daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
As usual, we enjoyed a huge Jamaican feast for our Christmas Eve dinner. My mom cooks up a storm for us, with jerk pork and chicken, stew peas, rice and peas, stew chicken, callaloo, plantain, shrimp rundown, oxtail, curry goat, and patties. It was awesome! The only problem is that the food doesn’t photograph well since the colors are mostly all muted. But the taste was off-the-charts.
Thanks, Mom!
I’ve been trying to keep to my running schedule while we are on holiday in SoCal, but it’s been difficult. The main reason is that Torrance is so crowded with people that it’s a hassle to run on the sidewalks and streets in a socially distanced way. In order to avoid others, I am constantly having to switch to the other side of the road or sidewalk, or hop from the sidewalk to the road or vice-versa.
At my neighborhood in Texas, the roads are very wide so I can pretty much run there and avoid most contact with others. It makes for a relaxing run. But in Torrance, constantly having to keep an eye on my surroundings gets old real quick… and it makes for a mentally exhausting hour. Still, I am getting a few miles in on my run days, which is better than nothing.
Although I have only won one game over two nights, I’m enjoying playing mahjong with the family. It’s so fun!
We visited our friends at their house tonight and shared a huge holiday dinner. They made a turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and ham because they missed their Thanksgiving turkey this year, and since I was the only one tonight who knew how to carve a turkey, I was put to work. 😀 Mariko prepared a cheese board, and our hosts provided delicious beverages. It was all so yummy!
FYI, our family has been careful with our health, with testing as needed (we’ve all been boosted), and masking up (I wear a KN-95 or N-95 mask). So far so good! The only sickness we’ve had is Koa sleeping all day after his booster, and Bay having a headache after his.
Tonight Mariko and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with an amazing omakase dinner at Takao restaurant in Brentwood. We’ve been to Takao a few times for our anniversary and have always enjoyed it.
This time, the executive chef/owner, Izumida Takao, prepared all of our main dishes. Everything was delicious, but the toro wrapped around uni, and topped with caviar and truffles (photo above) was both Mariko and my favorite. In fact, it was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten in my whole life! 😀 If you would like to try some awesome sushi, I definitely recommend Takao.
