A Box of Chocolates

One can expect hostility in New York or in other cities but not in the Philadelphia, dubbed as a happy state.

It could have been just one of those normal, blameless days at the subway for Dewayne Taylor. But it turned out to be a day of horror at the train when a man took a hammer out of a bag and began to attack him while he was sleeping. The beating went on for five minutes and the suspect (the term not really appropriate as the tape showed the whole incident) was able to take Taylor out of the train and continued the merciless beating in the platform.

And the worst and saddest thing about this horrific incident was that NO ONE got up and helped the poor guy or stopped the assailant who turned out to be a mental hospital outpatient. Clearly, politics is not the only sign that this country is divided, but this senseless beating on a normal day at the train.

There are numerous kinds of food all over the world. Most of these may be influenced by the culture of a certain country. In this light, it is quite obvious that there are foods in some countries that may just not be acceptable for people in other countries because of the difference in cultures. The list below shows a few of the grossest foods actually served and eaten by people in different countries:

1. Cow Testicles
In some parts in the States, there are some restaurants that serve Calf Fries served with marinara sauce. It may sound like just any other ordinary food. When one sees it, it even looks like fried breaded mushrooms. But this is just another name for fried cow testicles! According to people who have already tasted this, it was not really so bad but had a slight taste of sweat. It was soft and kind of spongy.

2. Monkey’s Brain
In China and in a few other countries, restaurants actually serve monkey’s brain as food! There are even some that would have a hole in the center of the table where the live monkey is placed and is paralyzed. The body of the monkey will be under the table, while the head is the one that protrudes on top of the center of the table. And when the top of its skull is cut with a knife, it will then serve as a bowl where the people dining will be getting the monkey brain from.

3. Squid Ink Ice Cream
Everybody would surely know that there are tons of different flavors of ice cream. But in Japan, there is such thing as Squid Ink ice cream! As the name connotes, this ice cream flavor is made out of squid ink. So naturally, the color of this ice cream would be the same color of a squid ink, which is black.

4. Baby Mouse Wine
In China, and some parts of Korea, they have wine that is infused with baby mice! This is prepared by placing about two to three day old mice into a bottle of rice wine and leaving it there to stew for at least a year. Some people use this as an alternative medicine.

5. Centipede Whisky
Just like the Baby Mouse Wine in China, the Vietnamese have the Centipede Whisky. Both are similar in the sense that there are living creatures actually submerged into the alcoholic beverage. But in this case, a centipede is used.

Everyone is already familiar by now that there are just people who eat the weirdest of things, which people who were raised in different cultures would find really gross. But there are still a few who, instead of calling it gross, would see it as exotic food, and would love them! So, it would probably be safe to say that whether the food is gross or not, as long as it is really edible, then it is still food.  And there are more grosser things than these dishes, such as politics, in these lifetime. Heck, some people would even eat insects and have found ways of incorporating them in recipes (an example of calling this smoothly, is the Mealworm Chocolate Chip Cookies)!

We, Humans are very lazy. We would do everything just not to do anything. Contrasting statement, right?

Here is a video proof that humans, are geniuses but sadly, we are really lazy.

We invent things to make a simple life, simpler!

With all the celebrities we have right now, it would only be common that there are a lot of those celebrities who aren’t as admired as the most popular ones we have now. Popular ones are celebrities who we know of right away, the instant we hear theirname. They are the ones who makes a lot of noise, and who often make noise. But what about those hot underrated celebrities?, but who have the potential and sometimes,
even look much better than the already popular ones? Here are a few of examples I thought of (not in any order):

5. Laura Ramsey
Laura Ramsey was discovered by her manager while waitressing in a Los Angeles restaurant. And since then, she’s done quite a lot of movies such as The Covenant and she’s The Man. I wouldn’t consider her as one of the really famous celebrities since her name isn’t something you would hear all the time. But she is a celebrity, and I consider her really pretty.

4. David Schwimmer
He’s got a face that is probably taller than my leg and it’s something strange with his eyes, but he’s got charm, and most of all he’s got talent and that has taken him far. After playing Ross in the famous TV-show Friends he is one of the most popular actors in the U.S. and he’s been nominated for an Emmy award for that role as well.

3. Nicky Hilton
Paris little sister didn’t have the luck to be born with the same amount of beauty as her older sister. She’s got some class but her nose and her mouth is keeping her away from being a beauty. She doesn’t have to worry too much about that though, she’s got a lot more money than most of us have and she seems to be popular as well.

2. Steven Strait
This actor has done a lot of movies including The Covenant, Sky High and 10,000 B.C and also lands the hottest of roles. But his name still isn’t quite as popular as someone like Josh Hartnett’s. Although this is the case, this celebrity is a talented and a really hot actor, and would one day become really popular.

1. Kip Pardue
Compared to others, this actor isn’t as popular because he has very little movies. And only a few of those became popular, such as Driven and Remember the Titans. Although I’ve only seen him in Driven, I really found him hot, and I actually think that he has the potential to become famous, and in my opinion, would also be good as a model.

We all eat in restaurants and fast food chains because some of us do not have the luxury of time to make our own meals at home because we are very busy with our careers. Of course, our family need not suffer from the consequences of our choice that is why we dine out with them. The medium you get your food won’t matter as long as you eat food. There are only three times when it is bad to order food in a restaurant and dine there.

1.    Lunch time peak
As per my experience, when ordering in peak hours of the restaurant, the quality would more or less be the same but the quantity would not be. This would be applicable more if the restaurant that you went in to has little manpower to cook and serve you. If you notice they are already sporting their sweaty brows, I suggest you walk out from that place.

If the servers outside have sweaty brows, what more in the “hot” kitchen area? They might drip their sweaty brows in your salt-lacking food that is why it might taste not bad at all. Another thing, the serving size would sometimes be compromised because they are so busy. The good thing here is if you are the one who is served with a little extra.

2.    Opening time
Restaurant owners know all the rules. Never serve left over food from last night’s operation. But since most employees want to be efficient and effective, they re-cook some of last night’s food and serve them. This is the reason why ordering and eating when a restaurant opens is not a good idea. I am not saying this applies to all. Those are just my thoughts and I know somewhere some place, this is applicable.

3.    Closing time
They are also humans. If the restaurant’s closing time is 11pm, do not go in there at 10:55pm for God’s sake. They need rest to and they cannot drive away customers. Instead they will be forced to serve the late comers. I am pretty sure you know what happens if you are being forced to do what you do not want to do. Sometimes, things like the one I saw on a hidden camera show where the server touched his groin and smothered his hands all over the food happens. Talk about disgusting.

So, remember, dining at home is healthy and dining out is the least healthy food option. You do now know what unhealthy ingredients they use out there. Some ingredients may be out of this world and you wouldn’t want to know what alien stuffs they put in.  This is not applicable to all restaurants and fast food chains out there but, this has a possibility to take place.

Bar Pub or Tavern. Whatever you call it, this is a heaven for people who socializes and heavy drinkers alike not to forget people who wants to doze off forgetting what has happened. We all have our own favorite bars and some offer more services than another. Floor shows, magic shows, sports shows or this one show that you can equate to going to a circus, Flair tending.

Flair tending is known as extreme bar tending. It is an act where you are entertained while the bar tender is mixing your drinks. This is also when your tip is larger than the price of the curious drink you ordered. Also, it is better when there is someone like a basketball/ Horse race announcer around announcing the flair tender moves. You will be amazed on what some of their moves are called. While watching one live made me find videos about it, I compiled here some of the best flair tending videos I found on the net.

Mike “Sushi” Doetzer is one of the most famous and original flair bartenders in Europe. He can also be considered as the best active flair tender in Germany.

Lovro Vukadin, one of the well-known Flair Tenders alive. (Or in Youtube, at least)

2nd international flair tending held in Switzerland

Who said only males excel in flair tending? This cutie performs her tricks in the spotlight and boy, is she good! Good moves and flexibility!

One TGI Fridays bartender with his awesome moves!

By the way, it’s now time to close your jaws.

I don’t know about you girls out there but, isn’t learning something new everyday make our growth faster? When you stop learning, you grow old. Do not ever believe in the saying that old dogs can’t learn new tricks. It is the determination inside of you that will determine if you really can’t learn anymore. Willingness and determination can beat science.

I’ve subscribed to this online dictionary thing. it’s from dictionary.com. Everyday, that website sends out new vocabulary for the day. You can also opt to just visit their website to check out the word for the day. It appears like something like this.

cogent \KOH-juhnt\, adjective:

Having the power to compel conviction; appealing to the mind or to reason; convincing.

One woman, Adrian Pomerantz, was so intelligent that the professors always lit up when Adrian spoke; her eloquent, cogent analyses forced them not to be lazy, not to repeat themselves.
– Meg Wolitzer, Surrender, Dorothy

It has the word for the day, the meaning of it and some samples. try it. This will increase the dictionary in you!

“When you lose, don’t lose the lesson”. This is a very powerful phrase I got from the writings of the Dalai Lama. As a restaurant receptionist, I’m a front liner of the company and that phrase is what I always keep in mind. People come and go. You make good impressions that make people come back and you accidentally create bad ones and that drives customers away.

A follow up lesson from the Dalai Lama in connection with the first one is, “When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.” Your mistakes make or break you. A mistake should be taken as a lesson and not as a punishment.

Yesterday was a hard day for me. I accidentally entertained a guest that came in later and the earlier guest who was in line got mad. He said he’s never to come back again. I apologized a lot though but the milk was already spilled. Oh well. I’m taking it as my lesson for the day.

What a week it has been.

First, I moved to a new domain and it was fun yet required a lot of work. Then, I was the one who only went to work for the past 3 days so I had to do everything, even the assignments that were assigned to those who were suddenly absent because of the weather.

I wish I can be on leave because I’m feeling under the weather.  Bummer.