My sister sent me this. This is why I'm a dog person. This is also why I hate cats, they seem sneaky and devious. Someone I know and like has once said, "they're always eyeballing you. Too quiet...when you're too quiet you know they're up to no good." Basically too sinister for my liking but this really makes me laugh.
I went to Cafe & Bar Lurcat with my sister and her boyfriend two weeks ago. I've dined here many times over the years, especially during restaurant week. I find myself always coming back to this establishment year after year since I'm familiar with the menu, plus the food and service are always consistent. I've dined here with new friends, old friends, family, dinner date, maybe even alone once. It is just the perfect place to have a nice meal.
After we had put in our orders, warm bread arrived at our table. I have to say that the bread and butter here are simple but is one of the best that I have had at any restaurants that served bread and butter. 
I warned Danny that the Crab Cake here weren't that great but he wanted to try it anyways. All he commented on it was that it tasted "okay", which I already knew.
My sister ordered the BLT salad with Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato with Blue Cheese and Buttermilk Dressing. It was good.
I got the Apple, Cheese and Chive salad as usual. The salad was light and refreshing, just a nice start to the meal.
We ordered a side dish of Caramelized Brussels Sprouts. I've had it before and remembered how much I had enjoyed it, it was buttery goodness.
We also got an order of Roasted Cauliflower, which I love. I love good vegetable dishes.
After some deliberation, Danny opted for the Pot Roast with Red Wine. I had this before and I remembered it was pretty good but it filled me up pretty quickly.
My sister and I both got the Sautéed Barramundi with Lemon, Parsley and Toasted Hazelnuts. I've never had this dish here before. The server told me that the barramundi is the Asian sea bass, but the fillet looks and taste somewhat like sole fish. The flesh was white and flaky, and its taste was sweet, buttery and delicate. Often times when I would order the restaurant's signature dish which is the Chilean Sea Bass Marinated in Miso, I was slightly put off by the saltiness of the miso glaze so I tried scraping a lot of it off since it overpowers the fish fillet but then the Chilean Sea Bass would have a slightly fishy taste that forces me to eat the fillet with the accompaniment relish that was on the plate to mask some of that fishy taste. I did not have that issue with the barramundi, the buttery lemon sauce keeps the fish tasting light and delicious.
For dessert, Danny got the Warm Cinnamon-Sugar Doughnuts, can't go wrong with these since it'll be quite awhile until State Fair.
My sister got some sort of peanut butter ice cream. I don't like peanut butter so I didn't really have much to comment about the dessert ice cream.
I always get the Triple Chocolate Cream Cake, it was just so rich and dense and just decadent that I could simply not resist. Dark chocolate and raspberries always goes so perfectly together.
Another nice dinner on a mellow evening. The only drawback was that the restaurant was so packed so it was very noisy and we left the restaurant smelling like food, but it was worth it to be able to enjoy a meal like this.
I went to Cosmos more than two weeks ago with my friend Q. I thought the menu at Cosmos appealed to me slightly more than any other menus that were offered during restaurant week. I wanted to go with my friend Theresa, but she couldn't make it that week. My sister assured me that I would like it here and suggested that we dine here in the near future and order from the regular menu.
Funny thing was that I was at Bradstreet Crafthouse just the night before, which located in the same hotel as Cosmos. I liked the contemporary ambiance here, I had hoped that its food is up to par as well unlike D'Amico's Kitchen at the Chambers which has contemporary decor yet lacks quality in service and food.
We started with an amuse bouche of ceviche scallop topped with ikura.
Q does not eat seafood so the obvious choice was the frisee salad with poached egg and bacon from the appetizer menu. 
I had opted for the creamy risotto with rock shrimp. I'm not usually a shrimp person but I thought this first starter dish was really good. It was very creamy and there are big pieces of rock shrimps.
We were presented with another amuse bouche, of a grapefruit and blood orange encased in a gelatin ball that breaks inside our mouths like an egg yorlk, to cleanse our palette and to get us ready for our main course.
For obvious reasons, Q chose the beef tenderloin. I sampled a small piece and my first thought was, steak and steak. Not to say it was bad or anything, I'm sure it was quite decent but it didn't stand out too much.
I enjoyed my salmon. Although it was not as fluffy or melt-in-your-mouth tender as the sous vide salmon I've had at Meritage, but it was flaky and juicy. The skin is thin and very crispy and gave a nice textural bite and taste with eaten with the tender salmon fillet. 
We both ordered the chocolate dessert. It was like a dense milk chocolate pudding with a layer of caramel on top, sprinkled with who-knows-what crumbs (biscotti? i forgot). I was not a fan of this at all, while Q enjoyed it quite a bit. I thought it was too sweet, I've never liked milk chocolate and white chocolate, I only favor high quality dark chocolate.
I ended my meal with a cappucino. We went to watch a movie afterwards, the only movie that was out at the time that I would watch, This Means War. I liked the movie a lot, it has a bit of everything that I look for in a movie other than sci-fi/fantasy -- some romance, comedy, and action. I quite like Tom Hardy.
I don't know if it was because I was recovering from a cold or what but the whole time I kept thinking about how the meal and the movie would have been perfect if it was shared with my significant other. Not to say that it wasn't great hanging out with my friend, I did had a good time. But the whole restaurant's ambiance screams date, even the movie I chose was a date movie. I thought it would have been ideal if my significant other was there to enjoy the night with me. Oh well, it will happen sooner or later, hopefully sooner than later though.
03-04-12 10:42pm Pacific time
Currently feeling slightly restless but some alcohol consumed previously helped calm the heart and the mind, if only momentarily. Still jet lagged of course.
I love me some cheesy but catchy songs, it amuses me and put me in a good mood. I love this song! Been listening to it for at least one or two months now. Every time I hear it, I feel a smirk coming on hahaha
So I went to see AZIATIX perform the other night. The wait to see them performing live was very long but it was so worth it. It was a Monday night and the crowd at Fine Line was tiny, around 30 or so. We arrived at around 7pm, but didn't get to see them perform til closer to 10 since there were two other opening acts before AZIATIX. Even in a smaller venue and there wasn't many people that came out, AZIATIX definitely didn't disappoint and they put it out like as if they were performing for a big crowd in Japan (they just came back from touring there). They were very humble too, not to mention good looking. They sound good, their voices compliment each other and mesh well together. I love them and glad that I went to see them.
I tried to record some of their performances but the audio quality from my camera didn't turn out very good of course. But you can check out some of their videos on You Tube. I stood away from the crowd, while everyone else surrounded the stage. I bought their CD to show support even though I already have their album on my iPod. I didn't stick around to get their autographs after the show, most likely because I was shy kekeke.
I have to thank fellow Xangan Ronnyv for introducing me to the group. I was sent a You Tube link of their Cold music video and I liked it so much I got the album. 
I've contemplated a lot, in fact, I'm still contemplating if I'm making the right decision. As some of you might know, my last trip left little to be desired, I was seething inside and indeed still am somewhat. It's time for me to take flight, but I'm unsure about the timing. Often times when traveling, traveling companions are crucial to any trips because it can make or break relationships. I should know since I no longer keep in touch with those I have traveled with once. What is worst is being with a person, actually the word is stuck with, a person that lacks common courtesy and considerations for the whole duration of the trip. I have to admit that I pay very close attention to behaviors and therefore have very little patience with those that lacks traveling/visiting etiquette. 
Traveling alone is what I normally prefer but it definitely has its drawbacks. I often worried when traveling somewhere alone wouldn't be as enjoyable since I get restless. What fun would it be to see the sunset on the coasts of Athens all alone? No one to share such beauty with?What is beauty, if there is no one there to see it? I have to keep myself constantly busy and entertained. However, once night set in and I've worn down my day, I'd feel restless, sitting in the hotel room by myself flipping through channels on the TV. Sometimes I would enjoy myself too much that I really had wished there was someone there to share that moment with me. It's not the pictures or the memories, it's the moment where you take everything in, and almost like being seduced by the scenery in front of you. I often wish someone would be there to take in the scenery that I saw, sample all the food that I tasted, and to just enjoy everything with me. Still, I can't have everything. Going with certain people or visiting certain people could reduce down to great annoyance. Go alone and potentially suffer from a restless heart. There has to be a right balance to do things. This makes me love and hate traveling at the same time. I feel like I do deserve a get away and I will risk being restless on certain hours of the day by flying solo, well sorta.
One of my good friends and I have discussed about potential trips together for at least 2-3 years now but somehow our plans never solidified or even anywhere near that stage. We were mainly coming up with ideas. Although, I have met up with my friend the few times that I did visit, but were mostly over a dinner or a lunch on one particular day. It's been one of the mildest winter we've ever had in my state, and although I do feel spoiled by that, I still crave more sunshine and warm weather. Everything is booked; I'm heading to the west where I'll join up with my friend; stopping at two places.
Today I was thinking to myself....the main deciding factor for my trip was not just the sunshine, the weather, or spending time with my beloved friend (although second deciding factor), but it's food! I've been craving certain food so bad that I'm willing to travel 2500 miles just to get some. I didn't think it was that funny then, but thinking about it now, I feel a smirk coming on.
The fact that I already made lists of places to go eat indicate my excitement although it never sinks in until I'm sitting on that plane and realizing that it's actually happening and everything is finally in motion. I remembered telling D, "Yo, we must go to that one place for gopchang gui. You can decide for any other restaurants we dine at but I absolutely must have that. Oh and that crab stew at that one place where they make the best fried rice table-side afterwards! and we must to go that place... oh and that other one........"
I hope the experience on this trip will wash away the bad aftertaste of the last trip. There had been quite a bit of trips that was proposed to me lately; I already have my trip in two weeks. Then possibly a NY trip in April. Then the outrageous propose for Florida again in May, which as I've mentioned that I'm still seething from my previous trip. Little sister also asked if I wanted to go to to Vegas in June, but it would be a second trip there within three months. And the fact is, it would mean that I'm traveling once a month for the next 4 months or so. Not sure if I'm up for all that including my restless heart. Until I can go on trips with a significant other, I will refrain from traveling for awhile.
To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket -- safe, dark, motionless, airless -- it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.
—C.S. Lewis (The Four Loves)
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