10 Plates of food at Ichi Umi

Ichi Umi (formerly known as Todai about two years ago, and formerly known as Minado many years ago) is located in on 32nd street, in the Center of NYC's Korea-Town. Ichi Umi is a sushi buffet that serves sushi, sashimi, maki, crab legs, sea urchin, fried foods such as calamari and tempura, chicken, pork, beef, desserts, pastries, ice cream and crepes.

If you're looking for world class amazing sushi, then this isn't the place. Even though the food is really good and well worth the price, just like any buffet, Ichi Umi is more about quantity. If you want to get really full and just get the seafood fix, then this is the place.

After watching many episodes of No Reservations and Man v. Food for the past few days, It made me just wanna consume an unreasonable amount of food. Today, being my day off, I decided to take Carmen out to dinner as she watched me devour 10 plates of food. She ate about 3 small plates of food and dessert while I ate 9 plates and a small slice of pumpkin pie.

At one point she just remained seated as I repeatedly got up to get more food. lol

Plate 1

Plate 2

Plate 3

Plate 4

Plate 5

Plate 6

Plate 7

Plate 8

Plate 9

Plate 10

Yea Im a fatass lol.

Laters,

-J.P.

DiFara's Pizza

This is not my entry. it is a repost from

http://brianoh.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/dom-demarco/

I liked the entry and the photograph so much i decided to feature it on the blog.

My entry is right below the repost.

I was in New York over the weekend. For lunch on Saturday, my friend and I took the Q train out to Brooklyn (way out, almost at Coney Island) to get pizza at Di Fara. First things first, Di Fara is incredible pizza; the best I’ve had anywhere. What actually makes Di Fara particularly remarkable is the man (pictured above), Dom DeMarco. Dom’s been running the place since 1959. He’s 69. He’s been there since he was 19 making great pizzas by hand for 50 years and his, I believe, are the only hands to touch the pizza before they go in the oven.

Di Fara is a small, unassuming corner shop on Avenue J in Midwood. It’s crowded and there’s little seating. Most people are happy to stand and wait, watching while DeMarco works his deceptively simple craft with hands that must have rolled out tens of thousands of pies. I got there a little bit after they opened and still waited about an hour. Waits during rushes would be unbearable to non-enthusiasts, but people wait. I think that’s as much testament to the respect DeMarco’s earned as it is to the quality of the pie.

How much does a man have to love his work to do it, day in and day out, for 50 years? While wildly popular, he can’t be doing it for the money. He’s pushing 70, in and out of the hospital, and still at it. I’ll count myself lucky if I find something to love half as much as Dom loves his work.

Via http://brianoh.wordpress.com/

This short entry was very deep and expresses the passion that Domenico DeMarco puts into his pizza. Fact: Di Fara Pizza opened in 1964, 1959 was the year he emigrated from Italy.

Ive been going to DiFara's since 2003, the same year I started my food journeys, freshman year of high school. I went to Edward R. Murrow and it was a 5 minute walk away. I've spent countless hours, at one point everyday of the week, and at least once a month, hanging out with fellow locals, tourist and dozens of foodies, just talking about pizza, other food spots and Dom's work of art.

Over the past 8 years I've introduced many friends to this place. In 2008, this was the first food spot of my "food journey crew". Originally, before the crew formed, it was just me, Ray, Franklin and Ling visiting DiFara's after my constant testimonials. After making them believers, we decided to do it again a week later and check out another food spot. Then week after week, it became a weekly tradition. Soon after Jerome became an addition to the crew, as well as Pico when available. Aside from pizza, we would check out local burger spots, sandwiches and etc. Difara's pizza being so amazing, addicting and completely distinct from any other pizza, our main goal is to find the DiFara's version of all types of food. Personally, I am still looking for a burger that I can consider the "DiFara of Burgers" hahaha

Occasionally, as the Food Journey Crew, we would travel out of New York City to neighboring states, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

From fine dining to small taco trucks, New York has become one of the biggest and best food cities in the world, making the food journey everlasting as new restaurants open frequently.

Our next big food journey is most likely going to be in Chicago, a city just like NYC in its abundance of food spots. From Steakhouses, beef sandwiches, deep dish pizza and the chicago style hotdog, we will be looking forward to all the eateries the chi-town has to offer.

It all started with DiFara's...........................................

Laters,
-J.P.

100 Super Nintendo games for $110!!!

So on ebay I just came upon this crazy deal. 100 super nintedo games for $110!!!!!!!!!

15 years later, these games sell for only about a dollar a piece. This would of been the greatest present ever if it was 1993 lol.

the towers of super nintedo games, just like the picture, would make a nice art sculpture/ decoration. Or maybe glued in rows on a wall and have a textured wall decoration.

laters,

-J.P.

Useless Jordan Gatorade Memorabilia

So I just found these on ebay and im tempted to buy them to add to my Jordan memorabilia collection, even thought its probably a waste of money. lol

1991 Jordan Gatorade wings spoof

1992 Jordan 32oz Gatorade "Mike's # 1 Flavor Citrus Cooler"

laters,

-J.P.

miami????

before school starts, i wanted to leave new york for a little, preferably somewhere warmer. thinking of flying out to miami for a lil to chill with peter, mike and greg. its the cheapest destination i can think since i already got a place to stay. short notice but im considering.

laters,

-J.P.

Happy 2011

Happy New Years!!!!!!!!!!

new years resolution for 2011.......................

• pay my debt off
• be able to do a split. cause its cool and increase range of motion and flexibility and so i can be able to kick someones head off if necessary. lol.
• travel more

laters,

-J.P.

Banana Cream Pie

(via http://dessertgirl.blogspot.com)

(banana cream pie from blue smoke)

Not really a dessert person. When i end dinner, id rather end with the salty, meaty taste rather than a sugary sweet dessert taste.

Id most likely choose a slice of pizza over a slice of cake or cupcake.

while watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay i heard about a dessert called "Banana Cream Pie"
For this episode he battled against a Brooklyn bakery from Red Hook called Baked.

i never had banana cream pie but it sounds like something i would be obsessed with if i ever had it. when i eat desserts, i like it to be just a little sweet, when its overly sweet, it kills the whole thing for me. Banana's being one of my favorite fruits with a simple crust and peanut butter whipped cream sounds amazing.

A must try for winter break.

laters,
-J.P.

North Face Purple Label Day Backpack

I've been fiendin' for this bag for a few years now.

I remember seeing a north face bag similar to this, but non-purple label for about $50 shipped on ebay. I dont know why i passed but i did. $50 seems a lot for a such a simple bag but the purple label bags are only available in Japan and go for about $200.

I randomly saw some asian girl on the train with a red and blue one. I asked her where she got it and she was confused and didn't understand me. Then for a few stops, we just stood quiet and awkward and then did a awkward goodbye smile as i left. hahaha

laters,

-J.P.

Sac Sac nostalgia

after i randomly saw some old asian lady drinking a can of this on the train it brought back maddddddd memories. I used to drink this all the time at my mama's house (name i call the person that baby sitted me since i can remember)

So after i seen't (seen't, new word in my vocab that me and evan use to act ghetto, it is seen the past tense form of see but even more past tense to the 3rd power) the old lady with the Sac Sac, i headed to k-town to get some of this korean goodness.

Bought a box of 12 and carried the box on the train and on the walk home though the snow. lol.

Not that amazing, not no orangina, but still nostalgic nonetheless.

Song of the Day
On the subject of throwback, here's a song that just came on music choice party favorites channel.
hands up by ottowan


laters,
-J.P.

vacation

after all this its vacation for a lil more than a month. I usually go to vegas every summer to visit family but last summer we didnt go because my family and I decided to just push it to Christmas/ New Years/ My bday time so i can be 21 and at the same time escape the cold. we ended up not doing that and this summer i didnt go anywhere either. maybe for this break ill head down to miami, or cali/vegas to visit some friends.

tired

lately im been mad busy or just mad lazy to post up new entries.

I have a few entries on my phone and a few pics i still need to upload.

I have hundreds of random picture that i need to feature on my blog. pictures of interesting people on the train, things that look appealing, food and just chillin sessions.

For the past few days Ive been in school from morning until 1-2 am processing film and developing some photos for my final portfolio for photography.
yesterday i was in school for 16 hours. ZOINKS!!!!! we had pizza and beer in the photo lab, chillin and making prints.
It takes me about 5-7 prints until i finally get the right contrast and exposure on the prints. Its such a waste of paper and money considering the paper is a little less that a dollar a sheet.
Photography is really fun but just requires a lot of time and commitment.

Aside from my photography portfolio, I also have
-an 8 page paper
-a 7 page paper
-three 4 page papers
-museum report
-three paintings
-and a philosophy final.

fun lol

laters,
-J.P.

Joker = you're corny

Dark Knight came out 2008, and the "Why so serious?" phrase got annoying and played out shortly after the second week it came out. Then Halloween 2008, every other person was The Joker, specifically Heath Ledger "Joker"

I guess you can consider it the Halloween "trend" of 2008. Im not hating, ive seen a couple Jokers that looked like they got pulled straight from the movie but other than that everyone else just butchered the classic villain.

I understand Heath Ledger played an amazing role as the Joker but cmon its 2010 now and as Fergie said it best "Youre so 2000 and late"

We already got enough Jokers in 2008, and then there were even more cornballs in 2009 doing the same thing a year late. Its not only Halloween, its year round. The shirts, movie poster, Joker and "why so serious?" buttons and even facebook profile pictures of the movie poster. hahaha smh.

For this year, the costume, the phrase and clothing should be retired, let it breathe for about a decade and maybe it will be appreciated again.

The only exception would be if the Joker costume was done properly, then followed by friends dressed like the Joker's clowns and driving through the city in a van with a prop grenade launcher. other than that....no. lol


Laters,
-J.P.

Lincecum cap

Though out the divisional series and league series, i was wondering if pitcher Tim Lincecum was going to change his signature, 3 year old cap to the official World Series patch cap if the Giants advanced to the world series.

I was hoping he would just stick with the cap and forget about the patch.

instead they made an exception for him, they stitched a fresh world series patch onto his old fitted. hahaha...... nice.

on the topic of baseball
Yankees own girardi and mo were featured in the new Taco Bell commercial. I try to avoid fast food as much as possible, but the new XXL chalupa looks tasty, or as Ramona says "taste-tastic"
I might have to try it next time I pass by one.


btw, taco bells in the city tries to rape on prices, when the $2 meal deals were introduced featuring a taco, chips and soda, the city was charging like 4 bucks. wtf!!! lol. w/e

laters,
-J.P.

Fun Stress.

Oversleeping
So I spent the whole night writing a paper, from midnight til 4:30 am.
Decided to take a short nap to wake up at 7 to get ready for my 9:45 class where my paper was due. I set like 4 alarms and unconsciously woke up and turned off all of them and went back to sleep. My dad then wakes me up at 9:50 and i suddenly get out of bed frustrated lol.

my 9:45 class is my Philippine-American Lit class and my professor hates latenesses and I have a lot of respect for him. whats even worse was yesterday was his book release party at the Philippine Embassy on 5th Ave and after the party, before i left, i shook is hand and told him i was gonna be early to class.

In the end I gave in my paper in the end of the second class he teaches. I gave in my paper and he was cool about it and laughed. Now i have to come early all the time and participate like crazy to make up for my fuck up.

Bumming out routine
While I like being busy with life and mentally stimulated in school, I miss having time to myself and sleeping until my body naturally wakes up. Then i would lay down for another hour or so, stretching and watching tv until I voluntarily get up. After I get up, I would go to youtube and spend 15 minutes making a playlist of music I want to get ready to. Shower and brush my teeth, eat some left over microwaved lasagna for breakfast and get dress. Finally i'm ready to leave to go out and chill.

This all ties in with what I learned in philosophy. Ideally we would want to live a stress free, carefree and pleasureful life but in the end most of us create a more complex life, with challenges and hardships. This makes our life more meaningful and causing and even more pleasurable outcome.

The example given in class was the feeling of climbing mount everest. If we had a choice, most people would rather climb the mountain to get the pleasure of accomplishment rather than taking a pill (hypothetical) that would emit the same exact feeling of pleasure artificially. Even though they provide the same exact feeling of satisfaction and pleasure the struggle of climbing the mountain and the journey enhances it. Sometimes the struggle is more valued than the actual outcome. Like he corny saying, "we all have goals but in the end, it's not about the goal, it's about the beauty of that journey."

It's true though. An example I made was involving autographs. An autograph would have little to no meaning for me if I were to buy it or receive it as a present. If I were to personally get the autograph from the person themselves then I have a story behind the autograph. With just an autograph, it is just meaningless ink on a surface, but if there is an experience behind it then it creates sentimental value.

I'm just ranting right now. I am typing this on the notepad on my phone. I will email this to myself later on the day to post on my blog.

I originally wanted to type a brief, 3 sentence entry on how I miss sleeping and just chilin but yea, I didn't lol.


Laters,
-J.P.

ALCS/ NLCS 2010

NLCS Game 4 -Giants vs Phillies
Giants had a two run lead by the 3rd inning.
In the fifth inning, Phillies scored four runs, instantly putting them in the lead in one inning.
Giants score another run on the bottom of the fifth and score another two runs in the sixth.
With the Giants in the lead 5-4, Phillies tie the game in the eighth.
Then in the final inning, Giants scores a run, winning the game and preventing OT.


ALCS Game 5 - Yankees vs Rangers
Didnt get to watch the Yankee game today since it started early today and I was in class and also since its on cable (TBS). When i got out of class, I stepped into a bar on the way to the train station and saw that the Yankees were in the lead. Finally after facing 2 huge losses (10-3 and 8-0) when i got home i checked the update and saw that they won 7-2.
I also like the fact that Yankees unite New Yorkers. I randomly start conversations with anyone i see on the train with a Yankee cap and talk about how theyre doing or if i was missing a game, as them for an update, etc.
I also stopped wearing my "lucky" cap and wore another yankee cap today. lol

laters,
-J.P.

Just got wallet back

since tec goes to school at kingsborough, not too far away, she was able to drop of my wallet that i dropped in her car. thanks!! I dont need to buy a metrocard now to go to school.

originally the plan was that we would meet up at the corner of my block when she calls me around 7 AM, on her way to school but i woke up at like 7:40 with 3 missed calls. the weird thing is that i was having a dream that she was trying to call me but i was knocked out and thats what happen in the real world.

laters,
-J.P.

Poconos with California

Spent the weekend in Poconos with Ling, Jason, Lorelie, Tec, Celine and 6 people from California, Lorelie's God sister Ann, Deagle, Chris, JR, Kevin and Jerome.

Friday
Me and ling met up with all the "east coasters" and Ann and Deagle at 8. Had some viet around Brooklyn and finally met up with the rest of the cali ppl at 11 due to their connecting flight being delayed at Wisconsin.

Arrived at Lorelie's poconos house at 3 AM after grocery shopping at walmart.

Drinking at 4 am til 6:30. Me and the rest of the survivors went out to the woods to take a walk and somewhat see the sunrise.

Went back in an saw discovered ling throwing up all over the carpet on the 2nd floor chill area.
"Ling dont throw up on the carpet, throw up downstairs on the tile, its easier to clean" haha my drunken rational thinking at 7 in the morning.

Saturday
7 PM, we dropped ling off at bus station cause he had to leave early back to NY to film a wedding on sunday. Went to the outlets and had an endless shrimp dinner at Red Lobster.

Sunday
we were gonna leave early to do the Breast Cancer walk but everyone was tired. We left at 2 and went hiking at Bushkill Falls for about 2.5 hours. I think we went hiking at the perfect time because the weather was like 65 degrees and the trees are all changing colors so the forest was filled with dark brown, forest green, burgundy and yellow leaves.

After the hike, we went back to the house, ate and drove back home.

Just got home not too long ago. Had a fun time chillin and making new friends in poconosI cant find my wallet, i think i left it in Tec's car. Hopefully its there and i didnt drop it while i was getting out of the car.

Sports
Overall a good weekend for sports.
-Yankees had a great comeback on friday, they were losing and i realized i didnt have my lucky yankee cap on. the moment i put it on Arod hit a two run single getting the yankees up to 4 and -Rangers 5. In the end, Rivera closed out and yankees won 6-5. Lucky Hat prevailed.
-SF giants also won against the phillies.
-NY Jets and Giants also won on sunday football.

Forgot the Yankees played yesterday which caused me to forget to wear my lucky cap and they lost by 5 runs. SF Giants also just lost today by 5 runs.

Random song of the day
haha so at walmart, they just released the sing-along Beauty and The Beast and over the weekend, we just chilled on the couch, singing along while we were hungover lol.

laters,
-J.P.

Hold You Down

About a week ago, a beat came to my head.

The problem was i didnt know where the beat was from, who produced it or who was featured on it. I knew it wasnt recent but i also knew that it wasnt that old. I narrowed it down to 1999-2005 lol if that helps.

I could hum part of it and somewhat beatbox it. I knew it featured a sample of a short phrase, i knew the sound but forgot what it was actually saying. I tried humming it to a few friends, they had an idea of what i was talking about but didnt know either. I kept getting kanye west as an answer. Or maybe a Dipset song?

It would of been even worse if I forgot the mysterious beat that was stuck in my head so I decided to record my beatboxing on my phone.

I thought maybe its a song on my ipod I havent heard in a while but after hours of listening for a few days, i still havent found it.

Finally, while making my sculpture for art class i randomly decided to look up some tracks by Alchemist. I dont know why but it just came to me. and I FOUND IT!!!!!

im glad i found it and im laughing now but its crazy and frustrating when you think too hard about things, it clutters your mind even more, burying the idea youre trying to get from the archives of your memory even deeper. Then when youre mind is relaxed, it randomly just comes to you. wtf??? lol silly long-term memory.

Anyways the song is hold you down by alchemist from 2004.
here's the instrumental. I like the production more than the actual song. dope beat, lyrics.........ehhhhhhh


Here's the original video
i think this maybe the only time a rap music video was recorded in a Korean BBQ restaurant. hahaha




Laters,
-J.P.

Madison Square Market

Ive been busy with school, work and etc and still havent got a chance to hit up the Madison Square Market featuring food from.

• Hill Country
• Sigmund Pretzelshop
• Safi Coffee
• ilili
• Fatty Crab & ‘Cue
• Cabrito
• Wafels & Dinges
• Breezy Hill Orchard
• Bar Suzette
• Roberta’s Pizza
• Resto
• Piccolo Cafe
• Stuffed Artisan Cannolis
• Almond
• Safi Coffee
• Tanjore Indian Food
• Pies N Thighs

All theses restaurants are featuring a little taste of their menu. Making it convenient for everyone who wants to find a new favorite restaurant, instead of travelling around the city, all these booths are available in one area.

im looking forward to try Roberta's pizza and Pies N Thighs. I been wanting to go to their restaurants but the part of brooklyn they are located in is a little out of the way as i have to take a train to the city and back to brooklyn.

lets go!!!!!!!
only until October 23rd.
Its open 7 days a week from 11 AM to 8 PM.


Song of the day
On the train, on the way home, some guy's headphones were loud enough for me to hear it about 20 feet away. Fortunately it was a Michael Jackson play list. As soon as I stepped into the train, Rock with you was playing and involuntarily got my head bobbing, my foot tapping and me singing aloud.




laters,
-J.P.

Winning 10,000 at Atantic City for Columbus day

Last night, while figuring out what to do for Columbus day I randomly came up with the idea of going to Atlantic City to chill and gamble for a day.

Me and Carmen, or to be grammatically correct, Carmen and I took the $13 chinese bus at 9:15 AM to Showboat. After we got off, we recieved at $40 gambling ticket voucher.

Played at the slots and won about $15 at first, cashed out and then went to the Dean Martin machine and put in another $5. I was down to a dollar and then Dean hooked it up with $25. haha. cashed out. went to the blackjack table and won about $100.
So in the end i won about 10,000............................................pennies. haha so thats about $100. not bad.

After buying food and travel ticket im still profiting. Holla!!!!!!!

Song of the day
During the end of the summer vacation, for about a week straight, I kept singing Bowie's Space Oddity. I dont know why. Maybe its because one of my coworkers' name is Tom? lol idn. But while singing it, ling didnt know what i was singing and found it mad weird. Then a few weeks ago Lincoln makes a car commercial with a space oddity cover song.

Lincoln commercial, youve prolly seen it.

laters,
-J.P.