BRB

I'm writing this from the free internet kiosk at the airport as I wait to board my flight to Amsterdam. Never in my little Inglewood street days did I ever imagine I'd actually be going to Amsterdam and less so to the other destinations on my trip: Dublin, Paris, Germany.

I won't be blogging much during my trip [and I haven't been doing much of it before the trip either] but whenever I can I'll try to upload pictures or short snippers to my twitter account @ramosisms.

See you in February.

Xmas in January

I've won at xmas

Shortly after arriving in Singapore I discovered reddit, a site that has since taken over most of my free time and even some of my non-free time. It would possibly take a whole post to descrive why reddit is so awesome but let me just share one of its awesomenesses, secret santa...

Yes, worldwide secret santa. You sign up for the exchange, get paired up with another user [you can specify that you want to be matched with someone from within the country too] and then the fun starts. After I received my own match, I scoured his user profile taking notes on posts, comments, weather patterns, anything. I made a profile of the person I believed my giftee to be, then I gave him a marijuana cook book, because I care.

In order to be timely with everything the reddit gift system sets up datelines to try to ensure that everyone gets their gift on time. I managed to mail my gift on the last day of the deadline and having done that all I could do was play the waiting game.

A day or two passed and I didn't get notification that my present was on it's way to me, no biggie I thought. More time passed and still, nothing. A little disheartened about the reddit community I continued to live my life, gaining solace in the fact that my gift had reached my giftee and he seemed to enjoy it.

But then, an orangered [reddit-speak for message]. It seems my secret santa hadn't realized he had a giftee, apologies where issued and a promise that a gift would be sent was made. I was content. Shortly before christmas I finally got the notification that my gift was on its way, hooray! However, the timing was tight and I wasn't sure I'd get it before the 25th. No biggie, I had bought myself a gift just in case [yes I realize how sad that might sound]. After xmas I checked the tracking information and found out that there was an attempt to deliver my package on the 23rd while I was at work, d'oh.

I checked at home and there was no "sorry we missed you" note, so I was at a loss for what to do and was saddened by the thought of my gift sitting in a cold warehouse, cold, alone. But then, just as I was ready to march into the central post office branch and demand action, I got my note. Better yet I could forward the package for re-delivery, having the benefit of experience I decided to have the package delivered to me at work.

The day of the delivery came, I glanced at my phone every 31 seconds hoping for a call from the delivery man, nothing. I occupied myself with work, still keeping one eye on my phone hoping I'd get a call from the mail room, nothing. The end of work neared and I checked first with the mail room and then the fron lobby, still nothing.

Sad, broken, wet from the rain, and a little hungry I went home.

Waiting outside my door was a box, could it be? As I approached it, out of the corner of my eye I noticed there was an alien in a box printed on the package...

This also is reddit goodness

I rushed the box to my room where I cut it open like Han Solo cut open that ton-ton on Hoth [clearly the excitement was making me hyper-geek-ventilate]. Inside said box I found win, pure unadulterated, uncut, Colombian win, and lots of it:

Budweiser Serving Tray and Grilling Sauces
18pc iWork tool set
2011 Zombie Pin-Ups Calendar
Classic Sport Table Top Tennis Set
Man vs Wild DVD
Flask/Funnel Set
Coleman Campers Utensil Set

And a note that read:

I didn't have much to go on from your description of "I'm a guy." So, here are a few "guy" things. Enjoy and go do some "guy" stuff!!!

This gift was so good it retroactively turned my "pretty good" xmas into "awesome" xmas, that's how powerful this gift was, it has time travel capabilities.

And that is why reddit and my secret santa are awesome. so. awesome.

Casa Latina

Carnitas

I went to Casa Latina a while ago, shortly after visiting "Señor Burrito" which left me with a craving for more Mexican food. I had heard of this place before but it was only after a friend went and sent me the picture above that I decided it was time I tried the food for myself.

After sitting down and looking at the menu I realized two things. One, the place was a bit pricey; two, they serve real Mexican food. The menu read like things my mom would suggest for dinner: carnitas, chile relleno, pozole, flautas, milanesa, etc.

There was so much I wanted to try I decided before I even got my food that I would be coming back to try most of the menu. However, for my first time I went with the carnitas and a bucket of coronas. I was there with my roommate so I'm not a drunk.

The carnitas came on a skillet and were served with tortilals, limon, and two salsas. The amount of carnitas you get in an order justifies the price, and you will most certainly be full. The carnitas were well done [although they could of used a little more manteca] and the tortillas were soft warm, and made me happier than food should. As I was eating my food, I was informed that although that unlike the rest of the staff the chef was Mexican.

The one disappointing of Casa Latina was the drink choice, especially after I'd had jamaica at Señor Burrito. They didn't have any aguas frescas, jarritos, or even a lot of Mexican beer. They did have the regular cocktails, margaritas, and the Coronas.

However, my disappointment as the lack of horchata in Casa Latina was short lived as I looked at the dessert  menu. They had flan, and if that wasn't enough they had tres leches cake. We ordered both and shared, mostly due to my insistence that my roommate try tres leches. Both desserts were good, and the tres leches was a pretty big portion.

Casa Latina is now my serious Mexican restaurant and I will definitely be going back, next time probably for the pozole.

Let's Take a Walk 2010

A couple of months ago my co-worker invited me to join in on a long distance walk. Now, never having done any sort of long distance run/walk I figured a good place to start would be a walk rather than a run. I asked about the length of the walk, and found out it was 100km. Now, since at that point I was still new to the whole notion of the "metric system" I figured, "that can't be far at all" and decided to sign up, and make the conversion from kilometers to miles at a later time.

The official name of the event is Let's Take a Walk which in retrospect is a bit arrogant, I mean to call a 100km monstrosity of a thing [which I found out to be 62 miles] a "walk" and then not only are they calling it a walk but they're addressing it like you're walking to the store, "let's take a walk" the gumption.

The Start

Before the big day I decided I would do some "training" by walking home from work, which is about 9km. I figured, I'm a reasonably in shape, I play football from time to time, I should be good right? Wrong. Way wrong.

The format was pretty simple, 100km and there'd be 10 checkpoints. Now, before the whole thing started I was told that to complete the whole race would be 30 hours, but that wouldn't be a problem because before the race even started I had decided that I would only be doing half the walk, so my real target was 50km.

Everything went smoothly for the first leg of the event, since that was similar to my walks home from work, we reached the first checkpoint and I was confident that I would see 50km through. However, soon enough I realized the breath of my ignorance regarding the metric system, walking, and proper footwear.

As you get farther and farther, red light become your enemy. Basically shortly after leaving the second checkpoint, the only thing that was keeping me going forward was physics, momentum. Having to come to a complete stop and then keep moving was ridiculously painful. I must have looked like a zombie as I trudged along the sidewalk, doing less of a walk and more of a glorified shuffle. The leg between checkpoint 2 and 3 was the longest leg of my planned walk, 15km.

Halfway through we stopped for lunch and a rest. Again, after eating my meal I could no longer feel any pain in my legs, so I gained some confidence. Confidence that came crashing down as soon as I took my first step, I was not going to make it to the 5th checkpoint.

I trudged along past the third checkpoint, which was far enough north that we could see Malaysia. Something gave during the fourth leg and at the first sight of a vacant cab, I left my walking buddy alone. He would eventually finish all 100km.

I managed to collect three sad looking stickers and although my legs healed eventually, my pride remain damaged. I plan to try this again next year, if they hold the walk, and this time see the 50km through.

The Empty Spots Mock Me

Señor Burrito

My weekly hangout spot and go-to Mexican restaurant Señor Taco recently launched a brother store, Señor Burrito. Lack of naming creativity aside, I decided to give it a try during lunchtime since it's not far away from work.

The first challenge was finding the place, it's in the basement of Raffles City Mall, and I knew it was in the basement but since it's only a stall [there's no dining area] it was kind of hard to find. Undeterred, I walked around aimlessly until I gave in and looked at the directory, which had no mention of the place. Luckily a quick google search revealed the location.

The store front is pretty simple, and reminds you of a Subway store or for me "Felipe's" back in Boston. The serve two main dishes, burritos and nachos as well as drinks, and other small things. I went with the meal combo which is a choice of burrito/nachos and chips/drink. I decided on burrito and drink and was left wondering whether anyone would ever choose the chips. The two choices of drink are frozen margarita and sangria. Sangria, for the first time in Singapore I had found an agua fresca.

The Combo

After selecting your course you are given a choice of "filling" which again is very much like a Subway order, you can choose between chicken, steak, and ground beef. Then after you choose the filling you have a choice of lettuce, onion, sour cream, hot sauce, avoacado, etc. Each burrito comes with mexican rice and refried beans.

I finished up my order and took my meal to my desk where I could evaluate it in peace. One thing that stood out while they made my burrito was the small amount of beans and rice that you get. After the girl making my burrito had applied the beans I could still see the tortilla, which isn't right at all but I tried to ignore that as I took my first bite.

Steak Burrito

Compared to other food I've had in Singapore, this burrito was a solid 9/10 and compared to burritos in general it's still a respectable 8/10. The steak was tender and flavorful, the salsas [chipotle and jalapeño] are just the right amount of spicy, not so mild that they're glorified spreads but not spicy enough that you have to run your tongue under cold water. The $2 addition of avocado, although a bit steep, was a crucial move to make. In fact the only thing that was missing in this burrito was the thing I noticed while they were making it, not enough beans. I'm not sure whether they were good or bad, salty or bland because there wasn't enough of them in there, and while there shouldn't be so much beans in a burrito that they overpower everything else, you should still be able to notice them, even if just slightly.

They Make Sangria in Singapore?

Then there was the sangria, which by existing had already thrown my expectations out the window. After tasting it, I was torn between drinking it all in one gulp because it's good, or drinking it sip by sip so it would last me the whole day because... well because it's good. Either they're making it the good ol' fashioned way or they have their hands on some really good mix. Not too sweet, not too bitter and as refreshing as I remember it being straight from our fridge. Singapore, in it's perpetual heat and humidity needs Sangria.

Overall the food at Señor Burrito is good but a pit pricey. I paid $12.50 for my burrito and sangria combo which to me is about $2.50 too much. That aside, the portions are filling, the service is pretty fast and the food was fresh. I will definitely be going back and I doubt I'll ever deviate from my steak burrito and sangria. Now, if I could just convince the owner to start making horchata.