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A review of pinkberry by an inherent lactose intolerant Mikey.

Ok, here it goes. Last night Melody and I made our way to Pinkberry in the LBC. Melody asked if I was interested in grabbing another dessert at pinkberry after our meal at Tarantula, Terranium or something like that. [Tantalum] The idea of a second dessert was tantalizing, but pinkberry? Fueled by the sheer talent of Melody’s persuasion and my lack of will power we made it to Pine and Broadway.

Thankful, yet still wary, that the initial dose of lactaid at dinner was holding true to its promise to protect me from the dairy demons; we casually walked into the venue. I was immediately overwhelmed by trendy modern decor and bright fluorescent lighting. Scanning around at the Italian chotchkies, Bombo Tables, Ghost Chairs, and Zebra Wood soffit Melody is trying to get my attention, “Are you sure you don’t want any?” I shake my head no, as in no thanks. “Ok, you can have some of mine.” she insisted as she turned back to the counter. Continuing my evaluation I inspected the construction of the floor, which seemed to be some sort of super exposed aggregate concrete. It looked a bit like a bunch of earth colored jelly beans all stuck together, I could have sworn it was a bit squishy too. Did I just hear the word “Medium?” Medium? In response to the adolescent servers inquiry of quantity. This could be disastrous I thought.

Earlier in the evening, accompanying the first dose of lactaid, was a truffled mac n’ cheese. I wanted to see if I could taste the truffle.. nope.. just cheese. Maybe next time. Somewhere lodged in my subconscious the idea of consuming mac and cheese had its consequences… so far so good.

Mikey-1
Dairy-0

We sat in the corner of the shop where I had clear view of the counter and chotchkies. Sitting in the center of the table was this tub of dairy lightly adorned with strawberries and mochi. “Here’s another,” stated Melody as the angelic dose of lactaid joined the party. As if it were exstacy and we were at a rave, I eagerly consumed the ‘night-saving’ pill. I readied my spoon. To be true and unbiased my first bite consisted of pure pinkberry, no strawberry, no mochi. Immediately my companion asked what I thought. “Its sour” I uttered. (In the back of my head sour and dairy should be definite warning signs that something is amiss.) Bite two. More sour. Staring across the table in concern, “Is it supposed to be sour?” I was assured that what I was tasting was spot on. Bite Three. Four. Five. I was getting used to the taste, accepting it for what it was. Gradually the ratio of toppings vs yogurt began to favor the toppings. Conversation continued at good pace as it was much more exciting and natural than consumption of pinkberry. I began to feel at ease as my trust in this honorable supplement grew along with Melody’s assurance it would do the trick. I knew at that point in time someone was watching over me…was it God? the Easter Bunny? Santa? Nope, it was the Dr. Skud flyswatter peering through the translucent green dots. Good Ole Dr.Skud!

Verdict: While not a diehard fan of anything dairy, the experience was enjoyable. Another success of lower GI tract.
“When do we pinkberry again?”
Did I just say that?

Last night DJKT, Louie’s Momma, FFF and I gathered for dinner at Honda Ya in Tustin. This restaurant must be one of the best, if not THE best Japanese eateries in the OC area. Its needless to say the experience was great!…so I’ll describe it instead. When we arrived I helped myself to the self serve sign-in sheet located just inside the door “Mike…5.” Seconds later DJKT poked his head in “Make it 4.” I scribbled out the 5 and wrote in the numeral ‘4′; Kim unwillingly decided not to join us due to her doctor mandated pregnancy diet restrictions. Alls good, 4 will do. After a short, discussion filled wait the hostess uttered ‘Mieek’ (It was at this point I wish I wrote in a secret alias I’ve never used… ‘Abraham.’) On our way inside we passed by FFF’s ‘neighbors,’ on their way out, wow this is a popular joint for Wednesday.

The Japanese hostess sat us across from the Yakitori grill (above) and we placed our order for beverages, Coke, Asahi, and Sapporo. FFF was quick to note that his Asahi beer was 1/2″ taller than my Sapporo. Harrumph. The Yakitori menu was a “mark-your-own” thin sheet of paper sitting on the table next to a supplied pencil. No 2 pencil? Maybe. Scanning down the list past “White Meat” “Gizzard” “Heart” “Special Heart” “Skin” “Quail Egg” “Special Quail Egg,” I checked off an order of asparagus w/ bacon and some mushrooms on a stick. Both were delicious…. fast forwarding a bit… DJKT had some chicken or pork served on a fajita plate, and Louie’s Momma had some Tempura. FFF ordered a crunchy roll and some other dish that I didn’t get a look at until his plate was empty. Just as he uttered, “I’m full, maybe I shouldn’t have ordered the…” A bowl of Udon appeared in front of him. He ate it all without objection. I had some albino shrimp shumai… wait, aren’t we in a Japanese restaurant? Followed 2 pork dishes, one with pickled veggies and the other with some other stuff, both were good, a bit salty, but they paired well with the Sapporo. This little restaurant was a spot on memory of 3am Saturday morning visits to a similar joint on St. Marks in the East Village. As Mayniac would say, only slightly slurring, “Letsss get some Japanese Skewersss!” Hahahahha

Once again a successful food outing in the 949. Food is always better with great company, and today was no exception!

Check out more reviews on Yelp.

Podcast 070411
Yep Yep, Uno Mas!

Another podcast, fueled purely by the lack of HDTV to enjoy Zane Lamprey’s “Three Sheets” and hefty supply of Jameson n Coca Cola.

Relief from the babbling:
Bear Colony – Hospital Rooms
Pela – Lost to the Lonesome
Mates of State – California
Peter Bjorn & John – Young Folks
DJKT’s – You will understand this if you were born in the seventies mix
Moonbabies – War on Sound

Good luck on yer interviews ‘Louie’s Mama and DJKT!’

After the smoothie incident, and the flied lice compromise I’ve come up with some conclusions.
1) When the inkling of not going back to the office occurs, go with the gut feeling and head to the beach. I’m sure the smoothie explosion would have easily been adverted.
B) The British (Jamie Oliver) weren’t meant to cook asian food, otherwise they’d have a wok. (Note to self, buy oil and better yet.. a wok.) (random imagery: Russel Peters saying “I’m Englishhhh… awhhhh.”)

Denouement
Regardless of how the events of the day progress in negative fashion there is always music to level the playing field!

Here is a great song/video from a classic indie/electronica/alternative group from England.
Ladytron – Destroy Everything You Touch

Ok, so Melody introduced me to this new form of social blogging, Twitter. As I can’t explain it any better than her, I’ll give you her explanation:

“Twitter is like abbreviated blogging! With every twitter message (or “tweet”) you send, you’re supposed to answer the question, “What are you doing.” Each “tweet” is limited to just 140 characters, so you can’t get long-winded. It’s supposed to be quick note to let the community and/or your designated twitter friends know what you’re up to. I like it b/c I just get a quick snapshot from time to time of what my friends are doing. Some ppl use it as a dialogue, but I try to use it in its most literal sense– which is to answer the question of what you’re doing and not as a conversation vehicle (but I’ve cheated a few times). Anyway, you should check it out! www.twitter.com.”

so… do ya’ll get it? you can check out my twitter at twitter.com/_mikey_ Try it out, its cool. You can ‘tweet’ via your IM program, sending a text with your phone, or by logging on directly to twitter.com. For those of you who, for some reason or another, don’t have unlimitted texting on your phones this may be not as effective. So suck it up and pay the extra five – ten bones a month.

Ever wondered what so-n-so is up to? Twitter yo! DoIt!