So things are getting somewhat better as I heal up. As you can see, I'm not quite so hamburger-ized this week:
Took this shot off the x-ray display -- this was from the ER last week.
Ever want a convincing argument for use of helmets and polycarbonate lenses? Here it is.
Today started off much like any normal bike-commute Tuesday. Last week was Distance Week, which makes this Interval Week, so I was on the Della Santa and taking the San Tomas Expressway-to-Central Expressway route from Campbell to work in Palo Alto. I had tuned up my rear wheel over the weekend -- it has a spoke nipple that won't stay tight, which results in an annoying click when it loads and unloads in contact with the ground -- so I was paying special attention to how it was riding.
Also, I've been memed by Richard, here's the contents of my bag (and the bag itself):
Here's a list off a whiteboard at work. It's the "Carter list of Planning Firmness" - from Dan Carter the awesome PM.
1. Prayer (hopeless wish)
2. Sand (known but not firm)
2a. dry
2b. wet
3. Swamp (disappears when you look away)
4. [ elided due to argument ]
5. Tarmac (firm until things heat up)
6. Concrete (lasts for eons unless attacked by acid)
I got his permission to publish this on the interwebs cause I think it's perfect.
[ Cross-posted from my yelp ]
Note this Review is for the 617 Kapahulu Ave location
I picked Tenka-ippin for my next stop on the Honolulu Ramen tour because it is colocated with a Kozo sushi, so my non-ramen-eating wife could eat too. Apparently the Kapahulu corridor is a hotbed of ramen activity, but the alluring poster-size shot of their signature Kotteri ramen facing the street and the inviting yellow walls would probably have drawn me in regardless.... At any rate I'm very glad I tried it!
The place is small, clean and is dominated by the counter down the middle of the restaurant. There are three 4-person tables on the left side but (like most ramen shops) this would not be a good place for a large party. The company-issue posters are all in Japanese but on one wall there are pictures of the owner with various Sumotori and celebrities.
I started to order my usual Miso ramen but the waitress convinced me that the Kotteri was what I really wanted, so I acquiesced. There was almost nobody else in the shop so the bowl came out quickly and from the first slurp of the broth I knew I was in for a treat. As others have noted the Kotteri soup is thick and creamy. Perhaps the yelper who noted an unpleasant powdery taste got a freak bowl-- all I know is that mine had a deep, delicious flavor to it that I couldn't stop slurping.
Once I got into the bowl, I found the noodles were perfectly done, the chashu slices large and tender, the bamboo shoots were crisp and there was a giant pile of fresh green onions on top. The waitress also supplied a soy sauce bottle labelled 'kotteri' on top, which she said was a Japanese mixture of shoyu and pork flavor. What more could a noodle hound ask for?
(Maybe a little larger bowl, and maybe some spinach or tamago, but griping about it would be manini grumbles...)
On vacation, I have been replacing my morning bike commute with some rides out to some of the scenic destinations here on Oahu, including my Tantalus loop the other day. Today was a typically lovely ride out to Makapuu Point. As soon as I turned out from my parents' house onto Kalanianaole, it started pouring rain on me, but I could see it was a blowing through pretty quickly so I kept rolling. Up past Hanauma Bay, the easterly winds were really knocking me around; combined with the still-wet road conditions I took it pretty slow down the descent towards Blowhole, where I stopped for a moment to snap a picture.
Past Sandy Beach, a few triathlon bikers were coming back and as we traded shakas I envied their downwind heading. There were quite a few folks teeing off at the Hawaii Kai Golf Course, undaunted by the gusts. The weather report said the winds were gusting to 20mph which seemed a little conservative as I turned to climb up from Kaloko Beach towards Makapu`u. I was tempted to keep going but I had gotten a late start and wanted to get back, so after snapping a few pics at the lookout point I turned and headed back home.
There's a saying I saw on somebody's forum sig a while back that sticks with me on days like today: "There's no such thing as a tailwind. Either it's blowing in your face or you're having a really good day." With that in mind, I was having an awesome day on the ride back to town! I zipped through Hawaii Kai and was blasting back along Kalanianaole when the day's only bit of mechanical drama manifested: accelerating from a stoplight, I shifted up the to the big chainring and derailed the chain right off! Fortunately I caught it on the right side crank arm and was able to finesse it back onto the gear without having to stop, which I was pretty happy about. The rest of the ride passed without incident and I was unable to reproduce the problem back in the garage, so I must have really cranked the shift lever over. I gave the outside limit screw a quarter turn just for safety's sake, rinsed the bike off and came inside to have a cup of coffee and write this up.
A guy could get used to this vacation stuff....
Crossposted from my yelp:
Prepped by other yelpers' comments that the place gets busy for lunch, we arrived about 11:30 and were seated immediately. I ordered gyoza, a small chashu bowl for the three-year-old, and the house special "Paitan" style ramen for both adults. The delicious chashu came out immediately -- "rocketed from Kyoto" indeed! -- and our bowls and gyoza appeared not long after. Very nice presentation, good temperature on the broth and my first chomp of the ('japanese style' as they say on the menu) noodles brought my eyes rolling skyward with delight.
After ladling out some soup into the cute Hello Kitty bowl the waitress brought (unasked-for! Bonus points) for Gunnar, I got down to the business at hand: devouring the thick, chewy noodles and deep, well-balanced broth in equal measure. I punctuated the slurping with a nibble of the bowl's five chashu slices, which were sweet and delicate but smaller 2" ovals rather than the sandwich-sized slabs I've grown used to from my local haunt, Maru Ichi in Mountain View CA. The other topping (red ginger, I think?) was crisp and cool and made a nice counterpoint to the broth.
We made our way down to the bottom of our bowls; Gunnar polished off his chashu and kept asking for more of my soup. The gyoza were decent but not spectacular.
I'd really love a bowl with this broth topped with the kakuni pork and more vegetables; perhaps they'd make that if I asked. My ramen-eating time is limited and there are lots of other places to try, but Yotteko-ya was superb; good enough to try to make it back before I have to leave Honolulu again, and its secret ramen history with it.
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buzban said:
...was wondering how you were making out. Glad to hear that things are mostly sorted out. I took it easy,... read more
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James Childers said:
Holy crap.You look like you came out the other side of an episode of COPS. Oogita boogita.Need anything? Milk? Lip... read more
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DUDE!That sux man. read more
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