It has been quite a while since I last travelled anywhere further than California, so this was a lengthy but appreciated escape. Like the days when I used to travel for an old internship job more frequently, I am making this post in a photo blog style. For nostalgia, check out my old posts from when I went to Cordoba, Argentina. I also kept up with the photoblog first through the Corner Balanced forum.

Arriving at the airport.

I stayed at the Delano for this trip and its suite rooms are almost as big as my actual condo in San Jose…

View from the window.

My buddy James and his girlfriend Jennifer were also in town so I met up with them on the first night. We kicked things off right with a cigar. I’m not a smoker by any means, but figured why not. I puffed on this for a couple minutes before giving up.

Dinner at Mon Ami Gabi in the Paris. I ordered the Escargot just to finally try it and I thought it was whatever. Oddly enough, the snails tasted as I expected them to. They have the texture of clams, but firmer.

Walking around the Cosmopolitan and the city center area.

I also hit up my buddy Jon who I knew moved to Las Vegas about a year ago and was able to coerce him into loaning me a set of wheels… Thanks for the Golf! Even though this thing had a severe idling problem when hot started, it was worthwhile to have a car to get around in.

Drove out to Hoover Dam and checked that off the bucket list.

I soon grew tired of the food around the hotel, so I did my best to load up on Sushi whenever I could.

Checked out Old Las Vegas and Fremont Street. Tried to do the zip line that runs across there but it was all booked.

Ate at Bouchon in the Venetian. This was probably my favorite meal of the trip. The plate below is a seared Sea Bream (similar to sea bass).

Crème Brûlée for dessert.

Went to the driving range at Top Golf near MGM Grand.

I heard the Ramen in Las Vegas was supposedly great, so I tried Monta Ramen in the Chinatown area, which surprisingly contained continuous, sprawling Asian plazas. We don’t even have plazas that vast in the Bay Area – BUT, we are spoiled with numerous choices for excellent Ramen. The Tonkatsu I had at Monta was decent: the broth was on the creamier side, I’m not really a fan of thin noodles, and the soft-boiled egg was cold and overcooked. When it comes to Ramen, I still prefer the offerings we have here in the Bay.

Ate Mediterranean food and went to a Hookah bar late one night. I was mainly accompanying a coworker who was a major Hookah aficionado. Like the cigar, I gave it a couple puffs before getting bored. I’ll stick to my completely sober lifestyle.

Actually doing some work. My job was to attend a convention and staff a Demo booth during the event. I was also involved with the Network operations and setup for the event.

Went to a Maroon 5 concert and pushed my way up to the front on the ground floor. Pissed off quite a few people but it was worth it.

Went to a shooting range and shot a fully automatic Uzi, MP5, M4, and AK-47. Check out my Instagram for a video of the AK-47.

Got a ride in a Military Humvee through town. My RX-7 may be on the loud and stiff side, but it’s a Cadillac in comparison to this thing. The tunnel right next to my legs quickly turned into an oven from the engine.

Last dinner of the trip was at Bacchanal Buffet in Caesar’s Palace.

Vegas, you were fun, and I want to visit again, but it’s good to be home. The first thing I did when I got back to my condo was take a shower, because I sorely missed its ample water flow and pressure! Ah, the simple luxuries in life.

Like the forlorn Cycling and Food categories, for example. For the former, it doesn’t help that I’m also no longer actively involved with bicycles as a hobby. A couple years ago, when I first moved to my San Jose condo, I did invest and build a titanium No. 22 Little Wing fixed gear bicycle. I thought I would benefit with a 2-wheel mode of transportation in the downtown and urban location. I rode the bike a total of approximately 5 times. The reason behind going with a fixed gear and not a conventional geared road bike, like any other intelligible human would pick, was purely based out of emotion and nostalgia. My best cycling days were back in college, in the midst of the fixed gear hype. I didn’t catch the memo that fixed gears are no longer relevant or popular. I’m interested to see if the trend will ever have a resurgence in the near future, but it is currently a small figment of its past glory.

Surprisingly, an idea to ride in San Francisco spontaneously spawned and I wanted to keep to my word. So I purposely cancelled my precious weekend sleep-in time on Saturday, dusted off my bike, and took the BART up to the city with a buddy. This was the first time in a while I threw my leg over the bike, and the first time in a very long while that I participated in a ride of a sizable magnitude.

We got off the Embarcadero station and rode along the Piers up to the Golden Gate Bridge, through the bluffs, and down into Ocean Beach in the Sunset district to meet up with the rest of the party.

The next stop was The Taco Shop at Underdog’s for a much needed lunch break. I first ate a Carne Asada burrito, decided it wasn’t enough food, and then ordered a mixed shell Baja Fish taco. Bueno.

The ride continued back to the Battery, up to Embarcadero again, down Market to the MASHSF shop in the Castro district, and then back to the Embarcadero BART station. While at MASH, I copped this killer fake Supreme fanny pack.

As if riding a fixed gear bicycle with no brakes and tackling a fair amount of beefy hill climbs and descents wasn’t foolish enough, I was woefully underdressed with a tank top and sock-less Vans. There were moments when I felt cold, but that was not my main concern. It was after… when I realized the back of my shoulders and arms were devastated by the mostly cloud-shrouded sun. I’m usually extraordinarily vigilant about my sun exposure, but I definitely slipped this time and paid the price dearly. I can’t even sleep on my back from the pain of the sunburn. Oh well, the ride was worth it and I hope to repeat it again, but with better preparation. San Francisco is too scenic to ignore.

Let’s get to it. Follow these steps and you will be successful in your poke endeavors.

First, acquire a suitably Hawaiian vehicle for transportation. This ’96 2.7L Taco on 33’s shall do nicely. Mud is optional, but preferable.

If you’re in the San Jose area, go to Santo Market in Japantown.

Head to the back of the grocer and ask the people at the deli stand for as much poke as you can handle in one sitting. I personally ordered about 0.4lbs of both Shoyu and Spicy poke. I also grabbed a bit of ocean salad on the side, because it’s important to keep a meal balanced – folks.

Once back home, cook up some rice. I chose brown rice, but you may want to use short-grain white rice to better match the texture of the meal. My cooking instrument of choice is the Zojirushi NS-TSC10, which has consistently delivered great rice.

Throw everything on a plate and stay blessed.

Afterwards, be sure to hit the gym to reap those GAINS. Remember to throw up that Shaka. I’m out.

A self-made salad consisting of spinach, cucumbers, carrots, and balsamic vinegar. I could pack more stuff in, but I don’t because then that would add weight. More weight on the scale = more money. I’ve gotten this salad making down to a science, and can consistently average $2 per meal. The banana this day was actually a bonus.

Stop your drooling. I’ve had better, but I still try to eat this meal a few times a week for lunch. Not only because I’m crazy cheap, but because eating has become a CHORE now. A couple years ago, saying such a thing would have been blasphemy for me.

In my household, cooking is not a common activity. Figuring out what to eat for a meal is always a jumbled lottery of sorting through all the nearby options. It’s always more difficult to figure out than it should be. I guess this is what falling into routines and getting old does to you.

After nearly 4 minutes of advocating with sophistication the potential of a hamburger, they don’t even add in the most important ingredient: WHERE IS THE BACON?!

I always get the same one from my local Iguanas, Super Burrito with Al Pastor (spicy marinated pork) and black beans. So far, I’ve been able to put down every single one of these tortilla-wrapped monstrosities.

One of the trends nowadays is to take pictures of what ever food you eat, I guess to make other people jealous or something. I personally think it’s weird, but I’m going to concede and do it this time as well. Forgive me.

I realized I have a Food post category that’s been mostly ignored. Furthermore, this dish I ate today signifies something much more than just another meal. It’s almost like a milestone. A hallmark of me rising from the DEAD and actually eating a proper meal for the first time in 8 long and grisly days.

Even better, this particular noodle soup is my favorite of them all (I’ve had them all, Pho is like SEWAGE WATER in comparison to this beastly ass dish). IT WAS SO DELICIOUS YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW.

I went with a noodle soup because they’re relatively soft and easy to eat. That dish is filled with various seafood (the meat of KINGS) like big ass shrimps, calamari, and stuff I don’t even know but is amazing. All the noodles are THICK and HANDMADE IN THE USA from flour, a.k.a. the ONLY kind of noodles you should ever eat.

MY GOD.

I felt like a drug addict mainlining pure-grade heroin (I’m exaggerating a bit).

Unfortunately, there is still a catch. While my gums around the lower extraction areas are now healed enough where I can chew, I have to be aware of the holes. This means I have to use a special syringe and flush out food until they close up more (another week). The nurse that “test drove” the syringe for me shoved it pretty damn far into one of the holes… not a fun feeling.

At least I got my favorite noodle soup for the maiden meal.

I had a late plane ride directly to NYC which was rough, got to the hotel with no sleep, took a nap, then it was off to work. After being dropped off by the cab and walking to the building for my intern work, I realized I was right in the middle of Midtown:

Then after taking the elevator to the top, the view from the room I worked in. The street is 6th Avenue:

A view from the Queensboro Bridge.

One day after work, after many failed attempts at getting a taxi who was willing to drive to Queens where the hotel was, we ended up in Times Square for a bit.

It was later learned that taxi drivers don’t like leaving Manhattan during rush hour, the trick is to not tell the driver you want to go to Queens. Get in the cab, close the door, then tell him you want to go to Queens since they cannot legally refuse a destination then. The Yellow taxis were surprisingly cheap, while the other (Black) ones ripped you off.

I stayed in NYC for about a week, and this was the first time I had a chance to do some sightseeing after a job. Starting with some Stella… Ended up being an interesting night, I rarely drink but had a couple beers that night. Only because I was trying to keep up with my coworkers, who had MUCH more than just a couple beers.

Paid the ticket and went up to the top of the Rockefeller building and took these panoramas.

Central Park takes up a huge chunk of the island.

A view inside the park.

Dude banging on buckets and making some sick beats.

Met up with my cousin and went into Chinatown.

Which is right next to Little Italy.

Had some Roast Duck with wonton:

Checked out the Brooklyn Bridge:

View from the Bridge of the city.

Experienced the New York Subway:

Ground Zero behind the walls:

Ground Zero.

Spotted Elmo:

A church:

Went to Wall Street and checked out the Bull.

This was funny:

I must say, New York was an interesting experience. I’m glad I got to get out and take a look at it for a while. No doubt a place with tons of history, culture, style, and breadth.

After New York, it was off to another job by Washington D.C.

There wasn’t any time to do any touring, so I didn’t take any pictures. Most I saw was a glimpse of the Capital building from the train station, and I passed the pentagon on a taxi ride. After a long two weeks, I am back home… Here’s another for the memories.

I didn’t land until almost midnight. The hotel I stayed at was baller, check out this main hall thing:

I was starving, so I went outside to have a look for some food. The downtown area had a portion of all brick road.

I ended up buying some hot dogs, and just ate it outside. There was this questionable looking alleyway nearby, which was interesting.

The job in Virginia was only a day, so I was back home on the third day.

Here’s a picture outside the window of the hotel.

I went to a Chicago’s UNO while I was there for some food. I forgot the name of this dessert, macademia nut cookie something, but it was super long. I think the longer the name a food is, the better it is… because this was delicious.

This Deep Dish pizza wasn’t bad either.

I didn’t really take many pictures, but here are a few of rides that I thought were worthwhile.

2 Oldschool Skylines:

Cool Harley:

For lunch, I got this “Tan Tan” Ramen at some place on 3rd Street in San Mateo. I don’t really take pictures of food because I think it’s a bit weird, but I couldn’t help it this time.

It was as good as it looks, if not a bit too salty. :)

Later, I drove up north to look at a 2007 Honda CBR600RR that I’ve been waiting to see for almost 2 weeks. It’s a salvaged titled bike with fairing damage, which is a good candidate for a track bike. However, rarely do things of this nature unfold without other peculiarities. The bike turned out to have a gross misalignment with the front wheel. With the handlebars straight, the wheels were skewed a few inches off center. As far as I could tell, it might have just been damage to the triple clamp and bars… Then, when the guy brought out the pink slip, I found out the miles on it was higher than on the odometer. The cluster was changed out since the whole front of the bike slid into a pole. I decided that was too much and the bike was too rough for me, so I didn’t buy it. Hopefully I can find something that requires less work.