Interesing Nobu Experience (Not Mine)

Was perusing the local message boards and came across this story from someone who had eaten at Nobu. Total bill for 3 people...$675!!! Auwe! Here's the story:

There are things in life that irritate us, drive us crazy, make us mad. Some are considered pet peeves, annoyances, or simply ridiculous. And then there are the things that are BEYOND Ridiculous! I know we have a pet peeve thread and a complaint thread, but I'd like to start this BEYOND Ridiculous thread for things that just make you shake your head for days in disbelief. These things are just beyond ridiculous.....

I'll start with my Nobu Restaurant story.

For those of you who don't know of this particular restaurant, it is considered a very posh and trendy Japanese restaurant. It started in New York (I think) and was often touted on the Howard Stern show as the BEST Japanese food restaurant. They opened in Las Vegas and recently in Hawaii at the Waikiki Parc Hotel.

My friend suggested we try it the other night and I eargerly agreed as Japanese food is my favorite. Upon arrival, my husband requested that he get the bill at the end of the night. It was just the three of us.

We looked over the menu and noticed that the prices were particularly high -- but we had expected it from this restaurant. There were also quite a few items that said "market price." The server intorduced herself and began explaining to us that the restaurant is "family" style and that we should order a bunch of different items for everyone to taste. She also had a list of "specials" that were not on the menu - which she highly recommended.

We started th some sushi. Nigiri sushi is sold by the piece at this palce. She recommened that we taste the different grades of toro so we can get the whole "Nobu" experience. The highest grade of toro was $12.00 per piece. We ordered 4 pieces (yes, that's $48.00 for 4 pieces of sushi). We also ordered some other nigiri sushi ranging from $6.00 - $8.00 per piece. BEYOND Ridiculous!

Next she suggested we try the chef's special Kobe Beef gyoza. We each got 2 pieces. Since it wasn't on the menu we had no idea of this appetizer cost. As it turns out, the appetizer was $30.00 (yes, that's $5.00 per gyoza). And I couldn't even taste any beef! BEYOND Ridiculous!

Next she suggested we try the "special" Kobe Beef steak. Something that they don't offer all the time. We asked her the price and she said that they had two grades - the $20.00 steak and the $27.00 steak. She recommended that we try the $27.00 because it was awesome. She asked us how many ounces we wanted and we ordered a 10 ounce steak for us all to try. When it arrived, the steak was searing on some rocks with some wild mushroom on the side. We requested some rice and tsukemono (pickled vegetables). iceas $2.00 per scoop and the tsukemono was $12.00.

After dinner we ordered some dessert. One order of Banana flavored Andagi and one order of Strawberries and Cream. They were priced at $10 and $12 and was only enough to feed a two year old. BEYOND Ridiculous!

Along with dinner, my husband drank water, I drank water and one very tiny margarita, and my friend drank three glasses of shochu sake.

The bill arrived. My husband gasped and said rather loudly "Oh Sh*t!." We looked at him as kept asking him to share with us what he saw. The bill was $590.00 before tip. With tip it came to $675.00! BEYOND Ridiculous!

You see, the steak was $27.00 an ounce! $270.00 for a 10-ounce steak that the three of us shared! I don't know about you, but NO steak is worth $270.00! BEYOND Ridiculous!

So.....there you have it! At least we got a good laugh out of it. It was so ridiculous it was funny. We have a new saying in our house. When something is beyond ridiculous we refer to it as being "so Nobu!"

Buyer beware.......

My Nobu experience was quite different. Yeah, the portions are small and there is a sense of pretentiousness in the restaurant but the food was pretty good overall. But $675 good? I don't think any food is that good.

David Beckham in the Islands!

Aw-right! Just found out last night that the MLS teams LA Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo (current MLS champions) will be playing in a soccer tournament at Aloha Stadium in February of 2008. Joining them will be a team from the Japan League (Gamba Osaka) and a team from the Australian league. Sweet!

This means that world superstar David Beckham will be in the islands, not to mention his lovely wife Posh Spice...^_^
There are also 2 USA national team members coming: Dynamo member and local boy Brian Ching, as well as world class talent Landon Donovan with the Galaxy.

Hoo boy!!! I can't wait for this tournament! World class soccer in Hawaii! Yeah, baby! Tickets go on sale in late December and I shall definitely be there on the first day to get my tix!

For more information you can check out the Pan-Pacific Championship website or the MLS website.

This news makes me tingly all over!

I'm Too Old For This S---!

After a year's layoff, I went back to taking taekwondo last night. Just to spice things up a bit. Surprisingly, I still had some snap in my kicks during kicking drills and I was kind of surprised with myself. But then the teacher had us doing these flying side kicks and then flying double kicks into a punching bag! Huh? Uh...you do realize I'm still in the lower belts and that I weigh like 500 pounds? You think you're gonna see me fly kicking? But after a few apprehensive attempts, I was able to kick the bag with some success.

But then we started doing this other kicking drill where you have to continuously kick a target with alternating feet non-stop for 40 straight times and it was then that I tweaked my back. This was about 2/3 into the class. I felt a twitch right away but since my body was still warm I hardly felt any pain. But it was after the class when I changed clothes and started walking to my car that I could start feeling it. And then when I got home, man it really stiffened up! Today, I'm walking around like some street pimp, with my back tucked in, my butt stuck out, and kind of waving side to side. All I'm missing is the cane, the leopard print fedora, and the goldfish in my glass high heeled boots!

It's gonna take me a few days to recover from this but I'm just happy to be practicing taekwondo again. Can't wait to get back to class and get hurt again! ^_^

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is easily in my Top 3 holidays of the year, just because of the food factor. I love eating turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. This year, we had to have a Thanksgiving lunch instead of the traditional dinner cuz my mom had to go into work in the evening. That meant I had to get up early to get the turkey goin...

Of course, I spent a lot of the day watching football. I went 3 out of 4 on my picks...not bad! My only loss was an idiot decision in picking the Jets over the Cowboys...stoopid!
Here's my finished turkey! I've been roasting Thanksgiving turkeys since I was a junior in college so it's old hat already, although I try different methods sometimes. The last 4-5 years or so, I've been stuffing the cavity with chopped up apple, onion, carrot, and celery and I think it makes for a more flavorful bird. But this year I didn't brine it (just out of poor laziness) and I think I should go back to brining next year.
Here's the carved bird (half of it anyway)
Yep...instant mashed potatoes! You know what? I've made the mashed potatoes from scratch many times before and to be very honest....I really can't tell too much difference from scratch and instant. So I just make the instant cuz it's soooo much easier! No more having to bake potatoes, peel them, smashing them, etc.
Doesn't look too bad, right?
Here's my Dad's responsibility each year...the stuffing. And yeah, this is made from scratch...I don't like that Stove Top stuff.
Gotta have some veggies! Corn counts, right?
So here's my plate. Yummy! I had 2 servings just like this for lunch and then another for dinner. Whew! That's a lot of food!
I baked a couple of pumpkin pies too but forgot to take a pic. Of course, they came out deelish! ^_^

In the evening, it was just my Dad and I so we decided to check out the movie "Hitman". It was a brainless action film, like a B-movie version of "The Bourne Identity". It wasn't terrible, but nothing memorable either.
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Casino Royale!

Just wanted to pass along word about the Hawaii Korean Chamber of Commerce's next event which is a fundraiser called Casino Royale.

It will be held on Thursday, 12/6/07, at the Ala Moana Hotel Garden Lanai Room at 7pm. It will be a casino themed event and we will have tables for blackjack, craps, and roulette! Buffet dinner will be served at 7pm and the casino will be open from 7:30pm to 10:30pm. There will be door prizes, raffle prizes, as well as a silent auction.

Tickets are $100 per person and includes dinner, 1 drink, and $300 in chips. You also have the option of purchasing more chips if desired.

So if you're interested in attending, give me a holler and I'll put aside a ticket for you! Space is limited, so please respond soon!

Also, we're looking for sponsors and donated prizes so if you can help in those areas, that would great too!

Wow!

The undefeated New England Patriots have opened up as a whopping 22 point favorite at home against the Philadelphia Eagles. Holy schneikies! I don't recall ever seeing a line that high in the NFL! The highest I recall was something like 18 points when the Colts seemed unbeatable a few years ago. Man....that's just begging the public to take the dog! Must....not....fall....into.....temptation.....Of course, this is all for amusement only! ^_^

By the way, the UH Warriors are currently a 3 point favorite against Boise State this Friday, but approximately 80% of the action is on the Broncos. Hmm....everyone seems to be doubting the Warriors' ability to cover this game, let alone win.

GO WARRIORS!!!

Korean Cultural Center Fund Raising Concert

Note: Sorry, no pics. I actually had my dica on me but just didn't feel like taking it out and shooting pics. I know...I'm a lazy blogger!

I attended the fundraising concert for the Korean Cultural Center last night at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and I have to say that I was quite surprised at both the turnout and the performances.

I really didn't know what to expect going into this concert but was amazed at the turnout. It was held in the Coral Ballroom at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and that place was packed to the walls, and even had people standing in the back to catch the show. Must've been close to a 1,000 people there.

First up was a traditional dance group from Korea (I believe their name was Hana Dance Group) consisting of a bunch of young Korean school girls in traditional Korean costumes performing the traditional dances. The costumes were pretty amazing and the dancing was pretty good...just not really my cup of tea.

Then the headliners started. First up was Tei, a 20-something male ballad singer. He was a real hit with the audience. He sang several of his hit songs, as well as the American song "Just Once".

Next up was Shin Hyo Beom, a 30-something singer who apparently was pretty famous about a decade ago. When I asked my dad who she was, he said she was known as Korea's "Whitney Houston". She really knew how to work the crowd and was also able to convince several people in the audience to match her own $2,000 donation while she was on stage. She finished with a medley of dance songs that got the crowd up and dancing. She was great!

The finale was Choi Baek Ho, a folksy type singer with a acoustic guitar. Not really the way you want to finish the concert but since he's the oldest, of course he gets to play last. I actually missed most of his act cuz I got an unexpected call from Korea at the same time so I was outside on the phone for the most part.

After the concert was done, they handed out the door prizes which consisted of stuff like sunglasses by Chanel and Calvin Klein, as well as a couple of round trip tickets to both the outer islands as well as to Korea. I spent $40 on raffle tickets hoping to get lucky and win the Korean airline tickets, but no luck! The guy on the table next to me won one of the tickets and he only bought 4 raffle tickets ($8)! Boo!!! Nah, just kidding.

The funniest part of the evening was when the MC was translating was the singer Tei was saying in Korean to the audience. I just had to shake my head in disbelief and felt really embarrassed for her. Tei was talking about how much he was enjoying his time here in Hawaii and he mentioned that he went surfing for the first time. But the MC for some reason thought he said shopping and she said in English, "He really enjoys the shopping here". Then...to make things worse, Tei said that since it was his first time surfing, his ribs were really sore. "Ribs" in Korean is "kalbi", like the food. But the MC said, "And the kalbi tastes really good in Hawaii". What a joke! So this is how it played out....

Tei: I went surfing for the first time.
MC (translating): I really enjoy the shopping here.

Tei: But it made my ribs really sore.
MC (translating): The kalbi tastes really good here.

Now the funniest part is, the MC's day job is being a professional translator! Can you believe that? Auwe! I was just shocked!

Anyways, the evening turned out to be pretty fun and they were able to raise lots of money for the future Korean Cultural Center.

UH Sports Weekend Part II

Then on Saturday, we went to check out the UH vs. Fresno State football game. It's hard for all of our friends to get to most of the games at the same time so I try to designate one game a year where we all get together and have a big tailgate party. This year, it was even bigger than usual cuz we joined forces with friends and with friends of friends and it was super fun.

We showed up at the stadium as soon as the parking lot opened and made our base camp. The menu for the day was bountiful. Poke, musubi, kalbi, grilled vegetables, sweet corn, Mexican taco dip, kalua pig (made by yours truly), garlic chicken, Chinese noodles, cookies and brownies for dessert, and I'm sure I'm missing a few things cuz there was just so much food!

A sample of the offerings. There were 2 other tables full of food just like this!
Of course, there was alcohol as well....beers for starters, then moving on to the silver Patron shots (chilled, of course!) and even some Mango rum thrown in for flava. I think we were all pretty buzzed going into the stadium. As for the game itself, it was fun but the 2nd half left a lot to be desired as I think we only scored 3 points after halftime. Plus, it wasn't good to see Colt Brennan get jarred the way he did.

Korean bruddahs
Maximus, his wife, and their nephew
Phat Booty, WW, and MM
With my best bud who I don't get to see enuff of!
MM and Maximus...friends since 7th grade! Can u believe that?
My darts rival, T-Man!
Mid-Pac boyz - Hulk Bunny, Maximus, and me
After the game, back to the parking lot for more food! It was a super good fun time!

UH Sports Weekend Part I

Did a double dip of UH sports this weekend.

On Friday, I took my Dad to check out the season opener for the UH basketball team against the University of San Diego. Unfortunately, we lost by 1 point but it was a very entertaining game.

- Our team has no real talent this year. Just a bunch of blue collar hard working guys...but no real talent.

- With "Little" Matt Gibson out of the game, it was apparent that we have no real ball handlers. Forward Bobby Nash was bringing the ball up the court lots of times!

- Freshman G Kareem Nitoto is a pretty solid defender. Coach Nash made the 2nd half adjustment of putting Nitoto on USD's best shooter and he pretty much shut him down in the 2nd half.

- G Jared Dillinger is a wildcard! That guy is so out of control. He puts up shots like there's no tomorrow and runs around like a chicken without its head. Leads to a lot of turnovers and bad shot selection. A hustler and gambler on D though which leads to some steals.

- It was good to see C Stephen Verwers put down some slams.

- Overall, I think it's gonna be a long season. Coach Nash has to find his groove and make the most of minimal talent. I think a .500 record is a pretty fair goal this year.

Time For An Upgrade!!!

Umm....yeah. So I suddenly decided to upgrade my home entertainment system today by buying a new TV. I previously had a 46" Sony rear projection HDTV and it was fine, but I felt like I could do better. So for no better reason than "cuz I wanted to", I went out and picked up a Panasonic 50" plasma HDTV, model# TH-50PZ7OOU. I had done some homework the last few days regarding plasma and LCD sets in this size range and this Panasonic and the Samsung 50" plasma, model# FP-T5084 came up with the overall best reviews.

The next thing was to shop around for prices. Circuit City's prices were a few $100 cheaper and not only that, they offered an additional 10% discount if you picked it up at the store. Sweet! Another few hundred in savings! But I almost changed my mind while in the store today. Right next to the Panasonic I was getting was a brand new 52" Samsung LCD that looked simply AMAZING. They were playing the Blu-Ray version of Spiderman 3 and it looked so friggin' awesome. Talk about a 3D picture! I was so close to changing my mind and getting this set, even if it was $700 more than the set I was getting. But I had already bought the stand at Best Buy and the stand I bought could only hold up to a 50" TV max, so the Samsung LCD wouldn't have fit. But man! I want that TV!

So I got home and started all the hookups and connections and what not.

BEFORE - 7:30pm, before the takedown process
AFTER - 11:00pm, all pau!
Yeah, I know it took a while but I screwed up during the assembly of the TV stand. I screwed in a part in the wrong direction and didn't realize till I was almost done and one of the parts wouldn't fit into the screw holes. So I had to take the whole thing apart and start all over again. That was pretty frustrating. Idiot! I also took a 45 minute dinner break in between as well so overall, the time factor to set everything up wasn't too bad.

So how does the new system look? Dy-No-Mite! The picture surpasses that of my Sony and when I played my Transformers HD DVD, holy schneikies! I'm loving my new TV right now!

Hawaii Public Radio

So I was asked to be a part of a Korean panel last week for an interview on Hawaii Public Radio on Station 89.3FM. It was on a show called Business Beyond the Reef and it's an hour talk show.

The interview was from 5-6pm I was told that my portion would be in the 2nd half so I was to show up at around 5:15pm. But I wanted to get there early and check things out so I showed up right at 5pm. The first 3 guests were talking about politics, the visa waiver, and stuff like that. To be honest, I wasn't really paying attention cuz I was talking story with Professor Gary Pak who is a literature professor at UH and was part of the 2nd half panel with me. At 5:30, it was our time to go on.

The control panel
First was a call in guest, Mr. Kang of Coral Creek golf course talking more about the upcoming visa waiver. Then it was my turn to talk about Korean business in Hawaii. Who me? Yup! Pretty ridiculous, huh? Luckily I came prepared cuz I asked the host to email me the questions he might ask so I would have answers prepared and not fill the airwaves with "uh"s and "um"s and the like while I tried to think of somewhat sensible answers. Many many thanks go out to my 2 hyeongs who helped supply me with some great answers!

After me, it was Professor Pak talking about Korean entertainment and movies in particular. After him was Pastor Song who spoke about religion. Then it was a roundtable discussion on various subjects such as the increase in popularity of all things Korean and what our favorite Korean restaurant was (we all said Seoul Jung!).

It was my first radio interview and I have to say it was pretty fun.

The guest panel - Prof. Pak, host Al Adams, some goofball, and Pastor Song.
Here's a link to the entire show if for whatever insane reason you're interested in listening. I come in a little after the halfway point.

It's a Small (1x), Small (2x), Small (3x) World!

I had a pretty interesting Saturday night this past weekend...

1) I went to a wine tasting fund raising event and met a few friends there. One of the people I saw was this guy that I met briefly once before. But when he told me who he worked for, I was trippin'. Cuz recently, my mom's friend has wanted to set my younger sister up with some guy who works for a finance company here in Honolulu. My sister lives in SF but visits Honolulu periodically so they wanted her to give him a call the next time she's here. I had only heard a few tidbits about the guy like how old he was and who he worked for. But when I was talking story with this guy Saturday night, he worked for that same company. Sure enough, the next day I asked my mom what the guy's name was and of course it turns out to be him! That's so funny and weird....

2) After the wine tasting went to karaoke. When I walk into the establishment, I asked the owner where the bathroom is and she looks at me and asks, "Do you remember me?" She was really pretty but unfortunately I could not place the face. I had to apologize and tell her that I didn't recognize her. She then tells me to think a little harder. I'm still drawing a blank. Then she mentioned the name of a certain department store and I'm like "Huh?" cuz I don't go there too often. Then finally she gave me the big hint. "Hair stylist". Ah!! She cut my hair twice a long time ago (like 4-5 years ago) at the salon in the department store. That's when it all clicked. I remember liking her a lot cuz she was really nice to me and even set me up on a blind date with a girl that she knew. Amazing that she remembered me after all these years after just cutting my hair twice! She now owns the karaoke place and I plan on going back now whenever I can...

3) So while we're singing karaoke, one of the guys with our group tells us that his friend is coming to join us. When she walks into the room, he makes the intros (first names only) and she gives me this weird look like she knows me. About 2 minutes later, she tells me that I look really familiar and asked where I went to high school. I tell her where and then she goes, "You're Myong Choi!" and I'm like, okay...how do you know my last name? She tells me that she was a few years younger than me in high school and that her brother was a year older than I in the same school. I didn't really know her but after looking at her a little more closely and thinking about her name...I kind of remembered her a little bit. But not really since I think she was a freshman or sophomore when I was a senior. So of course, I had to ask her, "How come you know me? Was I that well known?" ^_^ Turns out she lives on the mainland with her husband and was in Hawaii just for the week to visit. What a trip!

So yeah, Saturday was a really weird and fun night with all these random meetings. It really is a small world. 진짜 신기하다!