All Hail In 'N Out Burger

Besides seeing my amazing family & friends, and visiting the amazing beaches, one of my favorite parts about going back to California is the amazing fast food chain that is In 'N Out Burger.

Now, to some of you In 'N Out is but a legend, for it only exists on the West Coast. So, this post is dedicated to you (poor) souls.

First, you go inside and order yourself one of the items on the menu....or if you're a local you order something from the (not so) secret menu. My usual order consists of animal fries, a protein burger and a Neapolitan shake. But for old times sake and the sake of everything classic, I got the double double cheeseburger with fries but kept the twist with my favourite Neapolitan shake (aka a mix of their vanilla, chocolate and strawberry milkshakes).

After patiently waiting for your food to be ready, you jump at the call of your number and run to grab your buns.

Due to it's enticing oozing cheese, secret dressing and juicy patties, my burger didn't last long enough to take too many pictures.

*This should tell you a little something about how incredible the food is because usually I'm able to hold off for a photo opp but...no....never could I ever for my In 'N Out burger.

My family, being the locals that they are (and used to have heaven a stone's throw away from their house) took more time to eat theirs. Thank goodness they did otherwise this would an even shorter post.

Next time I go, I'll be sure to beef up this post with photos. But for now, just take my word for it. You've gotta head out West to get your hands on animal fries, a double double and a Neapolitan shake.

Oh yeah, and the beaches as well. Those are pretty nice too...

B

B : banter
Nothing beats a good laugh. Your abs benefit, your brain benefits, and the spirits of you and those around you benefit as well! Banter - rowdiness - is my favorite "b" word because it plays such a big roll in my life.

I'm currently in California visiting my little cousins and boy am I getting a run for my money. Little kids are constantly being playful and silly and I love it. Us adults can get pretty serious at times and forget what it means to truly have a laugh. The fact that these two little boys find such enjoyment in butt jokes and seeing who can fart the loudest blows me away (couldn't help myself..). As nasty as they may be, I love how they make me laugh. Not saying I have a little boy's humor or anything but just seeing someone experience so much joy from something so stupid is funny in and of itself. We gotta laugh more, play more, and get silly!

The picture above is from my NYC trip with the girls over winter holiday. We all went to FAO Schwartz to show Isabel what childhood in the city is like. Eyes widened and Christine and I's memory jogged as we walked through the store. The giant teddy bears, massive candies and whimsiness of the whole store made us giggly with excitement. Nothing feels as fun as reverting back to childhood does sometimes.

Take some time to do something silly or stupid or reckless because the more laughs you have, the happier a life you'll lead! And that will help you deal with the boring stuff...like Accounting homework....

A Short List of My Long List

I've been thinking about life lately...specifically what it is I want to do with it.
In the typical sense - what I want to do once I graduate - but more specifically what I want to accomplish on the side of that.

We live in a world today where the quality of life is dictated by your job; how much you get paid, where you live, what position you hold, etc and it drives me crazy! Life should be about living not walking through the motions to save up for retirement. Plus, by the time I'm even able to use what I've saved I'll be wicked old and won't be able to go cliff diving for the fear of breaking a hip or some other old-age tragedy... Now is the time to do those reckless activities - despite the dismally low amount of cash I have in my bank account to do them. But they don't say, "When there's a will, there's a way" for nothing. So, knowing that somehow through someone in someway I will make them happen, I've made a short list of my long bucket list for what I want to accomplish before I even start saving for retirement.

1. Get scuba certified down unda in Australia
2. Live and work in a foreign country
3. Rock climb real rocks at Indian Creek in Utah
4. Go to cooking school in France
5. Participate in the Festival of Color in India
6. Party it up at Mardi Gras in New Orleans
7. Eat at Heston Blumenthal's restaurant in London 
8. Jump off a waterfalls in Costa Rica
9. Do something to test my athletic abilities
10. Watch a St. Louis Blues game in Missouri & then meet T.J. Oshie in person

Short. Sweet. To the point. And good enough for now...

A

A :  adventure

One of the trillions of reasons I love writing / the English language / communication is the sheer amount of different ways to say the same thing. Honestly, who needs 10 different ways to say 'awesome'? Let alone over 100 different adjectives to describe snow...thank you Eskimos. But in all seriousness, having a vast vocabulary has always been something I prized. It can be persuasive when manipulating your employer to give you a raise. It can give sight to someone without vision. And it can be the handiest trinket in your tool box for self-expression and inner growth. Therefore, I'm dedicating this post series to my favorite word(s) for each letter of the English alphabet. And maybe if I get bored, I'll throw in a few Chinese characters that have spoken to me.


Today's word, however, is simple. A common thread in human lives. It's the thing that makes people tick; the thing that allows us to enrich ourselves in knowledge and clean our windows of perspective. It's adventure. You hear so many stories - especially in college - of wild adventures leading to all sorts of outcomes. The Great American Challenge, for instance, lead many to obtain interesting stories of testing their limits. While others find adventure in simply walking around the city and trying a new ice cream parlour. In order to embrace this adventurous spirit, I have become a "yes woman". Yup, it sounds just like what it is. I'm openminded to all sorts of opportunities - even if they seem completely far fetched/reckless/dangerous. But quite frankly, the more far fetched/reckless/dangerous the opportunities are, the more exciting they are. Obviously you have to keep it all in perspective and aligned with your values, but I've learned not to hesitant when testing my boundaries. I've explored northern India and challenged my ability to navigate a completely foreign country. I've gone zip lining in the treetops of Chang Mai, Thailand to get my fix of speed and overcome my fear of minimum security. I've gone cave diving in Ixtapa, Mexico to see how long I could be a mermaid for before my lungs exploded. And you know what, every one of those experiences has made me more daring, comfortable, and confident with myself and my abilities to do anything I set my mind to.

Long story short, do crazy things. Be a yes person. Hate heights? Go up in a hot air balloon. Never eaten Greek food? Save your pennies, grab a friend and take a spontaneous summer escapade to Athens. Never worn less than 3 layers in the dead of winter? Do an undie run. Basically say yes to life and whatever it throws at you because if not now, when? You are your experiences. Go add to your box of recklessness and thrills and try new & wild things. After all, the last thing you want to be is the only granny in the old folk's home without any good stories to tell.

Ah Ya Shibuya // Japan

Wow things have been out of control on my side of the computer screen so I'm so sorry for the delay in this post! But basically, we just got into mischief when we hit up Shibuya - the trendy/young district full of Harijuku inspired sights.

First thing's first though - put this on....perfect.

Getting off the train, we flooded out with the masses into the throbbing crowds moving across Shibuya's main intersection.

Eyes wide and jaws low to the ground, we goggled at pretty much everything we saw. Mindlessly, we wandered through the fluorescent jungle of materialism. 

Shops were inescapable. Stockings, piercing jewelry, and 6+ inch platform heels galore.

Walking up quite an appetite, we stumbled into this gem of a restaurant.

Kamukura.

Basically, you 'vending machine style' order your food.
Yup, you heard me.

A "vending machine" squats outside the restaurant beaconing passerbys to make a pit stop.
You choose which dish you'd like to eat, pay the machine and - just as you would guess - go inside to eat up your order.

You hand your order tickets that you received outside to the waiters/chefs and they put them on your respective seat.

Within minutes, your hot bowl of Japanese delight awaits to bombard your taste buds with uniqueness and food glory.

The flavors are incredibly simple but all the more delicious. There's something about broth, noodles and a bit of greens & protein that will always be spot on.

Like any plumped little child, we each tottered our way out of the restaurant with "Domo arigato!"s being thrown around behind us and popped us back out onto Shibuya's streets.
Delighted with everything we saw, bought and ate, we made our way back to the central intersection and made our way home.

While I would have loved to have explored more temples, this trip to Japan was still fascinating. The people could not have been friendlier and more accommodating. I very much look forward to taking the bullet train over to Kyoto the next time I'm in Japan to get a better sense of the country's rich cultural origins, but until then, Tokyo has absolutely swept me off my feet. Must have been Japanese in another life because I could without a doubt eat sushi and ramen for every meal...let alone channel my inner-self out in the most zen gardens every day.

Until next time Japan, domo arigato!

You & Sushi Make Miso Happy // Japan

There's no other way to start this post off but with a little sushi pun because this was the day we went to the worlds' largest fist market, Tsukiji.

Having woken up with the birds at 6am, we groggily threw on clothes and swam in the pod of people on the subway towards the market.

Need less I say that we had no expectations going into this, but anything we could've come up with would've been blown out of the water. This market truly is massive! Fish vendors, gift vendors, and best of all sushi vendors galore.

We bumbled around ooing and aahing at all of the fresh sushi, knick knacks and Japanese culture that surrounded us.

It wasn't until poppa Shugs started craving his morning coffee that our leisure browsing came to an end. He spotted this charismatic hole-in-the-wall shop so we took a seat to soaked in some caffeine and the hectic environment that surrounded us.

In between puffs of his cigarette, the 'waiter'/owner artistically poured us each a coffee. He frisbee tossed them onto plates and overhead threw sugar cubes alongside them before placing their steaming goodnesses in front of us.

...this might be a lliiiiitttlleee bit of an exaggeration but trust me, not by much.

Reheated, we headed back outside to kill some more time before meeting friends for sushi.

My pop and I's favorite part of the market I would have to say was the actual fish market. As mum and I were window shopping, I heard my pop yell, "Sam! Fish!" to which I dropped the once interesting tourist shirt to go witness this truly big fish.

After drifting into the actual fish market, we walked around with eyes wide and jaws on the floor as we saw the freshest of fresh sea food.

It goes without saying that pops was so excited he wanted to be part of the action...

Exhausted like children playing in a beach playground, we headed out in a taxi to meet our friends for Japan's world renowned sushi. Greeted by beautiful Japanese women, we were escorted to our private room to feast on the sea's freshest catches.

The kids were over-the-moon excited to dig in.
And that's exactly what they did.

Even a little possessiveness came out at the lunch table.

Eating until entering a food coma had become a regular thing for us, so we walked it off with a stroll in a traditional Japanese garden.

It was one of the most peaceful gardens I've walked in.
Silent. Deafening. Majestic. Tranquil. Chaotic nature coaxing our aching bodies and busy minds into a state of self-reflection and serenity.

Contradictory to the winter season, flowers bloomed from the cherry blossoms trees and splattered the burnt oranges, reds, and vivacious greens with hues of light pink.

Nothing screams perfection quite like eating the world's best sushi for lunch and walking it off in a traditional Japanese tranquil garden....and the modernity of Shibuya of course - but you'll have to wait until the next post for more on that one ;)