Good Night World

Before I bid you good night, I have to tell you that I've just discovered that I made a mistake.
Mums does have an all you can eat option that doesn't include sake & beer. That plate is only $24.95
The Shabu House still beats Mums.
The meat is better.

If you need a refresher, see my earlier posts: The House Wins & Shabu-balaboopy


That's all for now. Jus needed to clear the air.

...good night world...

- Raw

Good Afternoon World

I couldn't help but laugh when thinking of about this game I played on the way back from Tahoe. I believe it's called "Six Degrees of Separation." The object of the game is to somehow connect two actors in six ways or less. To do so, you link them with other actors/actresses from their past films. It makes it more fun though when you make things interesting and hard by choosing two far-off actors. By far-off, I mean two actors that seem nearly impossible to link up.

For example, Steven Seagal and Sarah Jessica Parker.

How the fuck would you link them two?
So yea, our car burst out in laughter while I actually made an attempt.
The conversation went as such:

Alex: "Steven Seagal and Sarah Jessica Parker?!?!"

Darryl: "She was in Failure to Launch with Matthew McConaughey if that helps."

Me: "C'mon now... Steven Seagal was in Exit Wounds with DMX who was in Romeo Must Die with Anthony Anderson. He's been in a lotta movies."

(I later find out that Anthony Anderson is actually in Exit Wounds, so that degree of separation didn't matter... but it made the car ride funny anyways.)

Alex: "Hahaha... Anthony Anderson!!!"

Me: "Yea. Anthony Anderson, who was also in Barbershop with Ice Cube..."

Alex: "Oh shit... Ice Cube was in Anaconda with Jennifer Lopez."

Me: "And she was in The Wedding Planner with Matthew McConaughey who was in Failure to Launch with Sarah Jessica Parker!"

... the car bursts out in laughter ...

Well it may not seem funny written down, but it was funny as hell in the car when it happened.
In fact, 'til this day, thinking about it makes me laugh. So it made my afternoon.

- Raw

Good Morning World

What's in your lunchbox today?
More importantly, what'd you have for breakfast? Ahh, yes. That meal. The one that's often referred to as, "the most important meal of the day." The meal that, for half of my young adult life, I was never awake in time for.
And yet while many people say it's "the most important meal of the day," many people don't know what it means.

This is where the fat man breaks knowledge where other fat boys can't.

Breakfast. It's made up of two words: break and fast.
That's exactly what breakfast does - you're breaking your fast.
No, not fast like a Nascar, I mean fast, like Ramadan in the Muslim culture.
During those hours of sleep, your body is fasting. Even if you ate right before you went to bed, somewhere along those 8 hours your body is going without food. That's why moms had you eat something before you went to school. You're gettin' calories in you to be broken down and used for energy. You'd probably be more attentive and focused in class. So eat up children, and believe your Pilipino uncle when he says, "It ish guud per de brein!"

Now for all you up and coming meatheads that prefer brawns over brain, you all should know that this applies to you guys as well. Look up: Catabolism. Break the fast fellas. Every meathead'll tell you that when you hit the gym and lift weights, you're technically not building muscle, you're breaking em' down. That's what working out is. It's when you're resting that your muscles are building (or re-building technically). What happens after the gym is just as, if not more important than what actually happened in the gym. Be wise and eat healthy. After a work out, if you don't replenish your bodies with some well needed calories, your muscles will go into a catabolic state. What it basically means is, you're body is looking for energy and nutrients to repair your newly torn muscles to rebuild and make em' bigger and stronger (what happens after u work out). When you don't eat, your muscles will eat themselves, the opposite of why u went to the gym to workout in the first place. That's why meatheads take whey protein immediately after their workout. And even more crucial meatheads take Casein protein, a slow reactive protein that breaksdown in your body over the course of 6-8 hours. You can take that before you sleep so your muscles never go hungry.
But hey, don't worry about all that meathead business. Just make sure you eat something when you wake up. In fact, you don't need to be on that GNC hype.

The egg is still the single most reliable natural source of protein.

You don't have to take my word for it.
But my stomach is happier than yours right now.

before the damage...
smoked salmon, poached eggs, & toast

Have a wonderful day and a great workout.

- Raw

The House Wins

Such a sad phrase when referring to gambling.
Luckily, that's not the case.
By "house," I mean "Shabu House." (If you need a little preface, see my earlier post: Shabu-balaboopy) In the battle between the Shabu House and Mums, I declare the Shabu House the winner. By no means is it a undisputed, hands down type of victory, but there are a few things that give the Shabu House the 1up on Mums.

Taken mid January, here are some Shabu House photos.

Dipping sauces

Kobe Beef

Drop it in...

Shake it up...

**side note: here is a cooked piece of meat that I dropped in my dipping sauce. it reminded me of a particular Japanese meat dish called, "momiji." It's a beef dish that comes with a vinegar based sauce that you can soak or dip the beef in. It's crackin'... The downside is that I have only found it served at this Japanese restaurant in San Bruno called, "Akagi." Many people appreciate Akagi for their speedy service and decent tasting bento boxes, but other than that, a Japanese food fanatic would rather spend his or her time elsewhere with higher quality Japanese food. BUT, I challenge someone to find me somewhere else where they serve a momiji dish and if they serve it just as good as Akagi. I'll go there and order their momiji any day.**

Plate #1

Plate #2

I scream two top hit off

Quality of food (I should say meat really), the Shabu House takes the cake.
Mums is not bad, but it's thick, like many other places that serve shabu.
You may think that thick is a good thing - in this case, I feel it is the opposite.
The Shabu House's thinner slices of Kobe Beef are more savory.
Like that line in Sunset Park, "...it's butta baybeh..."
On top of that, the Spicy Miso broth beats the plain water broth used at Mums.

You can have the same all-you-can-eat meal with better quality meat for a cheaper price.

But I can't just bash Mums, it's definitely a restaurant I'd go back to multiple times.
Here's the other side of the fence...
One thing that makes Mums a worthy Shabu House competitor is the service.
They have a staff of maybe 8-10 people running the floor. They don't stick to one table, they help ALL tables. And they do a good job floating around, gauranteeing that whatever service you need at the table will be taken care of. Meat, vegetables, beer, sake all come out almost instantaneously.
The service at the Shabu House isn't bad, however it isn't great either. Two brothers work as the main hosts (they look like twins almost), along with a team of maybe 3-4 waitresses. I'll admit, sometimes they forget about things or take a little longer than I'd like to refill my water. But patience is a virtue. They're not that bad all the time.

My conclusion:

If you just want quality in meat, go to the Shabu House.
If you're interested in the all you can eat special and you're not concerned with beer and sake, go to the Shabu House. Usually there's instant seating at the bar (usually, meaning if it's not full...obviously).

If you have a medium to large sized party and you want the all you can eat AND drink special, go to Mums. Everything seems to be larger. Unlimited sake and beer. The sake's not too shabby and they serve beer in the Chris Raw size bottles. By that I mean the 32oz. plus size bottles - not the regular 12 oz. one's you would normally order.

Choose up.

- Raw

The Return

Last Friday, we hit the slopes. Came back.
Saturday was Ryan's birthday celebration at the club.
Sunday was the first bball game of the season (I signed up for a league... sort of).
Monday, we hit the slopes again.

Now it's Tuesday evening, and I'm glad that I dont have any special event to tell you about other than the fact that I've been taking care of my Grandpa all day and resting.
Later I got practice, where I'll probably get a good hour of drumming (Tahitian) in.
I'll then rendezvous with Dirty D, the author of yourDIRTYmagazine, and discuss current events, the latest hip hop related videos, and any newly discovered hot spots for grub (local or non-local).

I'll be back with some good stuff. Stay tuned.

- Raw

The Day After / Snowbound... again.

First off, a big Happy Birthday to my boy Ryan Casuga.
Happy Birthday you Lil' Boosie ass nukka.

Since it's raining and some classes got canceled this friday, we're hittin' the snow again.
Doin' another one-day quick fix: leave at 5am, hit the slopes, and return in the evening.
It's quick, easy, and cheap.

But anyways, I'll leave you with my Daly City hidden gem.
What was in that to-go box I posted a few posts back?

FILIPINO BBQ


The restaurant's called Manila Express.
This is your standard 3-piece pork bbq plate.
U can't see much of it in this picture, but trust me when I say that this meat is coated with a semi-sweet red sauce that works much like crack - hit it once and you'll come back...trust.
Comfort food. Especially the day after an exhausting day of snowboarding.
As a kid, this was a common saturday morning meal with the fam.
Having this as a sunday afternoon meal was a good post-snowboarding thing to do.
If you haven't had this before, then it may not do the same to you.
But if you're willing to try it out, it's located on my street, Gellert Blvd.
425 Gellert Blvd. Daly City to be exact.
I gaurantee you probably won't find it for a few minutes.
It's in the cuts. Like a hole in the wall behind 3 other hole in the wall's located behind a 7-11...haha...literally.
Find it.
And I bet you that my city's filipino bbq shit's on your city's filipino bbq.
At least when we're talking about pork... on a stick...
I dont say this to talk shit, but in an act of faith to stand behind this product.

Try me.


Damage.

- Raw

The Day Of

What a fuckin' day...
Please excuse my language, but I must say that I am extremely pleased with the outcome of our one-day Tahoe quickie considering the unfortunate events that took place leading up to it.

Allow me.

First off, Friday afternoon we were scrambling around to find a rental car, or any means of transportation for that matter. We were running low on options.
Darryl's SUV was headed for the shop.
Janette's SUV needed maintenance.
Muriel's SUV is bound for death.
My car has massive cracks on the windshield and squealing breaks.
Alex was busy being drunk.
Luckily with the help of a good friend over at Enterprise, we were able to get an '09 Ford Expedition for cheaper than your average monthly cell phone bill. But we weren't sure at first what the outcome would be because it was a four day weekend for MLK Day and Enterprise didn't have cars at all. It could've been a Expedition, it could've been a Geo Metro. Luckily the cards were in our favor. I guess that wasn't an unfortunate event, but the stress of dealing with our means of transportation raised my blood pressure significantly. I'm glad it worked out, we were even considering not going under certain circumstances.
What was unfortunate though, was that while I was doing a load of laundry so I could actually have clothes to wear to Tahoe, my dryer decides to turn into a pussy, and took an extra hour longer to dry clothes that it usually gets done in 30 minutes. This delays my rendezvous with Darryl and Alex at Alex's house - I was supposed to be there at 1am, instead me and Darryl arrive at 2:30am (keep in mind, we're leaving at 5am). So because fate has decided to make me the lagger of the year, Alex decides to turn into the drunkard of the year.
Not really, but for that day, maybe he was.
The plan, after dispersing at 11:00pm, was to rendezvous at 1am at Alex's.
Anxiously awaiting our arrival, Alex begins to drink himself stupid because he can no longer wait for us after realizing that we didn't show up at 1am.
Just when we thought things were going good, Darryl and I show up to Alex's house, only to see through his living room window that he is passed out on his couch and that his phone was nowhere in sight...great...
After waiting and hoping that he would arise from his drunken death slumber, Darryl and I came to the conclusion that we might as well sleep in the car and wait for the morning.

Just to note, '09 Ford Expedition headrests = DEATH!
The worst engineering ever. Damn.
Can someone just make a car with seats comfortable enough to sleep in and get a good night's rest? Or at least a power nap...

Only by fate does Alex wake up at 5am and call us to apologize and ask where the hell we're at, in which we reply that we've been outside the whole night, which then made Alex apologize more and then blame me for doing my laundry and not being on time.

Anyways, we end up making it to Tahoe, where the table begins to turn.
The drive was fun and hittin' the slopes was exciting. We ended up getting separated for about 2 hours but it was all good. Nothing to fret about.
I even ran into some good folks from BMB.

(the arrival)

...amongst all the organized chaos of snow rubble. is it really necessary? at least it's waterproof...

I can tell you that this probably is... (Costco, 10/$10 - taste the difference)(...farewell Sierra... 'til next time)

When the resort closed, we couldn't be satisfied with ending the day there and going home, so we hit the casinos in South Lake Tahoe.

At first, it was colder than ever. I'm not talking about the weather, I mean the tables.
Craps was cut throat and Roulette wasn't looking too good either.
We began to question why we even came to the casinos.
Why didn't we just go home?
With the little money we had left, we either could've lost it all in good fun, or left with whatever pride and dignity we had left.
That's when me and Darryl turned it all around.
Putting the negative mentality behind us, we watched the Roulette board until we felt it was time to place our favorite bet, the "2nd 12."
Let it ride? Let it ride?
The series of events is now a blur to me, but what I do remember, is that "2nd 12" must've hit at least 10 times in two different sessions where it hit back to back at least 4-5 times in a row.
All of a sudden, Darryl and I were staring at about $400 thinking, "man we were just about to leave too."
I then proceeded back to the craps table, which by the way is currently empty because everyone left due to shitty shooters and cold dice. Standing there with good company, I let my girlfriend shoot. Little did I know that after hitting a few points, hardways, and come bets, we would leave Tahoe happy campers.

Even this one couldn't handle the excitement.


She has decided to remain nameless.
But anyways, after all the commotion, she warns us that she has began to feel dizzy and lightheaded. What happens next? Casino security walks by. We assured security that she'll be fine once we get her some water and something to eat considering we haven't eaten since that afternoon and it's late + snowboarding is somewhat physically exhausting.


So what does casino security suggest? They insisted that she takes a couple hits from the oxygen tank. They were hawking her like they were some kind of drug dealers tryna get you on some new shit. The funny thing was that they were right and she felt better after taking a couple of oxygen hits. And the whole time, we thought they were tryna scheme and maybe detain us on some bullshit. Or at least kick us out. But hey, she turned out alright in the end. Peep the smile through the oxygen mask.

The ironic thing is that the last time we went on vacation with her, we were in Vegas, and her friend was wheel chaired outta the club and back to the hotel room.
This one was given an oxygen tank.

What's next?

- Raw

The Night Before

The night before departure, my friends and I had a nice little sit down dinner.
My friend put me on this Korean BBQ joint in the avenues, a nice hole in the wall.
They have regular sit down tables, but they also have larger tables with a custom grill in the middle so you can cook your food. With everyone being high-spirited and awaiting the mini-vacay ahead of us, we opted to cook our own food.



**side note: If I'm going to pay top dollar, someone better cook that shit for me. But Korean BBQ and Japanese Shabu Shabu are foods I will make an exception to cooking myself in a restaurant.**


I forgot if we had spare or short ribs, but other than that we had the chicken and my personal favorite, BULGOGI. Or is it Bul-Go-Gi? I duno, I'm not too familiar with the Korean language.


The upside is the food is crackin, and it appears to be a healthier meal than something deep fried or similar to that nature. Cooking it yourself might actually do something psychologically to make your food taste better, but either way, it's a fun experience to share with other people. They also give you a whole assortment of extra giblets to eat on the side with your food. I wasn't very fond of many of them, but I'm sure a lot of people love em.

I hate to say anything negative about such a nice place, but there is a downside. A common issue, not only with this restaurant but many others where u cook your own food, is that when you leave the place, you'll probably carry the smell of whatever you cooked and ate that night. It'll be on you AND your clothes. So my recommendation: if you plan on going out that evening, change first! Or at least change your shirt or your top or take off your sweater. Being that dude in the club that smells like food isn't the best look one could have.


Aftermath
Here it is suckas... go find it.



- Raw

Hello Again

My friends and I just returned from Tahoe. We packed all our things in an '09 Ford Expedition and took off yesterday at 6 in the morning. After a fun day of tearin' up the slopes, we took a little trip deeper into the heart of Tahoe and gambled at their main "strip" (and I have to say "strip," because it's arguable that it's not much of a strip considering it only has 3-4 main hotel casinos). And now we're back home. We returned today at around 2am and knocked out for a bit.

So I give you this box to ponder upon.


After waking up, this is what we ate.
Tell me what it is and I might take you there one day.

More to come soon...

- Raw

Shabu-balaboopy

"what does it mean?"

"...iono..."

"Shabu Shabu" is Japanese for, "shake shake."
...later I was told that it roughly translates to, "swish swish"...
But being that I am not Japanese, nor do I speak the language, I am not sure how accurate that translation is. What I can tell you, however, is that's what I was told by a waitress while eating in Hollywood at a restaurant called, "Koji's." Maybe that's what they tell customers to make their dinner more interesting.
...man was she fine...
But anyways, Shabu Shabu, described as some as, "Japanese Beef Fondue," is a Japanese dish consisting of thinly sliced beef and assorted vegetables. The slices of beef are cooked almost instantly after shaking in a pot of boiling water or broth. Served with rice and dipping sauces, this particular dish has made it's way into my personal favorites of '08.

Last Friday, I was fortunate enough to celebrate a friend's birthday at a restaurant that serves Shabu. That night, we ate at "Cafe Mums," a restaurant located inside of Hotel Tomo in Japantown, SF. I wouldn't actually consider it "inside" since the entrance is still located on the street. One would not have to actually enter Hotel Tomo. Hotel Tomo is just connected to it.
It's on the corner of Sutter and Buchanan.
I feel sorry for those who have eaten at Mums and did not order the all you can eat Shabu Shabu (that's like ordering a fish plate at the House of Prime Rib).
I know nothing of the breakfast or lunch menu - all that matters, is that for $42.95 and some tip, you can have all you can eat Shabu Shabu AND all u can drink sake and beer for 2 hours. Well, maybe 1 and 1/2, but we stayed there for 2 and they didn't mind.

Good Food. Good Company.
The essential ingredients.

They have Asahi... They have Sapporro... They have sake.

And oh, the Shabu's pretty good too.

Plus dessert. They have green tea ice cream. I hate green tea by the way, so I asked for vanilla.


$42.95... + tip...
All you can eat shabu shabu.
Never ending sake bombs.
All within 2 hours.
My end of the table (4 guys) consumed about 6 plates of beef.
In my opinion, it's worth it.
Unless you're a vegetarian that doesn't drink alcohol.
The atmosphere is great and the service is fast.
Although it gets pretty loud cause everyone's pretty much drunk.

Is it safe for a date with you and your girl? Eh, maybe.
It's better for a slightly bigger party.
And make sure they have an appetite so they feel they got their money's worth.
Or at least drink.

I do recommend another spot though, just as satisfying, and not as much a big a dent in your wallet.
Also in SF is the "Shabu House," located on Geary blvd. between 15th & 16th ave.
You can definitely taste the quality in the beef here compared to Mums.
A reason why that may be so is because they advertise Kobe Beef.
I'm not sure what exactly Mums carries. I honestly just sat down, asked for the, "all you can eat," and started eating. Restaurants will generally serve rib-eye or top sirloin - when sliced thin, it's hard to distinguish between the two.
The Kobe Beef, however, at the Shabu House is actually the best Shabu beef I've ever tasted thus far. Maybe it's thinner? Who knows. All I can say is that I know it tastes better.
I'll probably update a future blog with photo's from the Shabu House just to give ya'll a taste.

Their Dinner Kobe Beef Shabu Shabu plate is $15.99 for the regular, and $18.99 for the large. Imagine something similar to the pictures above, only, after you finish your plate, another one doesn't come out. I want to say that they do also have an all you can eat and drink option, but I'm not sure about the price and the time limit. I'd assume that beer and sake is included.
I'll give an update on that later.
They also do give you 3 choices of soup base to cook with: water, spicy miso, or ginger chicken broth. My personal favorite in terms of flavor is the spicy miso. Trrrruuuuuust.

Anyways, I hope that one day, you too will also be as passionate about Shabu Shabu.

- Raw

McDonald's Brunch Menu

an interesting turn of events...

yesterday, my father, being surprised that i was up early enough to see the sun, asked me to head to 7-11 to buy the san jose mercury news. he also told me to grab some breakfast from mcdonalds (a health disaster as you all may know, but proves to me to be one of the best hangover cures).
what this really translates into is, he needed to find a way to kick me off the computer so he can check his email.
so i leave.
arriving at the drive thru around 10:45am, it occurs to me that breakfast stops getting served at 10:30am. i ask for breakfast anyways, and to my surprise, they allowed me to order both.

the best of both worlds? unfortunately not. the trade is, by that time, they no longer have hash browns.so i had the egg mcmuff with chicken nuggets and fries.
weird combo.

but in the spirit of it all, i also went to 7-11 and bought both the sf chronicle and the san jose mercury news.

so now you know.
head to the drive thru slightly after 10:30 for the brunch special.
i'm personally not a huge fan - the absence of the hash brown ruins the whole breakfast sandwich experience.

stay tuned.

- Raw

"In the beginning..."

...there was raw...

Chris Raw, that is. At least in this beginning. And as a child, I was fortunate enough to have a few good years before I was too cool to carry my lunch in a box. So before I become too cool or old for things on the internet, like this blog, here is my modern day lunchbox. And it's filled with all kinds of crazy shhhhhiet. In the end, I hope you find the contents of my entries at the least bit useful, interesting, or funny.

But there's no use in explaining it all at once.

For the most part, my aim is to try to stay anonymous as possible.
Content should speak for itself.
But many of my readers probably know me or discovered this site through other means in which my identity is on display (...didn't sound as tacky as, "my myspace page" ...).

So, without further ado...