Way to go Taiwan!

They're off to the World Championship!! for the first time since 1996, Taiwan's going to face either Chula Vista, CA or San Antonio, TX (who are playing as I type... and wow Chula Vista is winning 9-0 in the first inning) (Luke Ramirez: age 12/13.. 6'0 205!! I want to see this kid's birth certificate!!).  Against Mexico, Taiwan displayed defensive superiority and great pitching which is insane at this level... of all the little league teams Taiwan's committed the least amount of errors and passed balls off wild pitches, which seems to be a factor in scoring in little league play.  Taiwan's ability to play clean baseball was the difference in the game, as Mexico committed several errors (uncharacteristically) and Taiwan capitalized on almost all of them.  Mad props to Taiwan's pitcher Sung Wen Hua, who pitched a complete game which are getting more rare now that there's an 85 pitch limit rule and the fact that he did it against a really good hitting Mexico team is awesome.  Tomorrow's title game is at noon on ABC.

Just something I wanted to gripe about: it's entirely stupid how Taiwan's uniforms say Asia-Pacific, when Japan's uniforms say Japan, it makes sense when Chula Vista is the West team, and San Antonio is Southwest.  I also cringe everytime I hear "Chinese Taipei," which is due to completely political reasons... heck one time I even heard Brent Musburger say "Chinese Taipei is a beautiful island."  Great.

Cow brains aren't so good

A friend has been telling me about a taco place his coworker has been raving about, so we tried it out.  Had to drive all the way to Chula Vista (which in LA terms isn't actually that far) to get to Tacos El Gordo, but the talk has been about how authentic their tacos are to the ones you can find in TJ.  I haven't been across the border yet so I wasn't really sure what to expect, after all the best taco's I've had here were at Lolitas on Clairemont Mesa or even Taco Tuesdays at El Torito.  The actual place isn't hard to find, it's pretty much right off the freeway, but the parking lot is horrendously small.  I can only imagine what hell there'd be at a time when it's packed, heck we went around 3 or 4 on Saturday and it was nearly full.

This has to be one of the cleanest taco places I've been to, and it's set up really well with a lot of tables and booths.  How it works is you order how many tacos you want at the stand (kind of like Panda Express in a way) and then pay at the end.  A fellow customer noticed that it was our first time there so he kinda gave us the run down on what's good (which he said was basically anything...).  But what he did accomplish was translating the menu, because who would've known that sesos meant cow brain, and which one was tripe and brisket.  Honestly, after hearing that they serve cow brain compelled me to try it (a little inspiration from Andrew Zimmerman perhaps?), I don't even know how that happened.  In fact when I ordered the sesos the cook kind of gave me a wide eyed look which probably should've triggered some signal in my head that it wasn't a good idea to get it.  Anyway so I picked up one sesos (cow brain), one tripas (tripe), and two adobada (spicy pork).  Total price?  $8.05 (each taco was about $1.85).  Ok, so the price isn't exactly cheap, but would the quality make up for it?

First up, the adobada.  Hands down, the best taco I've ever had in my life.  Each one can be finished off in 2-3 bites, but each bite has intense flavor and a good amount of meat.  The actual pork is really similar to Chinese bbq pork, but the taste is completely different.  It's not sweet like the Chinese version, but more sweet/salty with a little spicy kick, although I did feel it wasn't as spicy as I wished for it to be.  We couldn't really figure out what the white sauce was but it was delicious and complemented the pork well.  There was a salsa bar but I elected not to add any to my tacos.

Ok, here we go: cow brains (right).  I figure it's probably best to eat that one first, so if it sucks the tripe (left) will wash out all the 'brains' flavor.  First bite: the only bite.  I was hoping all the onions and green salsa topped onto it would help too, but no, it was definitely too much for me.  The texture is textureless.  It's basically tofu with a terrible after taste that salsa couldn't overcome.  One of my friends tried it and likened it to avocado without the great taste.  For me, it definitely didn't work but I'd probably advise against trying it.  I'm sure I was psychologically handicapped as well since before the first bite I had a wonderful image of a cold wet brain waiting to be butchered.  Thank god the tripe taco was good, the smoky overcooked bits of tripe really took out the brain taste.  Taco El Gordo's tripe is very crunchy and flavorful, albeit too crunchy for me, but perfect for my cousin but still a very good taco for me. 

In the end, this was definitely a great experienece and can't wait for my next trip back.  There's tons of other stuff on the menu that I wanted to try like beef tongue, brisket (breast), chicken, quesadillas, etc.  On yelp.com it seems that there are other Taco El Gordo's in National City and Pacific Beach which are closer alternatives, but ratings wise the general consensus is the Chula Vista shop serves the most authentic TJ tacos.  Highly recommended

Inspiration from Infernal Affairs

Well, this is pretty inspiring... if you haven't seen Infernal Affairs yet I would highly recommend it (original movie that Scorsese's The Departed was based on), but basically this guy Nick from England saw the movie and was so awe struck by the different lifestyle/culture in Hong Kong it motivated him to move there and pursue a career in the film while learning Cantonese. The narration is in Cantonese at the beginning but for the majority of the video it's Nick speaking in English telling how he got to the point in life he's at now. No more spoilers, watch the video yourself! Definitely a must watch if you're low on the motivation gatorade

Finally, PS3 is cheaper

Damn it's about time... PS3 has always been way overpriced (compared to Wii and Xbox360) even though it's the only system that can read Bluray. I paid waay too much for mine, but the novelty of the limited edition claimed the nerd in me :(

But if you want a Bluray player, this is definitely the way to go, $300 is great value for what the PS3 can do: media streaming (basically you can watch or listen to whatever you have on your computer and PS3 will upscale it to near hi-def quality depending on the source material), hi-def video and audio playback, web browsing, and even if gaming is the last thing on the list for you, all the stuff listed above it is worth the cost compared to the price of standalone bluray players on the market right now. Plus, the price dropped PS3 is a new unit that's smaller and sleeker, uses less power and comes with a 120 gb hard drive (!@$% mine is only 40 and I paid way more than $300). From a media standpoint the PS3 is a beast, but if games matter to you, it's not as easy to choose.  But of course if you're filthy rich.. haha

LLWS Update: Semifinals

Up two against Curacao, who have a flamethrower pitching might I add, bottom of the 4th.  Get it done!! two more innings

Update: it's over, Taiwan over Curacao 5-2!  Taiwan advances to the International Championship against Mexico, which is actually a rematch of the game a few nights ago.  It's gonna be a heavy dose of good pitching, and most definitely another quality game.  The last game they played was close with some drama at the end, so I'm looking forward to it, plus I can actually watch it since it'll be on Saturday 9 AM.  On the other side of things, the California representative Chula Vista (bit south of San Diego) has a chance to get into the finals as well... damn these games are as much fun to watch as MLB, it's essentially a mini World Baseball Classic haha

LLWS Update: First loss to Mexico

Damn! Taiwan lost its first game to Mexico 3-2. The last inning was crazy, lead off homer, then inside the park home run to reduce Mexico's lead only to 1, but Mexico's closer was able to finish the game. All good though, Taiwan still advances to the international semifinals and faces Curacao instead of Japan. Both Curacao and Japan are also top teams in the tournament, so really it's going to be tough either way. Taiwan and Curacao this Thursday 1 pm. 台湾加油!!

Some Sad News

Click here for the LA Times article.

I don't know if you Oak Parkers remember this kid. Brian Wolverton. He ran track all four years and was killed at Afghanistan just after he got there. He went to Moorpark and just finished combat training in June.

It's pretty nuts. I can still remember running with this kid every single day.

http://projects.latimes.com/wardead/name/brian-m-wolverton/

You can post on his "online" memorial if you remember him. I bet you guys will recognize some of the names on there.

hm lary. you are an ass. that is all.

p.s., puma > adidas > nike

nothing good on the music front, looking like a quiet week. what is everyone doing for labor day?

LLWS Update: Taiwan blanks Canada

Taiwan 8, Canada 0. Another win for Taiwan, so far in the tournament they're clearly the most dominant team in their own pool (i think it's a pretty weak pool actually), they've outscored their opponents 24-0 and only give up 2 hits.. no errors in two games. eh granted i think the competition isnt great, but they're still gettin it done. Nice to see all the Taiwan supporters in Williamsport PA. Also caught the Japan/Curacao matchup later at night. Frickin crazy.. Curacao won the game stealing home 12-11. Little league is surprisingly fun to watch. Next up for Taiwan: Mexico

Ahoyhoyhoy

Hello everyone!

Nice to see you all. I look forward to your hilarious posts and interesting comments.

Minus eric.

Test

just making my intro to this blog where i can post some future c-pop blurbs.

[edit; here's one haha -mason]

Biggest TV ever? only 1080p??

Wow, so the Cowboys got a new stadium, and everyone's talking about how much it costs, how it's going to be the most famous American sports venue, etc., etc. But what really caught my eye was the size of the HDTV they have inside the stadium for fans to watch replays on during the game... WOW. The picture doesn't even do it justice.. I'm watching the game right now on FOX in HD and it's like a mini-sun, I can only imagine how bright the stadium would be if that was the only source of light on. Mmm too bad it's only in 1080p haha...

Hell yes, Taiwan Little League team putting on the hurt

No work today, so I turned on the TV and caught the end of the Little League World Series game. I guess the tournament just started because they're only in group play, but the team from Taoyuan, Taiwan won big against the Air Force Base team from Germany. No hits, no errors, final score 16-0!!! I just looked it up on Wikipedia and the teams representing Taiwan have won the entire tournament 17 times with only the US having won more (31), but the next closest country is Japan with 6. Last time Taiwan won the tournament was in 1996, so hopefully they can make it happen this year. I'll definitely be following their progress in the next few weeks haha

Haha.. helllooo

Whats up, what am i allowed to post here. lol

Welcome #2

Alright, so I realized... how can this be the second coming of Otherish without the original members?? My intention was to start a more focused blog, but I don't think that's as much fun anymore, so I've dished out some more invitations. We're all older now, and in different places... what better way to keep track of what we're all up to?

Anyone want to name this? or change the layout if you want. I know it's probably not a great idea to grant everyone admin priveleges, but we're all pretty mature and should be able to handle this :)

Taiwan Typhoon Relief

I'm sure a lot of people know what's going on in Taiwan right now, so here's a video I read about on angryasianman.com. The two singers are Emily and Susan Hsu, and even though they've already reached their Youtube donation goal, they're still donating $1 for every $1 spent on their band Exit Clov's website, so if you like their music..

Here's another way to donate listed in their video description:

Please pass this on to any friends!! Just by watching the video, you'll be helping to support the cause. Feel free to make your own donation/pledge, starting as low as .01 cent per hit/view (=$5 at 500 hits/views). Anything helps! Just email us (mousybabe@gmail.com) with your pledge amount. If we get enough responses, we'll post anonymous pledges on our blog (mousybabe.com) to celebrate the goodwill.

Pledges are not binding, just an honor system - you can send your tax-deductible donation to the Taiwanese Association of America (info below) or any of the organizations listed at TaiwaneseAmerican.org.

Taiwanese Association of America
Mrs. Ling Ling Huang, Treasurer
TAA-USA
199 Bluejay Dr.,
Columbus, OH 43235
Phone (614) 888-6501
TAA-USA is a 501(C)3 tax exempt entity. Therefore your donation is tax-deductible. http://taa-usa.or.

#1

Ok! let's get this rolling. Otherish was great, but let's make this better. Any ideas on a blog name and url address? The title's supposed to be 我們走吧, the 9 and 8 in chinese sound like 走吧, so it's like a little internet joke I've seen people in Taiwan use. Anyway, start posting away!