iccho reunion

the iccho gang had a iccho reunion because tams was visiting from japan. the old gang plus the girlfriends (toshiro's amanda and tam's tracy) came out for drinks. it was lots of fun.

nakano kun picked me up at 7pm and we had dinner at hakata ramen (his treat yaay!). we had beers, karaage, gyoza (potstickers i hate that name), more beer. we were done at 9 and meet time at kazamidori was at 10:30. we hang out and talk. nakano kun is soo shocked i found someone, 'cause you know he wishes he could date me. haha. i kid. he is now lonely so if anyone knows any nice, cool, pretty, and not too skinny girls for nakano kun to date send them my or his way. i don't want him to be lonely too much.

toshiro then meets us in at hakata ramen and we ride together to iccho.

here shaun baker gives me the finger. i think i will make him a myspace profile because of it. he would be sooo mad.. haha

shaun baker broke up with his girlfriend tomoko and found himself a new fob, sorry new girlfriend. but i cannot talk either huh. in a way i suffer from yellow fever. ewh..





here is tams and shaun baker with pitchers of beer and our mugs. we had a bit of an upsetting moment at kazamidori. we kept on ordering beers and the owner came to our table and told us that we had to order food and not just alcohol. that was incredibly rude! it totally ruined nakano kun's night. i told my mom the next day and she knows the dude and said that was not like him. what an ass. i've been there twice. it's pretty but both times i've had a not so good time. iccho group needs to go back to iccho.








toshiro, me and hiro

















tams and his girl tracy.















we then headed to visit car-key at our denny's
(toshiro must apply make-up prepping for carki).

ps. the hawthorwne/fashion way denny's has changed quite a bit. we need a new after denny's place. maybe ihop for pancakes?












i order cheesecake. i have to have my cheesecake. carki brings me a side of whipped cream. how sweet! car-key is so nice and he gave us lots of free things because we rock. i told you guys we would get free stuff if he was our waiter. how can he not miss the gang?









souvenir pic with the whole gang. don't ask what i am doing. tams, hurry back so we can have our iccho nights.. but its not the same anymore.. a couple of you are practically married, somebody has to go to doctor school and someone is still a jerk. haha.

just kidding.. i always have a blast with this gang.

lomo saltado

i'm going to peru one day.
my eyes look rolled back here... lunch made my day a lot better. i was online the same time as tams so i invited him out to lunch since i hadn't seen him since his goodbye party in the summer. he gave me a maybe so i called toshiro. tams then canceled (which i figured he would do) so me and toshiro went to el polla inka for lunch.




love peruvian food! we both ordered the lomo saltado. it is probably the dish i order 89% of the time. it looks simple enough to make but i have never attempted to. toshiro suggested we have a lomo saltado party once he gets the recipe from his mom. i think tams should make it because he is a wonderful cook (his okinawa dango soooo good). toshiro you better get the recipe for the good hot green sauce also!




here is a picture of toshiro hiding from the camera.. inca cola soo yummy. when are you going to take me to go buy inca cola dude?

we also went to best buy and borders to bye some more ella fitzgerald.. cd was $20+ dollars.. i tend to do that a lot.. not check how much it is before purchasing. anyways the cd is fantastic but would have been more so if the "lets call the whole thing off" was the louis armstrong duet..



here is another pic of the inca cola because i know you guys haven't had enough. vert thirst quenching. anyone flan?

i am looking for a full time job position

i like my job. we import bronzes and furniture from thailand, indonesia and the like. i love furniture, asian culture, etc. etc. when i first applied for the job, it sounded fantastic. travel, furniture, working in your own office.

i've been at this company for over two months. when the boss doesn't come in.. its great! what i hate is that he promised to pay me xxx amount and he is oblivious to it now. I don't even get a 40 hour work week and i sometimes even get a "okay there isn't work to be done tomorrow don't come in."

did i quit dr. uemura's office to get the same paycheck (but more days worked)? i really really need a new job. this sucks big time. i want to pay off my debts and buy a new car.

if anyone knows of good job openings please let me know.. i am in need of a job. when he called me this morning as i was about to leave to tell me i have the day off i cried. (okay i might be overreacting but this job is a string of dissapointments only) what the fuck. i am soo on the verge of quitting..

christmas recap

my christmas is spent every year with the gonzalez/ponce family. with my own family, we never celebrate holidays so i have to invite myself to friend's family functions. so anyway, the gonzalez's i've known since grammer school. inez is my best friend since the 5th grade. we both had jansport backpacks, trapper keepers, watched beverly hills 90210 every week and i'm so glad only she had the troll (those things are so ugly i dunno why they became so popular in the 7th grade). the first picture is what i am known for doing (reads magazines for hours before christmas dinner).

this is after we all opened our presents at midnight. this christmas was a bit subdued and wasn't as crazy as the past christmas. inez tells me it's because no one was really in the christmas spirit and maybe also because jesse and greg are no longer kids.

this is inez's legs. she is a classy girl wearing socks with sandles. ms. gonzalez claims she will not let me meet her boyfriend until the wedding how rude! jessica though invited me to her wedding already. i'm an honorarary ponce/gonzalez even though felis still calls me fusaka...

the mini yorkie is lola and she is a showgirl. one of the cutest dogs i've ever met. it doesn't stink or bark!

christmas eve was spent with the ponce's in their home. next day woke up and watched home sweet alabama, legally blonde and 13 going on 30. mr gonzalez made everyone breakfast carne, easy over eggs and refried beans (only beans that i like are inez and inez's dad's beans). we finally start getting ready at 3pm and then head to reseda to cousin john, frank, tyler's house. there i had the best lasagna ever. sooo good. we played the elephant gift exchange where mostly everyone was happy with their gift. i ended up stealing chris's smores maker. i wanted this since having smores with allison and carol in new york... hope everyone is having a fabulous day after christmas. HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYOSUKE! i think i will go buy some shoes today..

edit:

okay.. so here are some of my favorite things i got this year... sofia canned white wines.. i've been wanting them forever (although sophia tells me they don't taste very good. but a pink can how can i not like it?), marisa knitted me a scarf (it is super warm perfect for cold winter disneyland trips), clay got me green underwear (it is listed as my interests haha on myspace) and a barnes & noble gift card where i purchased a ella fitzgerald louis armstrong cd) and socks (gifts a mother would give her son), and a smores maker was something i've been wanting since making them at cosi i new york with allison and carol... can't wait to make smores! yaay! plus i did end up buying shoes today.. present to myself which i do often...

waves

i love taking morning walks.. waking up as early as i can and heading out to the beach (manhattan is the nearest and also my favorite). i usually have this ritual with christle. i'd pick her up, we walk for about 40 minutes head to starbucks for our lattes, then noah's bagels (she'll have the light smear with the bran bagel, i'll have the jalapeno bagel w/ regular smear). she's been busy with school so we haven't gone on our walks in like a month. i missed it so i decided to do it on my own. i gave yeni a call at 7am but she said she'd pass. yeni pass? that's a first.

i got to the beach at about 7:20. it felt wonderful because the skies were clear (sort of) and smiles from strangers... dont' you love christmas in los angeles? everyone in the east is in layers and i go to the beach in shorts. haha.


anyways, i keep walking and i see everyone looking towards the water.. the waves were huge! even i was tempted to go in. because of the hurricanes in hawaii california has been experiencing huge waves.. well huge waves for at least manhattan/hermosa beach.



i got home about 10:20 and i feel good. now i think i'll make some breakfast, wrap some more gifts, clean my room and get ready to go over to the gonzalez/ponce dinner..

merry christmas everyone!

where am i?

this afternoon marisa and i after our gift exchange (she made me a lovely and really warm scarf) we took a trip to downtown disney and ate overpriced paella. it was good but i prefer viva madrid in downtown clarement. we then made our way towards disneyland and got the best seats for the light show at small world, the best seat (the back of the coaster) on big thunder mountain, and the scariest seat on the matter horn (it squeked Twice!!). the spur of the moment trip was wonderful and i love talking shit.

pupusa

last night clay took me to gloria's on venice to eat el salvadorian food. if you know me you know i love (absolutely love) latin food (we passed by my beloved versailles to get there). the cool rockabilly waiter messed up on my order. i got two bean and cheese pupusa's with lots of beans on the side when i wanted pupusas with meat (i'm a carnivore) and all rice, no beans. he brought me a pork and cheese pupusa later but i don't know if i want to go there again for awhile. i mean clay did see his student's father working (pest control...).
Pupusas

A day before making pupusas, make the curtido and refrigerate overnight.

• 5 cups masa harina flour (see note)
• Water, about 4 cups
• 2 to 3 8-ounce cans refried beans
• 3 cups grated mozzarella or other soft white cheese
• Pork rinds, diced fine and softened in water (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin (optional)
• 1 medium green chile cored of seeds and diced fine (optional)
• Vegetable or olive oil

In large mixing bowl, stir water into masa until dough forms a ball that can be handled. Use more or less water if necessary. Into another bowl, empty the refried beans. In another bowl, place the grated cheese.
Divide dough into 25 or so pieces. Roll each into a ball and flatten between the palms of your hands to about 1/2 inch thick. Put a spoonful of beans and a small handful of cheese into the center of each pupusa, and enclose dough firmly around it. Flatten again, keeping the filling inside.
If you are using the chile pepper, pork rinds and cumin, they can be mixed into the refried beans beforehand.
Heat a heavy, wide-bottomed or flat skillet until hot, brush with oil and cook pupusas on each side for 4 to 5 minutes until golden-brown.
Serve with curtido.

Curtido

• 1 small head of cabbage, shredded
• 2 to 3 carrots, grated
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground oregano
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• Salt and pepper to taste

Grate a small head of cabbage and soak in salted water for 15 minutes. Drain. Place in large container, and add grated carrots, onion, oregano, vinegar and water, then add salt and pepper. Let marinate overnight in refrigerator.

i miss new york and the subway

the transit strike must be terrible for new yorkers and the transit workers. i hope things get resolved quickly.