February 2015 – Page 3 – Have you eaten?

Do You Have Your Marching Band in Manhattan?

February 8, 2015February 8, 2015by have you eaten?2 Comments

Every time I hear this song, my throat tightens up as if I’m starting to cry but I always managed to stop right before that. This is a song I want to listen to inside of my car when it is raining outside, while hearing raindrops continuously hit the roof of the car. I sometimes actually stop my car to listen to the entire song then wait to see if my sorrow drips into my heart through a pinhole.

I have countless number of songs that are dear to my heart, but this is a special song and a favorite for the last 10 years. It is bitter sweet. This is a song that you want to listen to when you are remembering someone who is out of your life but you still wish that person, whether your grandma, your long lost friend, your English literature professor, a crush, whoever that may be, is still part of your life. And you day-dream about the time when you and that person happen to see each other at your favorite coffee shop, but it feels really strange so you guys only exchange an awkward smile. Then, you know that person is no longer a part of your life and you know that he/she knows that too.

You carry on your life but for one small moment, you think about that person. Maybe while selecting an Etta James vinyl record at this vintage record shop. Maybe when you are looking at this huge painting that you have no idea what this is all about. Or maybe at red light. Maybe when you are spreading almost expired cream cheese on a bagel. Maybe when you are at the zoo with your 5-year old niece looking at penguins on one Sunday during winter. Maybe when you can’t sleep and it is 2am and you are watching “Roman Holiday” by yourself but not hating the fact that you are alone. Or during the time you found comfort in the sound of a faucet leaking slowly, and finally you can let your tears run down your face.

Mine is “Marching band in Manhattan” by Death Cab for Cutie. How about yours?

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coffee

Meet Riley: Starbucks Flat White Expert

February 7, 2015February 7, 2015by have you eaten?3 Comments

Archie is a beer snob. He also is a coffee snob. Other than those 2 departments, he is not snob. Before we became friends, I was already a coffee snob. Starbucks coffee, really? It’s a chain just like McDonald, right? That was our attitude before I actually started working for this company. I have to admit espresso drinks are not my favorite. Well, usually.

I have been working here a little over a year and I haven’t gotten tired of coming in to the smell of coffee yet. It makes me happy every friggin’ morning. Like I wrote before, coffee fixes everything.

Flat White; creamy micro-form steamed milk poured over two ristretto shots of espresso (Casi Cielo beans). Ristretto shot is a smaller, more concentrated serving of espresso. This drink has more intense espresso flavor. Yes, if you are a Starbucks hater, I highly recommend to give it a try. I hear it a lot, that Starbucks espresso drinks are too milky and they only taste milk. I hear this all the time from Archie.

Riley is shy, lovely, cute and an experienced barista at Starbucks store on the 8^th floor. When she called my name when my flat white was ready, she was smiling ear to ear and said, “Mimi, look! I made a heart (latte art for flat white is usually a white dot) for you. Happy early Valentines’ day” I was actually able to hear excitement and pride in her voice. It was nice, such an amazing moment to share with Riley on Friday morning about 6:30am, on the 8^th floor of Starbucks office building. So, I snapped this photo right at the counter. She got so excited when I told her that I was going to write about her in my blog soon.

My coffee snobbish attitude is slowly diminishing due to this kind of moment. Also Archie had one the other day and he even said, “hmm, it is not bad at all.” That is huge. Just one short flat white might make your day and you might have a really nice surprise.

If Riley can make you one, even better.

personal view

Spring Came Early This Year: Daffodils and Kathy

February 6, 2015by have you eaten?2 Comments

Spring has come this morning.

Working in a corporate environment is challenging. You enjoy working with intelligent, knowledgeable, dedicated, passionate and friendly co-workers and you become friends with some of them. It is a challenging time for all of us at work. I am about to lose someone who is very close to me and who is nothing but helpful, always willing to assist me and always there as a good friend. I won’t be able to work with him any more in the same group. We get a cup of coffee together every morning, joke around a lot like brother and sisters. I have been quite confused, sad and emotional since I found out about the news.

Kathy came by this morning with a hint of spring. She was holding a bouquet of daffodils (so delightful and charming!) and said to me that I looked quite down for a last few days so she bought something to cheer me up. What a thoughtful person she is. If the world was full of these people, I guarantee it would be a better place.

Like Dalai Lama said, “The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately need s more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds” Kathy, you are truly one of them.

I decided today is the 1st day of spring this year because of the daffodils I received this morning. It has been raining 3 days straight in Seattle now but who cares. Let’s celebrate the arrival of spring together.

Happy Spring!

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life, Personal

Merry-Go-Round Life: Sending Aloha from Seattle

February 5, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

Sometimes it happens. Your gut is telling you to do something right now. That was me in April 2010. I moved back from Atlanta, GA in November, 2009 with all these boxes and mental baggage. All of a sudden, 5 months later, I felt an urge to reach out to her.

So I did. The first 2 times, she wasn’t able to answer (later I found out she was vacationing in Honolulu, HI), but she called me back. I asked if she could meet up with me for brunch and she was up for it. We had brunch on Saturday morning at Broadway Grill in Capitol Hill, Seattle. I remember I felt so relieved as soon as she gave me a BIG hug. I nearly cried from the feeling of release. The funny thing is that we worked together for a while and got along great, but we were not that close until that day.

Since then, we were lunch/brunch/movie buddies. She is one of 3 people on the earth who does not make me feel uncomfortable and insecure about speaking English in front of them (my native language is Japanese). I lost a significant person in my life in Atlanta and it had been destroying me. I was able to be honest with her about what I was going though. She listened, commented, encouraged and listened. I have a few close friends in Seattle but she was the first and probably only person I wanted to tell what the hell was going on with my life back then.

A couple of years later when I decided to move on and made a big decision about my life, what she said to me was, “I am so happy for you because now you can ride a merry-go-around.” My life had been insane like riding a roller coaster until then, now I can live a calm and quiet life with occasional exciting adventures without drama (well, most of the time) that I had longed for.

My dear friend. You made a courageous decision to move forward to find your own “Merry-Go-Round Life” filled with happiness, fun, glee and joy but without obligations and dramas (except for Korean & Taiwanese dramas!). Whatever you choose to do, I promise I will always be your biggest supporter and be here for you. Thank you for being such a great friend and never giving up on me. I am forever grateful.

Now you go get it, girl.

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food, restaurant

To Be or Not To Be: Red Cow Has an Answer

February 4, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

To be or not to be a meat eater, that is the question. Right? I was vegan for a while and was pescetarian until October 2014. I was vegan when living in Atlanta, which I was eating vegetables, fruits and grains. When I moved back to Seattle in 2008, I just added seafood to my vegan diet. But I was vegan and pescetarian not because of animal cruelty, wanting to reduce CO2 emissions or wanting to save the world eventually or anything like that. My body got used to vegan diet for a while so every time I tried to eat meat products, I didn’t feel well afterwards so I just avoided for a long time.

In October 2014, I traveled to Paris with Archie, my best friend. The trip turned my world upside down. I wanted to taste EVERYTHING that Paris had to offer. Beef bourguignon, beef tartar, pork rillettes, lamb, quail, baguette and butter (of course, French cuisine is not complete butter!) My stomach felt a little funky at first but slowly I have gotten used to eating meat.

So, this is one of Seattle’s be-loved chefs, Ethan Stowell’s 9th restaurant called Red Cow. It is located in this quaint Madrona area in Seattle near Lake Washington. They change menu seasonally, which I respect and admire so much.

http://www.ethanstowellrestaurants.com/locations/red-cow/

We shared smoked duck breast, beef tongue, pork rillettes as charcuterie plate and the plate was more than excellent. They had so much flavor and melted in my mouth. Smoked meat can be tricky sometimes but this one was quite tender and had a very unique taste. They offer 16oz Rib Eye. Yes, 16oz. I kind of wanted to try to be honest just to see how ridiculously big that was but I didn’t want my heart to stop next day either so I decide to have 8oz Filet Mignon. It was superbly prepared (well, for my taste, medium rare) and inside was perfect reddish pink with crunchy fries and lots of homemade butter! What a divine plate of Steak Frites.

When we were seated, we told our waiter “We are vegans. What can you do for us?” “We have tons of lettuce,” he replied. I like witty and smartass people. I consider Red Cow is doing something right by offering excellent healthy and well-taken care of animals and hiring experienced smartasses.

Just to mention, if you are vegans, vegetarians, or pescetarians, or whatever diet method you are using, Red Cow is not the place for you. At all. But if you are meat-eater, flexitarians (I can’t keep up these names anymore…have you heard kangatarian; vegetarian diet plus occasional kangaroo meat consumption?), you would appreciate this place very much.

To be or not to be…is not a question for me anymore.

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personal view

Right vs. Wrong: Who Decides What Freedom is for people?

February 3, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

My heart has been aching for months with regards to what’s happening in Syria. 3 days ago, I could barely stand what just happened. I nearly lost all hope for humankind. I felt hopeless, fearful, sad and heartbroken.

Then, I am conflicted. I am confident they are doing wrong things but what if they believe they are doing a right thing for freedom?

Freedom does not mean that you are “FREE” from responsibilities. To me, freedom is to let go of things not meant for me (I am still working toward my own freedom) and be kind to others. But who gets to decide THEIR freedom? What if they really believe that they are working toward to their own freedom? Do I get to decide they are completely wrong?

When I saw this photo this morning I thought that freedom also meant not giving up and speaking up. Freedom requires responsibilities. Freedom requires focus and believing in humankind. I have to decide now and today I will not give up until the day freedom for everyone comes. Humankind. We call us humankind because we are able to be kind to each other, right?

I will never give up my right to be kind to others.

Here is what Rosa Parks said.

“I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.”

We all struggle and this is remarkably hard to do but it is also nice to know there are people out there who don’t give up on humankind’s love and freedom.

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personal view, travel

Dark Place to Happy Place: Just Like That – Outerlands, SF

February 2, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

I was crying for help inside for weeks. I had been experiencing some hardships that I was not really able to figure out and had been frustrated about not knowing what was going on. As a result, I was being so short with a couple of people, especially my poor best friend, he had to be my punching bag for a while. Even though he bought tickets to San Francisco Ballet (3rd row from the front) and traveled with me. What did I do for return? I snapped at him a couple of times during the trip, which he does not reserve whatsoever.

8 am Sunday morning, we got on to MUNI to headed over to Ocean Beach area to get a nice breakfast. On MUNI, it felt like my chest was being filled with dark emotion and I didn’t want to talk to him at all. We got out and walked toward to this restaurant called, Outerlands near the beach http://outerlandssf.com/ . I was already frustrated because there was a long line even if we got there 20 min before their opening time, 9am. When we sat down on the wooden bench outside while waiting, I started telling him about I need some time for me to be alone for a while. He was very supportive of that. As he asked me a couple of questions about work, all of a sudden, my thoughts are getting clearer, as if clouds are moving and I started to see sunlight. I found the core problem of what’s been eating me this last 2 to 3 weeks.

Of course Outerlands’ food did help me out. Beautiful looking corn bread with crumble of goat cheese, cheerful looking chicory open sandwich with eggs and salad, and fun looking rice porridge with pork belly, pickled veggies. They were all luscious and I could taste their dedication and passion.

After this inspiring (for food and for my soul) breakfast, I felt revitalized and uplifting. I was getting out from that dark spot to a sunny and hopeful place.

Thank you, Outerlands and Archie for pulling me out of my cave. You guys are both beyond wonderful.

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personal view

Dog and Seahorse

February 1, 2015February 1, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

San Francisco was amazing. The city has such an interesting character. Also people in SF seems chill. I had delicious food and bought a Japanese hand forged kitchen knife. Overall I had a wonderful over-night holiday.

I landed Seattle just 10 min ago. As soon as I got out from our plain, I heard people yelling. I wondered why and random someone told me Seahawks just got tied. OK.

I am born and bread Japanese. In my country, football means soccer. I barely know about “American” football as much as my dear co-worker, Nico. He accidentally said the other day, “Go Seahorse!”

My friend Hana who took care of my dog while I was away is a HUGE Seahawks fan. So she put her hat on my dog Ginger (and she looks unhappy).

Anyway, go Seahorse!