiters and waitresses are sweet and hot. The managers are as tanned and built as a pretty late 20 something gay guy can be. He is probably straight so it makes him just that much hotter... Their steak is good, but other than that, everything else just sucks. Well, ok that might be an exaggeration since everything else as I mentioned above sounded pretty swell. Ok, the FOOD SUCKS AND AS A RESTAURANT I THINK IT IS A HUGE FACTOR don't you think. Everything is salted to death. Oh yeah their chicken dishes are dry. Maybe I should go back again and try their fish and if that still sucks then yes there is really nothing good to eat.

I ordered a pork chop today and I don't know how they did it but the salty taste has evenly penetrated the entire piece. It is a piece of work, but just in a very unhealthy way. If I wanted overly sauced/salted food, I would go to Cheesecake Factory or somewhere. But when one can easily spend 50 and above for a meal without desert, it is a bit ridiculous that the food is on par with PF Chang's. I think I would rather lick my waitress than eating that pork chop. Amazingly, everything else on my dish was great, the lettuce or w/e that green leaf was, was fresh, the sauce was thick and yet refreshing. The drinks were delicious and the appetizer was unique. I guess it is at least consistent -- everything else is done with excellent standard but the food.

Of course one may say that we go to restaurants for the experience, hence the price and the sucky food. I do agree, if there were some sort of experience. It was overall just a new highly decorated yet another Hollywood restaurant stacked with some fit waiter/waitress. You can hardly call that an experience. I think you can get a better experience in a gay dive bar or a boutique gym's steamroom. What is worse is that on our left hand side, there was this korean chick who apparently enjoyed just a little bit extra champaign cocktail and laughing hysterically and talking in korean throughout our dinner. On our right hand side, ANOTHER korean chick, who looked like a miniature Michele Kwan (Don't know why, i just kept saying in my head, shut up michele kwan, shut up) lead a group of overweight mexican chicks who were oooing and wowing about sparkling water. Their leader, the korean chick just kept quaking about how this restaurant was supposed to be this celebrity infested hot spot, explaining how the painting of a ketchup bottle was consistent with the restaurant's name (OMFG you think?), and blah blah blah blah blah. Hot spot, maybe, celebrity? not really. Besides people, get a grip, celebrities are just people. I see George Clooney many many times in person and yes he is charming but he, I EMPHASIZE, doesn't have a 3rd leg or 2nd head. I don't know why suddenly people feel literally superior than others just because some celebrity eat or shit next to them.

But I had a very positive attitude toward my waitress because she was a such sweetheart, and she looked like someone from USC so I just felt keen toward her. I politely told her that the food was over salted and we for sure didn't want desert and tipped her 25%. So I think I was doing everything right in terms of etiquette.

After dinner, we went to Primo Cafe next door (I think it is called primo w/e). The waiter was really hot and dumb. He delivered and then took away our crepe after we cum all over it with ice cream, and then didn't know what coffee he was delivering. Again I laughed with him and made him talk to us a bit more. Did I mention he was hot. My friend who was also disappointed by Ketchup's salt-fest, cut off two chicks in front of the coffee shop so I had to apologize and then I proceeded stepping on them by accident.

In the middle of eating our desert and drinking our coffee, a really cute guy came in and setup his computer right across my table. So I was staring at him of course but then my eyes would wonder off 5 degrees to the left and look over his shoulder at those chicks that I stepped on. The girls got really confused after a while, they didn't know who I was checking out...

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9pm soon arrived and my friend headed to club LAX to party and with my iron determination that was forged since Tuesday I didn't go clubbing. I just wanted to have a hearty meal and watch a movie this weekend. I REALlY had that craving. I guess you can call this bf/relationship craving? But either I am out of fashion or it is just a hint from life, that NO ONE had time or desire to do either. When I say hearty, I mean some small places that can fulfill my guilty pleasure for my stomach, not a place like Ketchup and then it totally disappointed. So by the end of the night I got neither...

Oh yeah I didn't win lottery yet again. grrrr...


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Felt bad about being so bitchy, so in their defense, I wasn't all that sharp tonight either.
When I walked in the reception desk, instead of just saying my name and reservation, I first handed the valet parking ticket to the girls at the desk. Of course feeling dumb, I pulled the ticket back and laughed it off, "ha ha ha, silly me, you don't need that, ha ha... ha......ha.." Then I asked her what she said to me when she wasn't talking to me. more "ha ha ha"s... Also I guess I was checking out a waiter too much he actually came over and asked me if I wanted sparkling or bottled water. omg... sigh

Another weekend that started high ended kinda low

Friday was exhausting. We had a quarterly outing hosted by our department. It was full of the corporate event's gimmicks, you know, the little games, the pathetic prizes, and the "socializing". I had fun though I had to say. I played a couple rounds of pool and won the dart competition. I was teamed up with this old tall Brazilian manager. He was a surfer when he was younger, so I bet he was pretty hot when he was in his 20s. Now, he is just a standard grandpa or papa. 

The reason I was so tired wasn't because of this. I got kinda sick on Tuesday and ever since then, the symptoms have been lingering. So I guess my body was trying to constantly fending off the virus or bacteria or whatever, it really took more energy everyday. I didn't stop working out or start sleeping earlier. So by Friday I am really god damn tired. On the way home @ 4pm bathing under the warm LA sun, I was falling asleep. My head went side ways and I constantly struggled to clarify what was on the road and what was out of my dream. It was a strange moment. Suddenly, my cellphone rang and Kee "cousin" called, and I think she saved my life. 

"hey, remember Ad?"

"hmm the rich guy who likes you? from laguna beach?"

"yeah! he asked me out tonight, not a date just hanging out with his friends, I told him that my cousin is coming, so you'd better come ok! It is a upscale sushi restaurant/lounge, So i guess there is dancing later too. The dinner is @ 8:30ish"

"ok, I will. I am bored out of my ass I need to go out."

So I went home and ready to take a quick nap so I get some energy for some party.

So, cut through the random and useless stuff, Kee and I left her house around 9. Took us 1 hour on the freeway to get to laguna beach. Right off the bat, I see this sizzling hot guy leaning down kissing this chick. I was like omg I am on. Ok not kissing the chick part, but I would definitely blow that guy.

The restaurant is indeed pretty nice. The waiter/waitress are all hot, like the ones you would see in West Hollywood, like in Ketchup. The crowd was extremely attractive as well. As I stood there waiting, the nearby tables looked up and watching our 10 people party trying to squeeze in this 6 people table. The chick next to me looked up and smiled at me. Yes I had to say I looked pretty good Friday night. My outfit wasn't even expensive! I wore a Club Monaco V-neck T, with G-star jeans, pair of olive colored converse, and topped with a Zara's jacket. 

Once we sat down, I looked around the table. Two young pairs, and two older guys, one single blond, me and my cousin and Ad. Ad is this chubby guy who didn't really look all that cute either. However, he was charismatic, kind, and very fun. I am telling you, inner beauty matters people! The old guy sitting next to me was from Germany, doing medical equipment business. He travels to LA 4-5 times a year for business. Apparently, he hangs out with Ad every time he is here. I think Ad is like his dad's PR person. Ad's dad does laser eye surgical equipment business so Ad would take this old guy old every time he is in town as a good token. Maybe... just my guess. 

We started doing Sake bombing. Ok I wasn't planning to drink at all but I ended up taking.

3 Sake bombs (mind you it was a good half cups of beer too!)

1 Sake shot

2 cups of beer (maybe half of a beer)

2 Jagger shots

the Jagger shots was big and they totally did it for me. By the end of the dinner, I was in a really happy place. 

Oh the sushi was phenomenal!! It was definitely one of the best I have ever had. The one item that REALLY impressed me was something quite common, it was Salmon sashimi. The salmon was flawless and the texture was tight and smooth. When you start chewing, the fish seems to just melt in your mouth instead of being disintegrated by your teeth. All the sushi was much more authentic as well. How you can tell? you can't pick up one with your chopsticks unless you are really careful. Because sushi wasn't supposed to be tight like a cinderblock. The structure should be really soft and loose so you really should eat with your hands. That was what I ended up doing. We order a lot of fatty tuna, salmon, and urchins. omg it was such a good experience. 

For those of you want to have a good time eating sushi. please check this place. It is called Mosun Sushi in laguna beach on S. Coast Hwy. The number is 680. You know how I remember? because we tried a full 30 mins in a stupid gas station trying to figure out the recognizable address for Kee's stupid navigation. This process involved calling 3 people checking this place online. 

Once dinner was finished, we went to the lounge upstairs. We were given a vip pass so we just went up directly. It was actually a fantastic club!!!! Also one of the best I went to. The lighting was just perfect and the DJ was kinda well known. DJ Reflex was in da house. I was totally in Rihanna's don't stop the music mode. I just wanted to move my body and shake the stress away. With the help of alcohol and the crew now was somewhat familiar, I was totally rocking it. Yes it was a straight club, so I couldn't really jump to a guy and feel him up. Nor did I have to worry about who is looking who is not. I didn't have to impress or approach anyone. So I just really had a good time. Dancing with the group. The blond was a great dancer, and definitely very whorish on the dance floor. I love whores on the dance floor because they are the most fun people to dance with. I was dancing with everyone, including the guys since the chicks were in between. The music was also very well mixed. I think most of the time, whether a club is good or not really depends on the music. I mean the drinks can only vary so much, you get weak and strong, basically how the bartender mix the proportion determines a good or bad drink. The club design could matter but most of the time it is just that, a design, a decoration. When it is dark, steamy and people are drunk, your design could mean nothing. The lighting is definitely important because when you party basically the visual and audio stimulation is everything. Of course the body contacts as well. So this party pretty much covered it all.

Soon enough, I was grinding and going down with 4 chicks including some two other random chicks in the middle of the dance floor. We def grabbed a bit attention from the crowd. Ad asked my "cousin". Are you sure he is gay, he doesn't look too gay to me right now. I have to say all the girls could dance pretty well except for this one. Her name was Marie. Also a blond. But she couldn't DANCE if her life depended on it. All she did was sticking her arms in the air in such a clumsy way that it looked like she had a stroke and the arms were permanently sticking out. She had this big smily face on the whole time, plus her WHOLE body moves in one direction and one motion at a time, plus those giant lobster arms sticking up the air, she just looked like she was having a seizure in the middle of the dance floor. Plain and simple.  I didn't care, I would still rock out with her and she seemed to have a good time. That was all it mattered! But yeah, she just couldn't dance! Kee pointed out that that was why her boyfriend was nowhere near her now. I was L-O-Ling~~~ lol...

Oh one quick thing, I slipped in the middle of the dinner. I got a bit tipsy, so I was like Kee give me a kiss. and Ad looked at us in awe. So we both had to eat a shit load of shit trying to back track. It was pretty bad...

Anyways, I was buzzing crazy and got home around 230.

Woke up at 800 feeling like a zombie, headed to my god forsaken in person traffic school. It was a fucking dread 8 hours ordeal and I came out of that place at 530pm feeling numb. I was exhausted, my eyes were hurting. I spent the evening watching TV and blowing nose. Yes I got sick again. 

sigh....

A weekend that felt like a week

I called my friend Dodo earlier that week and told her that I wanted to go shopping and have brunch on Saturday. She agreed, which is good because she has incredible sense of style and we always have fun together. I thought that was the plan for the whole weekend. Was I wrong.

Friday night, Kee called up and asked me to go have dinner with her... AFTER I pick her up from the airport. I was tired and driving to LAX in rush hours just didn't sound appealing at all. But she's been driving me around and treating me dinner etc, besides I am really counting on her to buy me an Iphone II as my bday or Christmas gift whenever that thing comes out.  So I told her I would be there. Oh of course, the friendship was a deciding factor too. I am serious!. 

The drive wasn't bad at all but I got even more tired once I arrived. Luckily her flight arrived early - I know how impossible that sounded - and we left the airport in no time. She just came back from Ohio so she was rocking this amazing coat from Kenneth Cole. I was impressed. In the car, she told me how there were so many cute corn fed white guys walking around etc.  Yeah, we have identical tastes in guys. Not just type of guys, but the exact same criteria as well.  We picked up her car from her boyfriend's place and we went for some dinner. As food lovers, we had a blast eating this really spicy Chinese noodles. Then we went back to her place and I curled up in her bed watching TV as if it was in the winter time. She was busy unpacking.  I think women do look beautiful when their mother  nature just naturally come out. Even though she was unpacking for herself, I could see that tender moment when she is cleaning up her baby's shit filled diapers etc. It was truly sweet. We talked and watched some more TV and went out to eat yet again.  I then accidentally left my key at the restaurant and made the owner to wait for me for 20 mins at 12:00am in a small plaza till I picked the keys up lol. He was SO nice. But he was pissed...

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Saturday was my shopping day. My friend dodo ended up bringing 2 friends of hers. I didn't mind but the shopping then didn't go as I planned. I wanted to modify my style a bit. I really wanted to try some different kind of layering and with those two there I just didn't want to waste too much time and trying on clothes like a diva. So we just swiftly shopped around. 

I guess because we had a small group the hop shopping was really fun in West Hollywood/Melrose. We would go to one store and hop in the car drive to the next spot several blocks down the street and repeat. I know we were pretty lazy but we were able to find parking whenever we wanted so it was almost as if we owned the place. I picked out a Paul Frank long sweater for another friend of mine who was going to have her bday celebration the same night.  Now, after shopping for so long I felt that I really needed to get something for myself as well and since I was on a very tight budget due to my recent purchase of my kick ass Mac Book Pro, I went to Marc by Marc, the Marc Cheap. I bought a Chicago Marc grey Tshirt and two condoms. The condom was for my bday girl friend as a joke. On the way out we saw the cutest mascot - a skunk standing in the display window. How can we resist free photo op with a spring skunk? So we did our dramatic takes with the skunk and left the place happy and goofy.  Later on, I found out that I left my condoms and tshirt at the skunk's den and when I called in the girl was like "well you can come back and check." Yeah... that sounds like a plan. 

It rained on the way home. Sunny and pouring. The palms trees, weird buildings, unique window displays, crazy people, and the sunny rain made the afternoon a very memorable one. I thoroughly loved it.

Fast forward to 9 pm. I arrived at bday girl's apt and gifted her. We then headed out to the singing bar called Brass Monkey in Hollywood. It was a very wonderful and simple joint. People were genuinely having fun - even though 70% of the singers were practically screaming at the microphone. About 20 people showed up to the party and one guy definitely stood out. He was the boyfriend of a ex friend and oh my was he beautiful. He was half korean half white with a 10k millioin watt smile that shocked me every time he smiled. We ended up chatting for a while. He was still going to UCLA for MBA and he was originally from Maine how cute right? I was pretty much on camera duty along with two other guys. The girls went nuts, grinding, dancing, kissing each other getting wasted the usual. Even though I didn't sing along with the girls when they did their screaming rendition of "Hit Me Baby One More Time" and I didn't drink a drop of alcohol I still had a lot of fun. 

I left at 1:00am and called up Kee. She was just leaving the club Sugar in Hollywood too. She asked me if I wanted to eat. I think this is why I like her, we have the same taste in pretty much everything, guys, food, entertainment  and we are both Chinese so it is like connected by cultural soul already. I got home kept texting back and forth with her while I spent quality time with my Mac Book Pro. We ended up calling the night at 2:30am and decided not to eat at this weird hour. I mean the only place that opened was IHop and we are both kinda weight conscious, kinda...

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Sunday

Kee, her boyfriend, her boyfriend's roommate, and I went for brunch at The Boiling Crabs. According to them, it is the pioneer in this new trend in this "relatively white washed area" within this Asian vicinity. I mean the only real white area left in LA is probably Hollywood Hills and when I say that I mean the Asian % is still considerably low compared to other places. I am not sure which target audience this restaurant is trying to impress. The Asians? So we can feel white washed enough? I mean I supposed that is a social step up according to the restaurant? or, the white people so they know they weren't the only white meat among the mysterious race called Asians? I wasn't sure but apparently the boyfriend, white mixed with the entire Europe a Chicago native, and his roommate a white guy from New Orleans were intrigued by the white washed callings and we decided to check this place out.

Well let's be clear we were here for their crawfish. So we got about 12 lbs of crawfishes and shrimps. Oh btw, I have to say that this place was white washed. According to the encyclopedia of stereotypes, this place got Mardi Gras beads hanging everywhere, with authentic crude wood chairs and tables, topped with 5 flat huge plasma focused on the ball games. Yeah I say it was very white washed. I mean the two white dudes seemed to be comfortable.  Actually we were making fun at this stupid ad the whole time. The crawfish was really spicy and for me kee and her bf it was very decent but it kinda pissed off our New Orlean dude because he didn't think it was authentic enough. I mean how dare they put the seasoning ON TOP A CRAWFISH. I dont know he kinda gasped so loud and long it was like the first time he was insulted.  Anyways, it was extremely messy and tiring brunch. I mean this meal totally killed the relaxing and trendy and gay aspects of the term brunch. oh did I feel macho afterward.  But I have to admit it was a LOAD of fun. We were laughing all the time hehehe. 

We then went shopping again. I was able to retrieve my Marc Jacobs t shirt and the condom which was given to Kee since she probably would dispense it right away.  I purchased the following, a G-star Vneck T. A energy vneck thin sweater (super cute!), and 7 Diamond shirt. I think I will wear the shirt on Thursday when I see Troy and K hahaha...  the Gstar Vneck was a bit of a push. it was a pretty low Vneck at least for my standard so I kinda felt naked while trying it on. But as I was saying I really want to break away from the beach boy style, so I had to start somewhere. A naked Vneck would do it!

That was about it, I felt like that I never stopped moving the entire weekend. LA has blessed us with some beautiful weather, yes including that rain on Saturday, so it almost felt like a vacation by Sunday, a vacation seemed to end when it just started. 

It would have ended perfectly if the crawfish didn't fuck me up at 4:00am in the morning. I was awake, found myself moaning loudly from the stomachache. Yes, a quick yet violent bathroom run ended the pain but my sleep that night was thoroughly fucked....

Peace

Brokeback lamb

One thing that we Chinese do really well is food. If we could, we would eat our way to world conquer. If it is possible, we would cook rocks and make them tasty. If the resource permits, we would make eating a celebrated natural sport. Well, actually that has already happened, lol. The freaking crazy food that I had was absolutely insane.

The restaurant we went serves some kind of delicacy from southwestern china and the main scheme is BBQ. It differs from American BBQ. What they do is to chop off an entire chunk of raw meat and roast it on an open fire. Basically they cook everything the way they make rotisserie chicken, but with a much stronger open flame and the finished product would inherit the quality of the wild animal and untamed flame. It is incredibly masculine and it feels raw and wild. It is very sensational and it makes my mind wander off to the highland deep in the southwestern region, dream about herding, humping, and eating like an animal. Lol, a bit brokeback mountain. Well, maybe that is why I like the food so much!! hahaha.

Because of our late arrival, we had to order the back section of a lamb. The more common leg and chest meat are gone. The waitress told us that the meat is manageable, basically small enough for three even though it means that we are pushing it a little bit for us. I thought pssh, whatever, I could eat 1.5 lb prime ribs I could eat the back of a lamb. I swear that it looked small on the picture too.

Was I wrong. The thing was carted out by the chef and the whole thing spread more than 2 feet wide. It looked like a B2 bomber model made by lamb meat. It was definitely a sight to behold. Apparently, this feast item was usually ordered by a party of six. The waitress tricked us!!! So they have a special little something for this item. Before we realized what exactly it was, a singing crew of 4 people came out of nowhere in traditional southwestern Chinese costume. Forget the girls, I mean they were cute, but the dudes, apparently they were southwestern natives. Their muscles were bulging out from their little white open chest leather vest. Their voice was thick and masculine. Even though the long lasted like only 1 minute, I was mesmerized. Anyways, the food was good but overwhelming. I mean for people who indulge lamb before, you should know that lamb fat tissue crystallize on the surface very fast and it becomes extremely greasy, so half way through, we were literally battling with this piece of meat, fighting a lost battle against the fat tissue and never ending meat and bones.

I don’t think I would ever eat this again, at least not in this fashion. It was good nevertheless and I wish that LA eatery could be a bit more daring in this direction.