Smoking is one of the most disgusting habits on earth. Why the fuck I made the most ridiculous decision to start again beyond me. I smoked for 7 years and quit for 1 year, then I smoked for another 2 years and quit for 3 and 1/2 years. So here I am three weeks into my old habit. I blame it on a 50:50 mixture of boredom and stress. But really I should blame it on how fucking stupid I am! I haven't told any of my family because I'm incredibly embarrassed by it. So tonight I have decided that the two packs that I purchased tonight are it, No more for me. I can't wait for the headache to start Tuesday morning.

but it's showing signs of aging.





It's only a matter of weeks before the Spaten Oktoberfest is on the shelves!

Well I suppose summer is pretty much over for since school starts Monday. This summer has been an exceptional one for me. Although I guess I usually try to make the most out of my free time. So in sequential order here are the highlights of this season.

End of the school year I went to Malaysia with my friend Melissa whom I hadn't seen in 5 years. I ate lots of crazy delicious stuff, saw my first tornado(well water spout really, but it was still amazing), did my first canopy walk over the top of a jungle, visited my first sacred Hindu site, and saw the worlds largest twin towers.



Petronas Towers


canopy walk north of Kuala Lumpur


water spout in Palau Lankawi(its kinda hard to see)


Batu Caves, home of the Lord Murruga


Melissa and I at the Batu Caves


Claypot Snowfrog, with Chicken Satay


Fish Curry at an Indonesian Padang joint


Durian the "king of fruits"


banana leaf lunch in the Cameron Highlands.


the beach at Palau Lankawi


the view from our balcony


Tiger Prawn Curry, those things were the size of small lobsters!


yum yum Dim Sum.


something called a chickenfish

I helped my friends try to finish their addition. Including running electrical wiring, CAT6, Installed vinyl siding, plumbing, knocked out a wall and installed a Parallam support beam, insulation, and installed a high velocity AC system. Unfortunately no pictures.

Camped and boated at Lake George in the Adirondacks. We also climbed Rogers Rock, well we went the easy way up.


Rogers Rock from the water


Rogers Rock from the top


The boat I wasn't on

Saw the Police In Connecticut.


Sunset before the show


About 1 min before the show started

Last but not least I moved to Buffalo. Which I'm finding to be a pretty cool city so far!

Tonight for dinner I made Kalbi. All modesty aside it was absolutely delicious. I got most of the ingredients from Sung's Oriental Grocery on Niagara Falls Blvd (between Sheridan and Main). It's a well-stocked Korean Grocery with plenty of hard to find items. The owners are also very pleasant and helpful. Maybe worth an (e:tinypliny) review.

Ok so I suppose I should be fair and critique my own cooking. The garlic I cooked with it sucked. But I stopped using it after the first piece of lettuce. It was the first time I have tried to make it, however I've seen it done literally, thousands of times. Fortunately I made way too much so I guess its Kalbi again for lunch tomorrow.

I rarely, if ever watch American Football. I have heard some players names but couldn't pick most of them out of a lineup unless of course they killed their ex-wife or were part of a dog fighting club. So last night at work when somebody said J.P Losman was on the patio having dinner I thought, "who is J.P. Losman?". I suddenly realized who he was. Anyway long story short I didn't meet him but I thought it was nice of him to tell the kitchen directly that he thought everything was great. I suppose I don't really expect courtesy out of the alpha male jock, pro-sports type of guys, but I thought it probably meant a lot to the cooks who I presume all watch football. Apparently he is a regular there and from what the waitstaff tells me is a pretty nice guy to boot.