Cherishing My Chirashidon

Nope, that isn’t wagyu steak you’re looking at. Life would be too good if it was.

Of course, that doesn’t mean this dish doesn’t kick butt in the “good living” department. Despite its cartoonlike good looks, this Japanese import packs a protein-heavy punch, sans that sagging feeling in the tummy. (Not to mention the wallet.) If you look closely, you’ll see slices of tuna and salmon sashimi, kani, ebi, plus some tamago for a little dairy goodness. If you take out the rice in this dish (yes, you gotta have your carbs still), that’s 99% protein for you already.

As a tuna/salmon fan, the mere mention of the sashimi duet in the menu description was enough to compel me to forgo my usual order of Philadelphia Rolls. While the kani was pretty flavorful, I couldn’t tell how good the sashimi was coz I got to the resto pretty late and had taken my sweet time taking photos of the dish that I didn’t realize the place was closing up in a bit. In my haste to wolf down my meal so the resto people wouldn’t think I’m holding up the place and bring out the Yakuza on my click-happy arse, I accidentally put too much wasabi in my sawsawan. Yeah, you guessed it, my mind imploded. I saw stars, haha. That was some pretty good wasabi. I had to slow down a bit and resist from drenching my sashimi in the soy sauce mixture, but being a true-blue Pinoy, I just couldn’t let a good sawsawan go to waste.

The –don appended in the name of the dish of course denotes the presence of rice in this bowl. I have to admit my curiosity was piqued even more when I spotted the words “vinegared rice” on the menu description. I wondered how that would turn out. As I guessed, the rice was a little sweeter than usual. And a little more moist, of course, as Japanese rice usually is. It was quite filling, although I have to add a caveat that this might be a preference and proportion issue with me. Rice fans might find this a bit wanting but to be sure, anything that has the heads-up “healthy!” plastered next to its name in a menu means that the dish is gonna be stingy in the carbo-loading.

So the dish had some other surprise that I can’t name. There’s a fruit in there, that yellow little thing. I’m sure it’s nothing super exotic; I’m just a total ditz when it comes to fruits. The only things I eat are bananas and mangoes. Anyway, the yellow fruit was a surprise coz it provided an acidic contrast to the sweet meatiness of the fish. Upon first bite, I thought I would be disappointed coz the photo on the menu looked like it had mango in it. But it was a fitting component of the Chirashidon, somewhat serving as a side dish unto its own. Darn, if the store wasn’t closing up I would have asked the waiter. As it is, the investigation into the matter of the mysterious fruit will have to wait until my next visit.

On the whole, I think this is what exciting, healthy eats should be like: heavy on the goodies (protein, vitamins, what-have-you) while staying true to the flavor of the main ingredients. Put in some head-bangin’ wasabi and you got yourself a keeper. Next time, I’m trying their wasabi ice cream for that ober-da-bakod wallop.

Chirashidon (Php165)
Sushi-Ya

Gossip Girl and the Non-Episode of the Year

S,

Wherefore art thou? I need you. It's almost that time of the year.

I'm floundering in the ravages of time, battling this sea of uncertainty that I know will come at least 25 more times in the coming years. I need anchoring. I need to come up for air. I need music. I need to play the piano. I need Debussy. I need Neruda. I need chismis. I need a chiropractor. I need a Philadelphia Roll. I need swimming lessons. I need a good night's sleep.

I need something illegal in my system. I need a shoe addiction. I need a chain-smoking paragon of depravity. I need cheesecake from Bizu. I need foie gras stuffed with truffles. I need a friggin' Parisian sidewalk cafe. I need action. I need adventure. I need my own cable station. I need another credit card. I need a Roman holiday. I need a ride to take me to Bicol and back next month. I need deliverance.

I need to friggin' get out of this place.

xoxo...
V

(P.S. OT ka ulit this Sabado.)

Happy Guilt Trip!

Which would be more excruciating:

To want what you cannot have?

Or to want what you want, which you can have but know you don't really need and would probably be better off not having (which then makes you want it even more)?

Gaaah! Why oh why did the concept of want ever have to come to being anyway? As if that wasn't enough to give you a minor heartburn, there's freedom of choice waving in your face the proverbial noose with which to hang yourself. Ack. This indecisive war between the id and superego, between desire and responsibility, is killing you. You're positively writhing inside. And it's all your own doing.

***

But it's great, you think, that you're made to come to terms with such things. Through the distress of contemplating battles with the self comes the Trojan Horse of a boon, a welcome respite reminding you of what you have and have had.


You have had the time of your life. Whatever's gone down in the past so far, you know this much remains true. And for this, you will always be grateful.

And yet you sit there nursing your designer coffee, whining about how the past is getting old, and clamoring for más y más.


Maybe that's the beauty of experience. Maybe it's human nature to want more than what you have in your hands. Others are not so lucky. A few will probably never be.

And really, you have to admit that sometimes, you don't even deserve it. At least not all of it. Maybe not all in one big go.

But dammit, you want it. You want it. Heaven help you. You just don't know how bad you got it.

Then again, maybe you shouldn't try to find out...


Happy April Fools', everyone.