Went to the Cheesecake Factory today during lunch...company treat. The whole welcome, intro part was a little over the top for me. How about keeping it simple? I guess not here.
The new girl(she just joined our team) ordered the Thai Lettuce Wraps. Tom ordered something similar. Now they say you can judge a cook/eatery/chef by how they cook a burger. The pride, the patience goes into making one that will have you wanting more. So, I ordered the Old Fashioned Hamburger from their Glamburgers & Sandwiches, even though I should have went for either salad or soup. You see the night before we used one of the Restaurant.com certificate and indulged at the El Aguila Real Mexican, and there was nothing Mexican about it. More on that some other time.
In between conversation, the food arrived. Not too soon, not too late either. The new girl got her lettuce wraps first. Both me & Tom were aghast as to the unimaginative, blend plate. Even the new girl was turned off by it. It wasn't hard to see/figure out how the plate could have been delivered from the truck to the table. How about chopping up the lettuce? Mixing up all the ingredients and present the chicken & the dressings on the side??!! Even the lettuce didn't look appealing. It was dark, not the kind you would want to wrap around a chicken and dip in the sauce. The new girl was not satisfied, she pretty much left her plate untouched.
On my side of the table, both the new girl & Tom were a little jealous of my plate. I mean look at the burger & the fries with mayonnaise. They were both commenting on how good it looked & all. Well, I will gladly share fries but you only get to take a bite out of my burger if you are either my wife or my daughter. Anybody & everybody else, not a chance. Always start with the fries. That's how I like it. Finish the fries first & then work on the burger. After few fries I am having a real hard time going for more, let alone finish it. The fries are warm, cooked just right. It's the salt. I've never had fries with that much salt. My fingers & lips are just covered in salt. I let my colleagues know my disappointment with the fries. Against my will, I start on the burger. After the fries looking at the burger I am suspicious. It seems there's an overflow of salt & pepper on the meat itself. First bite, my jaws are hurting. This is one chewy meat. After few more bites, I am looking for some dressings. I dip the burger in the mayonnaise in vain. This is one dry burger. I can't seem to taste anything except for the meat & some buns. Towards the end, I could taste some mayonnaise which may have been slapped on with a spatula. Was there really lettuce, onion, pickles and tomatoes as the menu said? I didn't taste any of them.
The waitress suggested some desert. I am not big on sweets and after my unforgettable, special encounters with the burger & fries, I am less inclined to order anything else. Tom & the new girl suggested I get some desert to go for the wife. Hmmm...not a bad idea. I got the Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake for her to go. She hasn't touched it, she wants to eat it with me tonight...=)
I am sorry honey, but you might be disappointed.
Gay Marriage & Thursday
Today is a good day. Well, for one it is Thursday and another the President Obama voiced his support for Gay Marriage. It is amazing that he was so clear, to the point. No mumbling or playing games. I do wonder, a) if gay/lesbian marriage will be legalized by 2014 (unlikely)? and b) if the presidents statement will have any impact, effect on any third world countries or middle east (again highly unlikely)?
I have always been a proponent of gay marriage. At the end of the day, who the hell am I to tell someone if they can or cannot marry a person they love?!
As we humans are progressing, we are overcoming a lot of our prejudices. First slavery, then racism (which a lot of people are still overcoming), Equal rights, Women's right, Child labor, and now the same-sex marriage. So what's next? After we legalize same-sex marriage what is the next step forward?
I think after the same-sex marriage issue settles down, we should team up like the Avengers to battle, diminish, modernize religion.
I have always been a proponent of gay marriage. At the end of the day, who the hell am I to tell someone if they can or cannot marry a person they love?!
As we humans are progressing, we are overcoming a lot of our prejudices. First slavery, then racism (which a lot of people are still overcoming), Equal rights, Women's right, Child labor, and now the same-sex marriage. So what's next? After we legalize same-sex marriage what is the next step forward?
I think after the same-sex marriage issue settles down, we should team up like the Avengers to battle, diminish, modernize religion.
Adventureland, Avenger...all As
Last Saturday, woke up at 7am. Wake the family up at 8am so we can all go to Adventureland....yay!!! That place is so fucking lame. I am glad we got discount tickets from our friends. Normally the tickets are $39.00(yes, that is thirty fucking nine dollars) per person. We got it for $18.00 per person. It has more kiddie ride than adult ones. Even on those rides kids are just spinning...yeah spin their brains out. So, what's my beef with the Adventureland??!!
1. Not enough rides/amusement for adults...hardly any.
2. The roller coasters are fucking lame. Just looking at the Tornado, I decided not to wait in line. It just basically goes up & down..3 times. That's it. Since the line at the Dragon was a little shorter, I decided to try that one. Two 360 loop & one turn...and it was over.
3. We were looking forward to splashing in the water. But I guess $18.00 doesn't entitle us to do that since the water park was close.
Few times I was reminiscing the times at the Worlds of Fun with Sameer; Oceans of Fun with Sameer, Andrie, two Russian chicks and few others; or the fun we had at the Six Flags Magic Mountain with my sister-in-law. I need to gather all these people around and do another amusement/water park day...
So, last night after getting home from work, my wife tells me today is Mothers Day. I freaked out. I thought it was on Sunday but she kept insisting it was yesterday(for her today, that is Tuesday). I am thinking it doesn't make any sense, it should be the second Sunday of May...you know to let you take some time to appreciate & celebrate with mom...Oh fuck. So, I drove around and bought a Wii with Zumba for her. Just before leaving the store, started chatting with the clerk and he confirms Mothers Day is on Sunday.
Oh Well.
But I had also promised her to take her to see Avenger...and so we went. I am more excited, anxious about The Dark Knight Rises. On Avenger, my favorite character was Hulk by far and I was getting more annoyed by the Ironman...too many quirky lines.
1. Not enough rides/amusement for adults...hardly any.
2. The roller coasters are fucking lame. Just looking at the Tornado, I decided not to wait in line. It just basically goes up & down..3 times. That's it. Since the line at the Dragon was a little shorter, I decided to try that one. Two 360 loop & one turn...and it was over.
3. We were looking forward to splashing in the water. But I guess $18.00 doesn't entitle us to do that since the water park was close.
Few times I was reminiscing the times at the Worlds of Fun with Sameer; Oceans of Fun with Sameer, Andrie, two Russian chicks and few others; or the fun we had at the Six Flags Magic Mountain with my sister-in-law. I need to gather all these people around and do another amusement/water park day...
So, last night after getting home from work, my wife tells me today is Mothers Day. I freaked out. I thought it was on Sunday but she kept insisting it was yesterday(for her today, that is Tuesday). I am thinking it doesn't make any sense, it should be the second Sunday of May...you know to let you take some time to appreciate & celebrate with mom...Oh fuck. So, I drove around and bought a Wii with Zumba for her. Just before leaving the store, started chatting with the clerk and he confirms Mothers Day is on Sunday.
Oh Well.
But I had also promised her to take her to see Avenger...and so we went. I am more excited, anxious about The Dark Knight Rises. On Avenger, my favorite character was Hulk by far and I was getting more annoyed by the Ironman...too many quirky lines.
Tamale's Industry
Last year I purchased a $20.00 Restaurant.com certificate to use at the Tamale's Industry in Des Moines, IA. After living in Cali, I am a big fan of tamales. Not only tamales, I also got to experience & love other Mexican food and the culture too.
In college, a friend once took me to Tacos El Mexicano. He ordered a burrito for me and asked me to just try it. Man, I loved it. Only after I finished the monstrous burrito, he told me it was a cow tongue burrito. I had no idea, but boy it was good. Since then that's the only food I'd eat at that restaurant.
Now back to Tamale's Industry. Few weeks ago, we decided to give them a try. If I hadn't purchased the gift certificate from Restaurant.com already, I wouldn't have drove to this part of town for Tamale. From outside it looked rather rundown. Once I got inside, I was immediately taken back to LA. It looks & feels like any other family-owned restaurant (which it is), but they did a pretty good job emulating eateries on Alvarado. I asked if we could do a carry-out rather than dine-in. The guy was very nice, polite and said that won't be a problem.
Here's what we ordered:
2 spicy beef tamale meal
2 pork tamale
1 Chicken Burrito meal
1 cow tongue taco meal
While waiting inside I was chatting with the server & the cook admiring the look & feel of the place. When I told 'em my love for tamale and I used to live in LA, the owner sent a complimentary tamale & salsa on our table. I loved the texture, but it felt like there wasn't enough beef filling.
After getting the food, we drove home fast, to devour the food while warm. We got home, laid all the food down on the living room and turned on the TV. After going through each of the take out box, my wife turned the TV off.
"Let's just eat first."
I'm not complaining. I got to work. I really admired the way all the tamales were wrapped, authentic. First I started with the pork tamale. It was OK. After having one pork, immediately I tried the spicy beef. This one was much better than the pork. I was pleased and set the last spicy beef aside for the finishing pleasure. I also tried the cow tongue taco. I'd rather go to Tacos El Mexicano for a cow tongue burrito next time. I had few bites of the chicken burrito from my wife and it was pleasantly good. Needless to say, I finished my meal with the spicy beef tamale that Sunday evening.
Afterwards, both me & my wife agreed on few things:
1. We would go back to the Tamale's Industry,
2. But we wouldn't order either the cow tongue burrito or the pork tamale.
Hope you guys enjoy the food & atmosphere as we did.
In college, a friend once took me to Tacos El Mexicano. He ordered a burrito for me and asked me to just try it. Man, I loved it. Only after I finished the monstrous burrito, he told me it was a cow tongue burrito. I had no idea, but boy it was good. Since then that's the only food I'd eat at that restaurant.
Now back to Tamale's Industry. Few weeks ago, we decided to give them a try. If I hadn't purchased the gift certificate from Restaurant.com already, I wouldn't have drove to this part of town for Tamale. From outside it looked rather rundown. Once I got inside, I was immediately taken back to LA. It looks & feels like any other family-owned restaurant (which it is), but they did a pretty good job emulating eateries on Alvarado. I asked if we could do a carry-out rather than dine-in. The guy was very nice, polite and said that won't be a problem.
Here's what we ordered:
2 spicy beef tamale meal
2 pork tamale
1 Chicken Burrito meal
1 cow tongue taco meal
While waiting inside I was chatting with the server & the cook admiring the look & feel of the place. When I told 'em my love for tamale and I used to live in LA, the owner sent a complimentary tamale & salsa on our table. I loved the texture, but it felt like there wasn't enough beef filling.
After getting the food, we drove home fast, to devour the food while warm. We got home, laid all the food down on the living room and turned on the TV. After going through each of the take out box, my wife turned the TV off.
"Let's just eat first."
I'm not complaining. I got to work. I really admired the way all the tamales were wrapped, authentic. First I started with the pork tamale. It was OK. After having one pork, immediately I tried the spicy beef. This one was much better than the pork. I was pleased and set the last spicy beef aside for the finishing pleasure. I also tried the cow tongue taco. I'd rather go to Tacos El Mexicano for a cow tongue burrito next time. I had few bites of the chicken burrito from my wife and it was pleasantly good. Needless to say, I finished my meal with the spicy beef tamale that Sunday evening.
Afterwards, both me & my wife agreed on few things:
1. We would go back to the Tamale's Industry,
2. But we wouldn't order either the cow tongue burrito or the pork tamale.
Hope you guys enjoy the food & atmosphere as we did.
Aggregate
I am going to start doing some house cleaning...well in this case it is more of getting rid of all the other blogs & posts here & there...I am going to aggregate those sites into one, this one.
These post are not informative at all. This is more of a reflection of my college life, how I used to think and things that mattered most to me then. So, here are few post worth saving from my other blog...enjoy!
These post are not informative at all. This is more of a reflection of my college life, how I used to think and things that mattered most to me then. So, here are few post worth saving from my other blog...enjoy!
First Reddit, then FB and on...
Lately, I get a rush of ideas that I wanna blog about. I put all my thoughts together, sometimes even scribble them on a napkin, rest is history. Since starting a family it has been difficult to continue blogging, but then there are things I am able to do now than before.
In order to eliminate all distraction, two years ago I said goodbye to Reddit.com and never looked back. Have thought about giving it a try from time to time, but I am my own demon. I did the same thing about two weeks ago. I hated checking FB 4/5 times a day during work and more once at home. So, finally without any thought/goodbye, I deactivated my account. It was a little weird at first, but now I am simply happy that I did. Instead of wasting time on Facebook, I'd rather focus on three things at the moment:
1. Quality time with my family
2. Certs
3. Running & Guitar
With that said, after some discussion we (me & my wife) realized, there's three stages in a child's life that parent need to help out/ be part of. If we break things down such a way it will only make our own life easy.
1. Feeding (& listening to you):
This happens from the beginning till they are in primary school. Among few other things, focus on what you serve gets eaten. Fruits, vegetable and other foods, the plate must be emptied. Absolutely no other activity while eating which must be on the table. Past weekend, we tried Mexican dinner while watching TV. Both of us, paused the TV and finished our food first.
Imagine telling your kid to focus on study, finish their plate, do their homework...and on and on and...you will end up sounding like a nagging parent. So, focus on one at a time. By the time the kid is in school, he/she knows they must finish everything on their plate.
2. Study (& listening to you):
This is a phase that starts from primary and should last only until they are in middle school. Though our daughter will be 3 soon, my thought is just like food, you need to make sure they must finish their school/home work before anything else. I am a big believer of pushing your kid and let them discover, cherish the exhilaration, beauty of doing something beyond what they are capable of. I use the word "Good Job" very few times, instead I say thank you, sometimes nothing at all. If you use a word too many times, it looses value after a while.
So my daughter takes off her shoe, puts it where it suppose to be in her room, thank you or keep silent. Why keep silent? Because that signals her she is suppose to do this anyway.
3. Character & Other things:
By now hopefully your kid knows few ground rules at home, and listens to you. Now it is time to become not only a mom/dad but also a friend. Spend time with her, listen to her, let her know you guys are always there to give her a shoulder.
Again I am not going to write too much about this stage since I am not there yet as a parent. I do however, always think of these topics focusing on my life, my wife, and other people close to us (which is very few, trust me).
I will end this one with something my father used to tell me when I was in high school: "Son, there's three things that's important in life and in this order:
1. Your health: if you are healthy, you will feel great, happy and you can focus on the other two.
2. Your character: this is what people will judge you by. Your character makes you who you are.
3. Your education: is what will empower your character more.
In order to eliminate all distraction, two years ago I said goodbye to Reddit.com and never looked back. Have thought about giving it a try from time to time, but I am my own demon. I did the same thing about two weeks ago. I hated checking FB 4/5 times a day during work and more once at home. So, finally without any thought/goodbye, I deactivated my account. It was a little weird at first, but now I am simply happy that I did. Instead of wasting time on Facebook, I'd rather focus on three things at the moment:
1. Quality time with my family
2. Certs
3. Running & Guitar
With that said, after some discussion we (me & my wife) realized, there's three stages in a child's life that parent need to help out/ be part of. If we break things down such a way it will only make our own life easy.
1. Feeding (& listening to you):
This happens from the beginning till they are in primary school. Among few other things, focus on what you serve gets eaten. Fruits, vegetable and other foods, the plate must be emptied. Absolutely no other activity while eating which must be on the table. Past weekend, we tried Mexican dinner while watching TV. Both of us, paused the TV and finished our food first.
Imagine telling your kid to focus on study, finish their plate, do their homework...and on and on and...you will end up sounding like a nagging parent. So, focus on one at a time. By the time the kid is in school, he/she knows they must finish everything on their plate.
2. Study (& listening to you):
This is a phase that starts from primary and should last only until they are in middle school. Though our daughter will be 3 soon, my thought is just like food, you need to make sure they must finish their school/home work before anything else. I am a big believer of pushing your kid and let them discover, cherish the exhilaration, beauty of doing something beyond what they are capable of. I use the word "Good Job" very few times, instead I say thank you, sometimes nothing at all. If you use a word too many times, it looses value after a while.
So my daughter takes off her shoe, puts it where it suppose to be in her room, thank you or keep silent. Why keep silent? Because that signals her she is suppose to do this anyway.
3. Character & Other things:
By now hopefully your kid knows few ground rules at home, and listens to you. Now it is time to become not only a mom/dad but also a friend. Spend time with her, listen to her, let her know you guys are always there to give her a shoulder.
Again I am not going to write too much about this stage since I am not there yet as a parent. I do however, always think of these topics focusing on my life, my wife, and other people close to us (which is very few, trust me).
I will end this one with something my father used to tell me when I was in high school: "Son, there's three things that's important in life and in this order:
1. Your health: if you are healthy, you will feel great, happy and you can focus on the other two.
2. Your character: this is what people will judge you by. Your character makes you who you are.
3. Your education: is what will empower your character more.
How can Yahoo Survive??!!
It isn't hard to see the near end of Yahoo (YHOO) . Anyone with doubts, remember Ask.com, excite.com??!!
By re-introduce, a new name, new logo, a new site. Most company/corporation gets really excited to introduce the new feature, new site; I'd suggest Yahoo to build anticipation. And then roll the new site out slowly, part of Yahoo. But soon to be separated.
So what can Yahoo do?! Follow the footstep of Bing, formerly msn search. In the US and in other regions (except for China) Google, Bing and Yahoo still dominates. While there's still time, Yahoo needs to make the move before it's too late.
1. Re-introduce:
By re-introduce, a new name, new logo, a new site. Most company/corporation gets really excited to introduce the new feature, new site; I'd suggest Yahoo to build anticipation. And then roll the new site out slowly, part of Yahoo. But soon to be separated.
2. Simplify:
Here's Google search:
Here's Bing search:
And here's Yahoo search:
So which one is pleasant to look at? Which one are you most likely to use on a daily basis?
3. Integrate:
Integrate the new search engine with now and upcoming toys, gadget. Make it look cool to be part of the new brand. Hell, make it by invite only to begin with (borrowed from Google), which will build a fan base and anticipation. Be super green & totally anti gov, anti corp.
4. Team-up:
Google is the official search engine for Chrome (not only Chromebooks). Yahoo should team-up with Ubuntu to enable searching both online & offline content.
Least of all, trim down Yahoo Mail. It is annoying to see big, flashy ads on the right side of the screen while (if ever) on Yahoo Mail.
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