Asian Treats I Want to Feast On

Little Tokyo has so much and I’ve done so little there.  While Okonomi Kai might be harder to find, Izakayas has become a bit trendy and Ramen is all over the place. Therefore, i must remember to try these:

• Okonomi Kai
• Izakayas
• (Ramen) Noodle Bar

And I’m off!

List: Restaurants in Los Angeles to Check Out

Urban Eats in Burbank
Father’s Office in Culver City
Shojin in Downtown
The Kitchen in Silver Lake
Orochon Ramen in Little Tokyo (are the broths vegetarian?)
Panzanella in Sherman Oaks
Fatty’s in Eagle Rock
The Spot in Hermosa Beach
Elf Cafe in Silver Lake
Night Moon Cafe in Hollywood
Mustard Seed Cafe in Los Feliz
Cliff’s Edge in Silver Lake
Trails Cafe in Griffith Park

iPhone Saves Paper

Now armed with an iPhone, I’m finding that I save paper:

- No more printing out Google maps & directions
- No more writing down grocery lists

And with those two items, I’m finding I use a lot less paper than I used to, which wasn’t much in the first place anyway.

Doing Rob Shauls

One Rob Shaul = Four Barbell Lunges + Five Barbell Push Presses.

I did 16 Rob Shauls tonight. I’ve never felt my ass in this way before and when I lean down on one knee, I fall over.

This is the punishment I get for not going to Crossfit since the end of January. Must start going back consistently.

Tofu/Faux Chicken Tacos I Actually Like

I can make a kickass burrito, but I have never been happy with how my tofu tacos turned out (not to get confused with Boca Burger Tacos). That is, until this week where I made up a recipe that makes me happy:

Ingredients

Tofu or Fake Chicken Strips
Chopped Cilantro
Chopped Garlic
Paprika
Chili Powder
Sea Salt/Pepper
Olive Oil
Splash of Lime

Directions

1. Cook the protein in olive oil with the garlic and cilantro (I use Trader Joes’ frozen garlic and cilantro for this one, they are very potent in taste). Make sure the garlic/cilantro combo start to baste the protein.

2. Then add the rest of the spices and cook for another minute.

The 4-Hour Work Week E-Mail Tip

Last month, I read The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss.  What an excellent book that is funny, well-done and has a great outlook on work habits.  You won’t finish the book and be working 4-hours right away or ever will be.  He gives you the tools and the insight to make it happen, but it is up to you.  And like everything, nothing is easy.

One of the tips that popped out to me was to get into the habit of only checking your e-mail twice a day — at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. It took me awhile to get to that point, but I am doing it… kinda.  I generally respond and deal with e-mail at those times, but will monitor it during the day if I have them time for any emergencies via clients.  At some point, that will stop, but for now, it is a good step.  My e-mail boxes have been constantly getting down to zero, which is a recommondation from Getting Things Done by David Allen.

My first fender bender was in Beverly Hills

The title is a bit of a misnomer. I actually hit a car once when I was 16, a few weeks into my license. But I don’t count it. Mainly because my friend Akiva was confidently directly my every move and I was just following orders and using none of my judgement. But whatever, it was my sister’s car (today is her birthday).

So to Thursday. 4:50ish p.m. in Beverly Hills. I was looking for parking for a very long time. I finally found a space which required paraellel parking. I waited for all the cars to go by so I could back in. One, two, three. Okay, clear. CRUUNCH. Okay, maybe not clear. It was clear to the back of me, but what I didn’t see was that the queue got longer and just ended up in the lane for oncoming traffic.

Luckily, the plastic part of my bumper rubbed against her metal minivan door. Plastic vs. Metal doesn’t make much damage at all. Mainly, faded paint. No worries there at all. More damage to my poor plastic than anything. I’m not worried.

I did think of the movie Crash’s saying, “I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something,” and it really didn’t feel like it.

I love CSS

Totally addicted to CSS. I love it. Why did I not learn this earlier? How much more zen can we get?

Famous Aviation

It only makes sense that if you fly in or out of LA often enough, you are going to share your flight with a random celeb or two. Well, it’s been a bit random for me:

• Celeb Sighting #1: Phillip Seymour Hoffman from Burbank to San Francisco.
• Celeb Sighting #2: Jared The Subway Guy from Vegas to Chicago
• Celeb Sighting #3: Lily Tomlin from Denver to LA

Best Store Bought Salsa

Most “Restaurant Salsas” you buy at the grocery store taste nothing like what you get in a restaurant. Yet Trader Joe’s has done it with this addicting salsa - Salsa Especial.