Day 138/366 - We do this again
Just like last year, I went out and bought Coachela tickets. I planned to go this past Coachella but I got an offer I couldn’t refuse. 2013? I plan on going for sure, but if I get a good deal, there are no promises.
Day 137/366 - The quest for Crafstman Brewing Company (spoiler: not that dramatic)
If you’re around me while I drink beer, you’ll know I have favorites. I’ll always have Delirium Tremens or anything from Ayinger as one of my top beers, but believe me when I say this: The beer made from Craftsman Brewing Company is — bar none — my favorite beer of them all. Their Heavenly Hefe, which I’ve only had a sip of, is pretty much the nectar of gods. The thing with their brewing company is, it’s made up of 3 people and of course, it’s so good that the supply never ever meets the demand so there’s only 30 or so breweries in the Pasadena/LA/Santa Monica area that carry their brews.
So for fun, I decided to Yelp it and wouldn’t you know, there’s a Brewery in Pasadena and — not surprisingly — it got 5 stars. I almost shitted my pants when I found out there was a brewery and I knew I had to go instantly.
But something happened. As I was reading the reviews, I realized that the people were talking about how good the beers were and not a description of the brewery itself. So I called and emailed to no avail. More calls, more emails and I never got a response. I mean, check this website out:
Looks like a website from the 90s. Only 4 or 5 of those links on the sides of the website actually work! They haven’t updated this website since the Bush administration. I don’t even think I was allowed to watch “R” rated films yet.
So I stopped calling for awhile and then Kevin Peanh returned from Korea and when we did the beer project a month or so ago, my affinity for beer returned. So I kept calling and was still getting no love.
And then there was today. With a lot of downtime at work, I decided to make that phone call for the hell of it. After 6 rings, I was ready to hang up again but then the amazing happened…
**Sigh…** “Crafsman Brewing Company, this is Mark speaking. What can I do you for?” (Heavy, heavy, southern accent)
Note: Mark Jilg is the owner of Craftsman Brewing Company. I’m starstruck.
Me: Hello, I was wondering if your brewery was open to the public? I’m a big fan of your beers and I was wondering if I could stop by, perhaps? You know, buy some food and sip on some beers.
MJ: **Sigh** Sorry sir, we don’t do no-selling-no-retail of any kind. We strictly brew here.
Me: Oh, okay — well thanks for your time.
As I’m about to hangup the phone, he continues…
MJ: You found us on Yelp, huh?
Me: Yes — yes I did.
MJ: Those f*ckers. You know, we get about 10 f*ckers a day banging on our door asking to be let in like we’re some restaurant or something.
Me: Well, surely you can’t be surprised. I mean, your beers are great and cause quite the buzz around the Yelp community.
MJ: You know, I called and cursed a storm on Yelp but those f*ckers won’t let us take our business of their website. Well, they let you but it’ll cost $250 a month. They said the charge goes to some legal sh*t. I don’t know. Sounds like some bulls*it to me.
Me: Oooh, yeah, I’m sorry to hear that.
MJ: *Laughs* It’s okay, son. Listen, you like our beers, right?
Me: Yes (keep in mind, I’ve only tried the hefe)
MJ: Good. Most of our beers are sold at **Some Italian restaurant I forget.** You should go there and have a good time.
Me: Oh, okay — will keep that in mind.
MJ: Good. All right, well I guess we’re done here. Just keep drinking what you’re drinking. **Hangs up**
Mood at the time: starstruck, as I don’t know what the hell just happened. I know what you’re thinking and yes, he has a potty-mouth.
Later on today, I found out that they’re trying to bust out the bottles, but it’s an issue because the demand for their kegs are so high. They only have 3 men manning the whole brewery. Let’s hope they can expand soon. Most importantly, do yourself a favor and try their beers. I’m gonna try the lager next week at Father’s Office. Join me!!!
Day 136/366 - Romantix Sex Shop
Whenever we’re out to lunch at work we always pass this shop on San Fernando Road and were always curious to see what this place is all about. We finally had the time/fortitude to visit this place and it was quite interesting.
There were a lot of interesting things here. Place is fairly expensive. Porn movies went for at least $40 (why pay that when you can use the internet), Blu-ray discs went for at least $50 (do we really need to see certain things in HD?!). My favorite part of the trip, however, was waiting outside the store. The way the store is located people who are driving can see you clearly. A few of us went and one of my coworkers wanted us to wait for her so we had to wait outside.
Needless, to say this was really awkward. We had our fair share of people looking at us as they drove by. Some people even whistled. Pretty neat.
Other items of note:
-There was an actual arcade here. Can any of my tumblr friends inform me what an arcade at a sex shop is like? There was a sign outside the arcade room that said “Must pay $5 to enter.” I tried to go in anyway and an alarm-like sound went off and everyone looked at my direction. I was pretty embarrassed.
-There was a section dedicated to stimulators.
-You can buy a lifelike replica of a females ass/vagina for 300 bucks. This is fine and all but there’s one that’s dark to portray a black woman that goes for 350. What the hell? Are they serious? Is that racist?
-While we were in the part of the store with replicas of certain human parts, one of my coworkers (won’t say who or gender) was like “Oh, these feel great.” I think he/she had no idea I was around. Heh-heh — caught him/her red-handed.
Anyway, pretty interesting experience for me. I’m glad I went and I’d be lying if I said I want to check more shops out.
Day 135/366 - Kitchen setup
Pretty uneventful day today so I thought I would show how my nights usually go when I eat and get my lunch fixed for the next day. I rarely eat my dinner at the dinner table. I actually get a lot done this way.
Day 134/366 - An incredible sense of community
If you didn’t know, my aunt passed away a week ago and today was her funeral service. The purpose of this post isn’t to get too personal or anything (although, I appreciated the love I’ve gotten) of the sort but just to note how crazy awesome the Lao-Ynaw (spelling?) community is.
Today’s funeral was standing room early — and most of the people there didn’t know the person my aunt was (Like I said, not going to go into details about how caring and amazing she was), but they went there for community support. My aunt’s Buddhist but a ton of people from the church I attend packed the place, as well. It was quite a spectacle.
Afterward I went bowling with the homies for $2 bowling night which was fun. Going back to my point earlier, Ardy came up to me and was like “Yeah, my mom was there. I don’t even know who she was, and I’m sure my mom doesn’t either, but you know Lao people.”
Day 133/366 - Guess who decided to come to California
Also tried Slaters 50/50 today. Solid burger. I thought it would be bigger but I was still satisfied. Not the best burger I’ve ever had though.
Day 132/366 - Barbarella and Fuku burger
Today was another happy hour with Attack! Some happy hours end up pretty tame and I end up home by 9pm and there are times where I end up on a coworker’s couch. This edition was rather tame. We started at Barbarella (solid happy hour menu) and finished off at Fuku Burger where we had a gay black waiter who recommended the “Buta” burger (a simple burger with bacon) and proceeded to shake his ass on me because he associates “Buta” with “booty.”
When he saw that I wasn’t very receptive to his booty poppin’ it was a solid 9 out of 10 in terms of awkwardness.
Anyway, the burger was solid. Not sure it’s worth $10 bucks so I would recommend getting the groupon (shocking, isn’t it?) which, for $15 bucks, you get ANY two burgers, fries, and edamame. Considering burgers range from $8-10 bucks and fries are at least $3, I say the groupon is a great deal.
Day 131/366 - Postcard from Japan
Received this in the mail today from Yolie. This adds to collection of postcards I’ve obtained from friends over the years. Have em’ from Djibouti (can you guess who gave me that?), Paris, Australia, Vietnam, and of course, Japan. It’s not much but I’m satisfied so far.
“Whhoooooa — ooooooo — it’s international looove.”
Day 130/366 - Costco samples
I’ve always had a theory that Costco was getting less and less generous with their samples and portions. I attribute this to the floundering economy and my dwindling faith in human goodwill. I don’t have the troubling statistics, unfortunately — this is just all intuition. You’re just gonna have to trust nearly 20 years of Price Club/Costco experience. Two weeks ago I went to Costco and only counted 3 elderly minority women passing out samples. I know what you’re thinking and yes, I agree — the terrorists have won.
Today, however, was a pleasant surprise. I counted nine — that’s right, nine — elder minority women passing out samples. And it wasn’t like they were passing out two grams of white rice, either. Today’s menu was the following: panda cookies, scalloped potatoes, strawberry shortcake (with a succulent strawberry), Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich, yakisoba, chocolate covered blueberries, turkey bacon, some chocolate bar and an energy bar. I haven’t had a number that high since the Clinton administration.
Long live Costco.
Day 129/366 - Another scratcher (spoiler: I lose)
Not only did I lose this one, I lost another $15 because I bought my friends their tickets — and Alan only plays the $10 scratchers.
Money gone.
