The Night of Sake Madness

Six flights of premium sake and appetizers for $20???? Dude, you can only find deal like that at Satsko. The NYC Sake Enthusiasts Group revisited Satsko and had a blast. Almost thirty-six enthusiasts showed up and plus crashers. Some even think six flights and appetizers are not enough. People are getting too greedy at one point and asked for a 2nd round of free grubs. And when it comes to tipping my friend Warren the bartender got beans!!! That is it...I am laying down the pipes. PAYPAL time, y'all!!!

Playa del Carmen Part III

Sucks!!!!!


Oct. 12, 2005

Cancun - The Mexican resort town of Playa del Carmen, popular with European and North American tourists, was "destroyed" by powerful Hurricane Wilma, civil defence officials said on Saturday.
The small town, south of high-rise-laden Cancun, had at least 1 000 homes seriously damaged, said Moises Ramirez, the town's civil defence chief, as Wilma's eye was just inland on the Yucatan peninsula, almost stationary, between mainland Caribbean Cancun and the island Cozumel.

Locals said it was the worst storm they could remember, as its effects dragged on over 36 hours.
"Playa is destroyed. We have water everywhere, all of the power lines are down, we are flooded all over. Playa is just not like this," the distraught official said by phone as he toured his town.
He said there were no reports of new injuries other than the seven people injured on Friday when a gas tank fell.

Although it weakened in the early hours and was downgraded to a category-three storm, Wilma packed enough punch to fell trees and tear off roofs, as tens of thousands of tourists and residents cowered in emergency shelters in Cancun.
"The water is already reaching the third floor of some hotels," said Humberto Hernandez Uzon, a spokesperson for the national weather service. "And the bad weather will continue for another 12 hours."

Quintana Roo state Governor Felix Gonzalez Canto said the storm had affected the region's infrastructure but noted with satisfaction that so far his administration was not aware of any fatalities.

The eye of the 12th hurricane of the Atlantic season was expected to remain over the peninsula on Saturday before heading slowly toward the Florida coast in the southeastern United States.

NYC Marathon

Am I ready for the marathon??? Ask me that question again after the marathon. I ran 2 nights in a row with Big O. The two nights we ran one loop of counter-clockwise and one loop of clockwise in Central Park. My knees and ankles are screaming for help this morning. I think I am in deep crap!!!

The remaining training route?? Willis Bridge from Manhattan to Bronx that back down to Central Park, Pulaski Bridge to Greenpoint and Williamsburgh Bridge to Williamsburgh...It is all in the head...don't let your body tell you what to do.

Playa del Carmen Part II

Did I have Corona with lime? Hell no, I pretty much covered every beer from Mexico except the Corona's piss water. Sol with lime, Pacifico with lime, Monteja with lime, XX with lime, Superior with lime and Modelo Especial with lime. Bohemia and Negra Modelo with lime???? Hell no....Bohemia is a cerveza mas fina from Mexico. No lime is needed to garnish this wonderful beer. The taste...hmmm Sam Adams with mucho characters.

Food in Playa del Carmen is awesome. The town is splitted into 2 types of people. The tourists and the locals. Most of the tourists are either from North America or Europe. The majority of the locals are the real Mexican with Mayan heritage and the minorities are composed of European and North American. Okay going back to food....PDC has the best pizza outside of NYC. They are quite creative with their pies. Because of heavy concentration of European Italian. Pizza and Italian restaurants are doing pretty well down there. Crepe is always a must after dinner. My favorite is still Nutella and Cajeta-caramelized goat milk is quite good too. Other than these "foreign" influenced grubs. The local stuffs are superb! La Parilla makes the best mixed grill in the area, pescados and camarones taco from the sausage party taco shop...La Loncheria are delish! The real deal tacos are from the street...taco al pastor 7 pesos each. I even had the grilled hot dog from the street. They wrapped each pig with a blanket of bacon and served it in a hot dog roll with mayo, ketchup and mustard. The tamale is really hot but the hoochies who sell them off the cart are definitely not.

No iguanas or armadillo this time....You lucky bastards!!!

Playa del Carmen Part I

What a trip down to the South of Border! The Mrs. and I got there for our big day on the 12th. We were staying at The Royal Palms Condo in Playa del Carmen which is 40 miles south of Cancun. The area we stayed is quite European with a blend of Mexico and North America. Yes, there are a lot of Canadians..eh and quite a number of Italian hoochies. Outside of La Quinta vicinity (5th Ave) are slumps. This is where majority of locals live. The street roads are pretty much covered with dried yellow dirts and did I say sink holes? Strayed dogs roam the street and iguanas are the kings of the suburbs. Speaking of iguanas, my guy Ermin and I went to a cell phone store one day and the store proprietor told us armadillos and iguanas are good eats! Salsa Verde o' Mole? He told us to a shithole and we ordered Chuleta con Salsa Verde. I think a hot bowl of turkey soup comes with the meal but no self respected Gringo eat soup when it is 90 degree out there. These Mexican are locos!!!!

The official wedding crasher Guy shot a nice footage of the ceremony. I can see him shooting adult videos in the near future!

Awamori, the Next Big Thing

Before heading out to Playa del Carmen, I just want to mention my recent new found love-Awamori 泡盛. What the heck is Awamori? Awamori is an alcoholic beverage indigenous to and unique to Okinawa, Japan. It is distilled from rice, not brewed. It is similar to shochu (a distilled alcoholic beverage from mainland Japan), but made from Indica instead of Japonica rice. Indica is a type of rice from Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia. When it is age for more than 3 years it is then called Kusu or old liquor.

So, which Awamori's are worthy to destroy your liver??? In my humble opinion, I am now a fan of Zuisen. Ryukyu Ocho is not so bad either and Mizuho is pretty drinkable. Each has their own uniqueness Ryukyu tastes a bit earthy and Zuisen is the smoother one. And as for Mizuho, I smelled Cream of Wheats (must be nice to have something like this in the winter).