Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Mini Update

I have somewhat of a part-time writing gig on Mahalo.com (check it out), writing entries for the sports department (I'm writing some of the entries for the Montreal Canadiens and Dallas Cowboys). I am still in the early stages of the training process and so I'm not getting paid much for it. But as people come to my managed pages more and more, I will earn more revenue. Obviously that is something I hope will happen soon, but for the time being at least I'm doing something I enjoy.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka

Amy told me about a new Ramen place downtown that was supposedly better than Kintaro. Well how could I refuse, since Kintaro is my favorite ramen place? I was told that they had some sort of a ramen accompanied by pork cheek (yes, that means a lot of fat).

We made our way down to Robson Street (near Bidwell) and ended up having an enjoyable time. Plusses for this restaurant were the soup bases and the quality of the meat. But I really didn't enjoy the noodles, which were much tougher than "my favorite restaurant". And the price of my pork cheek ramen was more than it should be. Overall, I would rank it below Kintaro, still the champion!

Friday, March 26, 2010

The Hangover

It seems like only yesterday that Vancouver (and Whistler) was host to the world. Now it seems as if the Olympics never happened. Downtown is back to the congested traffic. Richmond is back to the congested and really bad traffic. The Vancouver Canucks fans are whining about the lack of goaltending and making fun of other teams as they always like to do. I guess things are back to normal.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Undercover Boss

I came across an interesting show tonight that I'd never even heard about. No it's not Celebrity Apprentice. The show is called Undercover Boss, where CEO's of major companies go undercover in their companies to see how things operate. Tonight's episode was the CEO of GSI Commerce in the United States. I thought he was going to fire the cell center girl who was pretty rude to the customer.

To think there is. a reality show on TV that I might actually enjoy.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Inspiration

"Every day is a blessing"

Even though times are tough it's important to stay positive. Throughout this month I've had a lot of time to search my soul and find inner peace. There are a lot of things I need to change about myself and it's time I've started. I took a walk today, something I hadn't done in a long time (what I mean is I haven't taken a walk outside -- as opposed to the 10 kilometers I walk each night at work), and it was very refreshing. Life can be cruel sometimes but to complain and not do anything about it means nothing will be done about it. There are still things I need to sort out but with a clearer mind I know I can do it.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Random English Questions

1) How do you pronounce Tsawwassen? I've always thought it was tah-WAH-sin but I've been told that it's the T that's silent as opposed to the S.

2) Why do you say "A History of Violence" but you also say "an historic era"? Shouldn't it be "a historic era"? This one really bugs me.

3) DISCLAIMER: Skip to step 4 if you don't like foul language... What is the past tense of "I shit in my pants"? Is it "I shot in my pants" or "I shat in my pants"? What about "shat"? I took a shit?

4) What rhymes with orange or month (or purple)?

5) The plural of the animal mouse is mice, it the plural of the computer mouse "mice" or "mouses"?

OK, now I need some sleep.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Maenam

What, Jason off on Saturday? Well after a week of unusual graveyard shifts, I managed to procure both Saturday and Sunday off. I took a nap after getting home at 8 in the morning than drove to Amy's where we started our weekend adventure.

Our first place of note was the 49th Parallel Coffee place in Kits. It was opened by the owners of Cafe Artigiano. She had an Americano and I had a single shot latte which was presented with the famed latte art.

After a short drive and excursion to Granville Island, Amy treated me to dinner at Maenam, an interesting "Asian fusion" restaurant. The menu was small but interesting. We started with a Hot and Sour Sloping Hills Pork Soup. I finally discovered what Sloping Hills pork was, as I'd seen it on a number of menus and never knew what it was. We shared three entrees: Chiang Mai Style Beef Salad, 8-Spice Fish (lingcod), and Pad Thai. In terms of taste I would rank the dishes as follows: Soup, Salad, Pad Thai, Fish. All were tasty but I'll have to say very small in size.

Dessert consisted of Carmelized Baby Banana Fritter with White Sesame Sorbet and a Dark Chocolate Pot de Creme. Both were enjoyable but once again small in portion. While I definitely enjoyed the flavors, I guess I wish there were larger portions!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

About Time

Evidently the May 8 Saturday Night Live will be hosted by none other than Betty White. There had been a big campaign on Facebook and others to have her as host. She rules.

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Japadog

Even though the infamous Japadog stand had been open on Burrard and Smithe for some time, I'd never tried it due to the price. But with all the hype and supposed 2-block lineups during the Olympics, I figured it was time to see what all the excitement was about. So I picked up Amy and we took a little walk up to the stand. Three hot dogs for $19.25 but I must admit it was pretty good. Still, $6 a hot dog, hmm.... then again I pay $3 for a cup of coffee sometimes.

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Holiday?

Weird, it seemed as if the last three weeks were a holiday, when in fact the opposite was true. We were so swamped at work it seemed like I was at another job. But the excitement and craziness has died down now and it's more or less business as usual. Today was my first day back after Sunday's game (and closing ceremonies) and it was nice to have a relatively easy day. It gave me time to reflect on things and try to figure out what the future holds. Nobody knows really. Maybe I need a real holiday.

Monday, March 01, 2010

Memories

A lot of images and memories come to mind about the last 17 days, images I'll never ever forget. Here are my most vivid ones (what were yours?):

1) Joannie Rochette blowing a kiss to her Mom at the end of her skate. She redefined the word courage and determination.

2) Golden Goal - no other words are necessary. I don't even want to think what would have happened if it was the other team.

3) The first gold medal by Alexandre Bilodeau. We all knew there would be more but the first one is always the best one.

4) Patriotism in the streets. I guess the downtown residents can get some sleep now, or come back from their holidays visiting people elsewhere. I only wish this patriotism isn't a one-time thing. But the word bandwagon comes to mind.

5) My live Olympic experience watching both the Pairs and Women's Figure Skating Finals. It was touching to see how the fans cheered competitors from all nations. I did not hear one boo. This is what sports should be about, cheering for the effort.