To give some background, Thanh Long is the first of the An Family restaurants which include another very popular establishment (and probably more well known) Crustaceans.  My overall experience from last night was pretty high up on my list.  Parking was easy (the place is kinda located in a residential area), it wasn’t overcrowded, and Laurie and I could have a conversation without yelling at each other.  Oh, and the food was pretty damn good too.  It included shrimp toast (a weird name, but delicious) and the standard roast crab and garlic noodles.  If you don’t order the garlic noodles, I would argue you are somewhat insane… or guess that you were allergic to noodles or garlic.  We ended up passing on dessert and settled for the banana & Nutella cake I made, which was sitting in the fridge back at Laurie’s place.

PROS:  garlicy food, pleasant atmosphere, hot girlfriend

CONS:  the Mark West Pinot wasn’t spectacular (but effectively turned my face red), distance driving for dinner

Again, for more opinions, check out Yelp.

I am not sure if you know how bright your desk lamp is but apparently my mom was so concerned about my eyesight (please refer to my previous post) that she wrote an email to my optometrist.

Another great email from my mom.  (For those that are still concerned, I upgraded my bulb to a 40W the other night. I was about to put in something higher, but the lamp instructions say it is a fire hazard.)

There are a lot of problems in the world, but the ones I am about to talk about are probably not the most important. You could argue that these “problems” are silly and stupid, but I really wonder how many people these issues really end up effecting….

Silly problem #1: (from Lijen) Why does the car door get jammed when you try and open it too early after someone unlocks it? I know I always feel silly gesturing to the driver that I was too much of an eager beaver to open the door….

Silly problem #2: The annoying postcards that they put in magazines. I am not sure how many people respond to those things, but they always end up falling on the ground or make it more difficult to turn the pages…. I am no direct marketer, but how many people read those things? Considering I PAID for the damn subscription, how many ads do they have to show me? I mean, every other page has some type of product on it already.

Silly problem #3: Paying gratuity at a Shabbu Shabbu joint (or any other self service food establishment).  I don’t get it.  Maybe I’m just cheap, but when I am cooking my own food and all the “waitress” does is bring you raw food… exactly what am I paying 15% for?  Same thing applies for a buffet.  I guess it makes a little more sense because they have to serve you a drink and take away your dirty plates… not sure I buy that either….

With Netvibes bookmarked and RSS feeds for almost everything, I find myself spending more of my free time reading what my friends are thinking, doing, eating… etc.  My blogroll is starting to grow with the blogs that I read which makes me wonder… will this blog craze end?

I hope not.

If you are thinking about starting one, I hope you do because I will be an eager subscriber.

If you want to go snowboarding and want to stay in Tahoe, try not going during the week of Christmas. Why? People get a little crazy by requiring 14 night minimums!!! That’s right. Basically they told me if I wanted to stay in the cabin over Christmas… then I’d have to stay for 2 weeks straight which makes our 3 day trip seem like a nap. What was funny was that the guy (his name was Max) politely asked me if there was “any way to make the trip longer.” I wanted to sarcastically answer back “actually Max, that is a great idea… I think we can stay another 11 nights. no problem.”

Anyway, just found the whole thing a little ridiculous. Also, keep the rain coming.

More rain = more virgin snow = more fun = smile on my face.

(this is where Bryan starts singing Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”)

So the people that know me well know that I have this weird alergic reaction to juice. Although, there are some exceptions to the rule that include Razzmatazz from Jamba Juice and some carrot juice my mom made when I was younger, I generally try to stay away from the stuff.  Well earlier today, I felt like creating a smoothie like a DIY Razzmatazz (Laurie recently went on a smoothie grocery spree which included an assortment of frozen fruits)  While creating my smoothie concoction (mostly made of berries), I ran into a minor problem.  The blender was having a hard time blending everything and my smoothie was turning out to be very much a slushee.  I came to the conclusion that I needed something liquid to make the blend more smoothie-like.

This is where the story gets strange.  I decided to use juice.  Yes, that’s right.  Strawberry mango juice that Laurie bought at the store.  I didn’t feel that milk would be a good fit, and water seemed… boring.  I didn’t really have any other options.  It was truly a weird feeling opening the top of the carton and pouring it in to the blender.  I remember as I poured the juice, I held my breath, trying not to breath in any of the fumes.  Yes, I am weird.   Anyway, the smoothie turned out delicious (slightly on the icy side) but still good.