midweek treat

because it's monday...

the perfect shade of green...

...on the perfect pump.

The Crilo Pump by Jerome C. Rousseau

(photo cred: GILT)

outside our window

...because it's monday

tacos and izakaya fare

Note: This is a super old post that has been long in the making. All this happened about two weeks ago. Enjoy.

An empty fridge and a long week were hints for us to have an easy night out on a steamy Thursday. We started at the brand new brick-n-mortar location of our favorite taco truck, Tacos El Chilango!

(photo cred: Eater, who got it from Yelp)

The place looks great and while I was waiting for G and after ordering a cup of horchata to start, Juan, the co-owner (who ran the truck and opened the eatery with his brother Jesus) gave me a complimentary al pastor taco. It was delicious - good amount of meat, cilantro, and onion, which I topped with a little of both of their homemade sauces (verde and spicier red salsa), but there wasn't enough room on the taco for the pickled veggie mix that was also offered on the condiments table. When G arrived, we ordered: two chorizo tacos, one carne asada taco, one mixto taco (pork mixed with sausage), and one more al pastor taco. All excellent and adequately filled with fillins'.

After happily shoving tacos into our mouths, we went next door to Izakaya Seki, a, well, izakaya that just opened a couple weeks ago right above U St.

(photo cred: by Molly W, posted on Yelp)

We ordered the following:

ankimo (monkfish liver) with yuzo miso vinaigrette 

the Kyona salad with arugula, bonito shavings, mizuna and "onsen" egg

Tarako (salted cod roe) rice ball

What you hear is true - it is pricey for what you get. However, everything was tasty and it was a pleasant dining experience (aside from the very few cheap napkins and over-dressing of the ankimo). Oh - I forgot to mention the 2 complimentary soy and sesame chicken wings they give you as an appetizer; tasty, but the skin was still chewy. All in all, a nice addition to the dining scene and a great place to meet a friend for some heavy gabbing (both first and second floors are nice spaces, but I'd recommend the first floor).

for all married couples

...but especially for G :)

(photo cred: here)

olympic volleyball

Does anyone else think it's funny that this song is played at every set and match point of an Olympics beach volleyball match?

Party of the Games!

because it's monday: special edition

"...you should know I bleed blue, but I ain't a crip though..."

Despite the controversy over the origin of the dance, I think it was an acceptable celebratory dance and don't think Serena meant anything by it other than to celebrate her gold medal win.

because it's monday...

olympics lightening round

• Why are there cheerleaders at the women's indoor volleyball game?
• Why are men's swimming bottoms so low rise?
• Why is equestrian even an Olympic sport (or even a sport?)?
• Why are all tennis matches best of 3 sets, but the gold medal men's match is best of 5?
• Why isn't there men's (team) synchronized swimming? (Duet synchronized swimming is just weird. Actually the whole sport is just bizarre, but mad difficult.)
• Why don't men water polo players wear what swimmers wear (longer boxer brief-type shorts), instead of Speedos?

(photo cred: here)

i love the olympics

Where do I begin? The Olympics, the A's' ride to the top of the wild card race, my trip to Steelers' training camp, my new fav cheese, rosemary fish... too much to write about!

I'll start with focusing this post on the Olympics and will begin with sharing my long-held theory that reflects my hopes of still one day becoming an Olympian. I believe everyone can become an Olympian! Given all the Olympic sports - both winter and summer (I bet you can't name every single one) - not everyone is going to pursue or even try every single sport. Hence, we all don't know what we're really good at, and alas, may never know. You could be the world's greatest shooter, rhythmic gymnast, handballer, or trampolinist! I've missed my chance to be an Olympian in badminton, but love that it's an event and love that it's televised (though not enough).  It's big day is yet to come - it'll catch on someday, and I'll be ecstatic when it's the cool thing to do.

(photo cred: BBC)

...and lo and behold, badminton's day in the limelight came today!...but not in a good way.

I wish all the news reporters would stop saying "...and of all sports, badminton." Hopefully this unfortunate story will pique people's interest in the sport and hopefully facilitates educating people about the sport; it pains me whenever I see birdies made for indoor play placed by backyard badminton equipment in sporting goods stores. There's a difference.

subway shuffle

This video and its narration are excellent. I often did that exact same shuffle when passing through the 34th St station.

because it's monday...

M.I.A. ... yet again...

Bojangles, Captain D's Seafood, Waffle Houses, Super Fast Drive Thru, tattoo parlors, II MEF Marines... guess where I am this week!

(photo cred: here)

because it's thursday...

Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall - covered by Robyn

happy snacks

Here are some new finds from our latest Wegman's haul:

• Holy seltzer! We bought 7 bottles, but it would have been more if G didn't stop me. I usually get about 4 bottles of their usual lineup of flavors, primarily pomegranate, cranberry lime and grapefruit. This visit, however, presented us with a surprise of Polar's 'Destination Flavors.' I've tried their ginger lemonade flavor from this line, but the ones you see above are new and exciting: Orange Mango, Pineapple Passion Fruit and Pina Colada (which is really good). G finds it amazing that the seltzer tastes and smells like its indicated flavor, yet has no calories nor is it sticky when spilled! Just fantastic. Seltzer water weened me from soda years ago, and I'm glad to see new flavors of it. HuffPost ran a sensory test of the new summer flavors; go here to read it.

• There on the bottom is what is left of my wedge of Fol Epi cheese. It's tasty and creamy, and has holes of a Swiss cheese, but is a bit sweeter; a really nice, mild snacking cheese. I first tried it at Trader Joe's when it was the featured cheese for the month of June, and was elated to find it in the never-fail cheese section at Weggy's. It's my new fav, after snacking on Le Jeune Autise for a couple months.

• The last item up above is our new fav chip: Crisproot Cassava Root Thai Ginger chips. They are super crispy, not oily, extremely flavorful, and are ridged. If cassava root were to chips as potatoes are, I'd be one happy snacker. It makes a significantly crunchier chip.

because it's monday...

Yikes!

current state

MY GOD, THE HEAT!
Today's heat index has reached 107 degrees. I have no intention on going outside for the rest of the day, which is good because I've now got time to do some online modules for work and spend some time on this here blog. Despite being indoors though, I still feel listless. (My sympathies to those who still don't have power after last week's storm. Shit was cray-cray.)

Since I haven't done a list in forever, here's one on the current state of things around these parts:

:: THE CURRENT STATE OF THINGS ::

• Worst weather ever: Right now, in those pink and red zones. I never understand people who claim "I'd rather have it really hot than really cold." Excuse them, for they know not what they say. 

• Top recipe to try from my list of recipes to try: Mario Batali's Linguine with Jalapeno Pesto. Never mind that it made an appearance on the Rachael Ray show. It looks and sounds delicious and is from the brain of Mario Batali (not a fan of the man, but he knows his food).

• Best new addition to our household: The Zojirushi NS-ZCC18 10-cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker. Not only does it have a name that's half supercharged and half cute, but with its programmable settings for different types of rice, it makes brown rice fluffy. Thanks to everyone who gave us money for our wedding; we put it to good use.

• Best thing to watch on t.v. tomorrow (Sunday, 8 July): Roger vs. Andy. Hands down! What a match-up! Of course, I'm elated that Roger made it to the finals. I will not listen to those who say "it may be his last one!" I'm sorry to have seen Rafa eliminated so early, as the two of them make up my favorite sports rivalry of all time. And Andy! That poor chap! He finally made it to a Wimbledon final match, but alas, I will have to root for this continued streak of not winning a single slam. Every summer, I think of how lucky we are to not only be living, but living in the era of Roger and Rafa, and yeah, maybe even Djokovich.

• Best beverage I've had in recent days: Red Onion's Chocolate Malt. Sorry no picture, just know that it was delicious. Not so malty, but tasty nonetheless.

(photo creds: 1, 2, 3, 4 was a screenshot of this)

beginner korean

Here are some Korean dishes I cooked for the first time, in the last month and a half:

Up on top you have some pajeon (파전). I forgot to add kimchee into the batter at first, so only some are reddish. The pajeon came out a little gummier than I wanted, so I'll have to work on the mix : water ratio. I had some metric unit conversion problems.

Down on the bottom you have some excellent naengmyeon (냉면),topped with sliced cucumber and kimchee. This was a winner and forehead-slapper; how could I not have had this in my warm weather rotation already?