Bunny Bites: Shin Okinawa Izakaya

Having lived in Japan for several years, it’s rare for me to encounter Japanese food that surprises me, but having never traveled to the tropical islands of Okinawa before, my firs trip to Shin Okinawa Izakaya in Torrance definitely held a lot of fun firsts for food!

Again, I’m not expert in Okinawan food, but by God, it was a delicious and fun meal!

Okinawan cuisine is heavily influenced by Chinese cuisine and Southeast Asian foods, with two of the most predominant ingredients being goya (a bitter melon) and PORK! LOTS of pork! Some funny pro-pork Okinawan sayings I found were “Okinawan food begins with pig and ends with pig” and “every part of a pig can be eaten except its hooves and its oink.” <3

First up, was a bottle of local Okinawan beer, "Orion," and a heaping portion of simmered pork belly.

Not exactly just from Okinawa, but this crab cream croquette was LOVELY. This is the before photo...

And this is the post-croquette division photo... haha... nomnom.

Tempura sweet potato sticks! These were pretty yummy and filling. Gotta love fried starch!

A very cheesy dish! This dish is hiding corn, mayo, and sweet potato. My mind was totally blown. Super yummy!

The inside of that lovely dish...!

Tebichi, aka Grilled Pork Leg! This was very soft, fatty, and delish! If you like unusual parts of the piggy, this one's for you!

Fried Mimi ga/pig ears: This one had so much potential, but unfortunately, the tempura batter they used here made the taste bland. The batter could use a kick up of spice, salt, pepper, but if you add all those things yourself with the condiments on the table, it's alright.

Overall, this restaurant offered unique and delicious food in a very relaxed atmosphere, and was all very reasonably priced to boot! This is a great restaurant for groups of friends to gather, drink, and talk for a few hours on the cheap. Even if your pals aren’t super adventurous with food, there are a ton of normal izakaya options at this restaurant too. I’ll definitely be back soon!
Info:
Shin Okinawa Izakaya
1880 W Carson St
Ste A
Torrance, CA 90501

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Gettin’ Buff: Prepping for the Zombie Apocalypse!

My workout routine is something I don’t really blog about since it’s a little off topic for this blog, but I’ve been seeing great results recently and thought, meh, what the hell.

I used to work out like a fiend, but in the past year, got so incredibly busy with work that I had given up on being a workout beast, and sort of middled out to a lazy, always-tired and weak version of myself.

Motivated by the fact that I might have to outrun a zombie mob during the apocalypse, I finally got a new membership at a gym near me and got back into my old habits.

I’m mainly interested in keeping up my health, especially since I’ll be the big 30 this year! Plus, having physical endurance when executing events for work is always a must, since we tend to pull all nighters for a week then work on site for days at a time! I knew I was getting stronger since I was lifting more over the past few weeks, but I wasn’t sure if there were any actual visual changes to my body until one of my friends pointed out to me that I was starting to develop some scary guns..! I decided to check it out via actual photographic proof after one of my workouts:

No photoshop, just a shadowy hallway, haha.

I’m actually really pleased! Just watch me outrun those zombies now!

I’ve been getting some questions on my workout routine so I’ll post it here in case anyone’s interested. Please note that I basically do not diet at all anymore, since I get much more satisfaction out of working out regularly than depraving myself of crappy food. Also, this is sort of a lot of stuff… If you worked out more often and did less stuff, it would probably be just as, if not more, effective. I’m just lazy and can only get to the gym so often.

I work out about 3 times a week, sometimes 2 if I’m traveling a lot for about 2.5 to 3 hours at a time.

This is my usual order of my routine:

• Treadmill: 20 minutes, at .5 incline at 7 speed. 8 speed for last minute.
• Bench work w/Hand weights: 20lbs, 12 reps each 2x: Flys, presses, Tricep kickbacks, Bent over row on one leg, bicep curls, tricep extensions, reverse flys
• Weight machines: Varying weights, 12 reps each 2x: Inner & Outer thighs, hamstring curls, quad lifts, Leg press (I also do my calf raises on this machine by extending my leg fully then pushing just on my tiptoes), Torso Twists
• Machine Ab work:
  Roman chair with 35lb flat weight doing side rises and back rises, 12reps each 3x
  Sit up bench at maximum incline, 10 reps forward and 10 reps to each side 2x
  Crunch assist machine, 20reps each of forward crunch, raised leg crunch, side crunches
• Arm Weight Machines:
  Assisted pullups with 6t0lb counter weight and dips, 12 reps each 2x
  Varying weights, 12 reps each 2x: Shoulder Press,  Forward Press, Lat pull down bars, front row
• Yoga Ball work: 10x each, then repeat the cycle 3x total
  Plank Pike up, V-Ups (except i grab the ball with my feet on the way down and switch with my hands and feet), Hamstring Curl, Reverse Leg Raise (I grab onto the edge of the mat since there are no chairs around at the gym)
• Abs & Arms: Entire set 3x: Front, left and right side planks, 50sec each, then descent only pull ups (jump up to the bard and do a slow release) 10x
• Russian Twist 1 set of 50
• Bicycle Crunch 1 set of 40
• Cat Vomit exercise: 1 set of 10, hold each position 8sec

At this point, I usually stretch and go home, or add in a few other workout things that I’ve recently heard about and I want to try. I definitely could stand to do more cardio but.. I HATE CARDIO so much that the 20 minutes at the beginning are all I can bear, haha!

I hope my workout schedule post was useful for some you wanting to get a bit stronger for the zombie apocalypse! <3

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Shopping Secrets: Daiso: Japan Cute in LA!

When I lived in Japan, I always LOVED going to the 100yen shops and scoring awesome cute things to decorate my home and cheap treats to pickup when I was strapped for cash.

My secret for bargain cuteness, the major chain store of 100yen stores has finally come to Los Angeles! (There are already other locations in the US, so if you live near one, you should go!) It opened quite recently, so I made some time to nip down and stock up on cute and cheap items! There are home goods, beauty items, stationary, snacks, clothing, toys, and more at this enormous Daiso. The price for ALMOST everything in the store is $1.50, with a few items being above that, but don’t worry, they’re clearly marked!

Get ready for a photo explosion of cuteness from Japan!

Lashes galore! All for $1.50 a pack!

Cute false eyelash cases! JUST what I've been looking for!

Cute headband ears in different colors and animals! Bunnies, bears, dogs, bees, sheep, pigs, lions, and lots more!

More photos after the jump!

By Hook or by Crook: “Hookers” Opening Night at Corey Helford Gallery

On March 31, Natalia Fabia‘s group curated show “Hookers,” presented at the Corey Helford Gallery celebrated their opening night!

Natalia is an awesome lady, and amazing oil painter that I met at a party many moons ago, and she asked myself and Yume to pose for one of her paintings <3. The theme for this night’s exhibition was “Hookers,” a word that Natalia always uses to describe women who are strong, independent, and stylish, using it in a positive sense to convey modern feminine beauty.

The show featured 22 artists’ rendition of “Hookers,” and the opening night was jammed packed with awesome art and colorful people!

"Miss America Fuck Yeah," by Natalia Fabia

The hordes of people visiting opening night.

Outfit shot from the night! Click on the photo to "Hype" my coord on Lookbook!

More pics after the jump!