Simple Living

Another chill weekend enjoying a Cappuccino, Tolstoy and Music.  For lunch had a simple Bento + Beer.  Great Weekend.

I've developed a habit and it's become a ritual to enjoy a nice Cup of Coffee @ a local shop and enjoy a Novel and Music.  This helps keep me on a schedule & routine to balance out my day and also help me have some motivation to wake up early on a Saturday (I get up @ 7 am!) The best part this little ritual while only about an hour or so helps give me almost the full day to enjoy whatever, otherwise I would have got up @ 11 or past Noon and wasted half the day...sticking with this routine.

I'm now on my 5th Coffee Drink concoction...a Gibraltar that is an Espresso with some Milk.  It's similar to a Cappuccino minus the Foam.  Overall, I'm getting the hang of this thing as there are just three (3) basic ingredients [Espresso, Milk, Milk Foam] between the various Espresso based drinks.  So far the Cappuccino is my favorite as it embodies all three ingredients, but the Gibraltar is a close 2nd ahead of the Macchiato.

In my quest for the perfect 'Old Fashion' I've been trying one at every Bar and decided to give Nordstrom's a shot.  Based on what I'm reading online this is closer to a traditional Old Fashion with the choice of glass, square ice cube and garnishing.  The drink was quite strong and I didn't start to enjoy it until the halfway mark with the last sip being the best.

This is becoming my new 'Coffee Shop' and going down the list of drinks.  Tried a 'Sidecar' which is a single shot of Espresso paired with a Macchiato.  The difference as far as I understood the Macchiato doesn't have the 'milk' and only the foam compared to a Cappuccino.  The Sidecar was interesting, but I prefer the Cappuccino from last week.

I've always wanted to try an Old Fashioned after seeing Don Draper down so many of these on the show Mad Men.  Was out on the town with friends and the bartender offered this variation on the Old Fashioned using Japanese Whisky and different types of bitters.  It was quite good and this beats a plain Scotch on the Rocks. I'll likely ask to try a traditional Old Fashioned to compare to this Japanese version, but I'm sure both will be great choices.

It's funny how life works.  Was heading to my regular Starbucks, but it was closed for renovations so continued down the road and decided to try a different Coffee Shop, to my delight they have this cool rendition of a Cappuccino.  It's paired with a glass of Sparkling Water and some Bitter Chocolates. Very affordable @ $4 and quite an experience while I continue through re-reading Tolstoy's 'War and Peace'.

Wow, browsing old photos and found this pic from 2012 of how I setup my Desk in my Bedroom back in the day...my how time flies.  Those were good times when I had a lot of energy and excitement.

Drink:  Starbucks ICM (Ice Coffee w/ Milk and no Sugar) Headphones:  Audio Technica MSR7 Pen:  Platinum #3776 Century Book:  Leo Tolstoy - War and Peace Enjoying a Weekend Break at Starbucks and indulging in my Hobbies.  Was nice to just unwind reading a novel and goofing around with my Fountain Pen while listening to some music.  A great day.

Equipment:  Boeing 737-900 Route:  PUS --> KIX I've flown on several 737's before, but this seems to be the first time on the recent 900 series?  It feels very similar to Air Busan's A321 in size and layout with a single aisle and three (3) seats on each side.  I got a exit row seat and it has fantastic leg room!  The food is the standard box lunch that Korean Air provides and I kinda like the simplicity.  The only thing I wished they served instead as their fairly delicious Musubi's in lieu of the cold Ham Sandwich.  Other thing I like about Korean Air is they serve Beer, but I opted for cold OJ instead.

Equipment:   Airbus A321 Route:  CTS --> PUS I had to purchase a last-minute ticket on Air Busan and the Online Price was phenomenal at just $125 USD, Korean Air was asking for almost $400 for the same route.  This my first time riding on the Airbus A321 and it is setup similar to the Boeing 737's with a single-aisle and three (3) seats on each side.  Overall, the trip was fine and they served a simple, hot meal of Seafood Fried Rice.  The coffee was reasonable too.  For the price, I'd likely fly Air Busan again.

Angel-in-us Coffee is one of several chains of Coffee Shops in South Korea.  I sometimes hit them up when I'm outside and cruising one of the many Shopping Districts or Mall.

Stopped @ Kansai International (KIX) for a short layover.  It's another of Japan's famous man-made island Airports, but in comparison I prefer Nagoya with its cool Sky Town Concept.  This was just a giant airport at Sea.  Only had time to enjoy a brief meal of Sushi, that was quite decent as the price w/ Beer was just 1800 Yen Was feeling a little woozy like I was starting to Catch a Cold and downed a Vitamin C Drink immediately.  It seemed to help and I didn't develop any serious Cold Symptoms, although the wooziness remained for a couple hours.

Japan always has 'cutesy' stuff and it extends to their Starbucks too.  I was at New Chitose Airport and noticed they had a drink called the 'Sakura Blossom Cream' as either Frappucino or Latte.  The Frappucino was a bit pricey at 570 Yen for a Tall, but I had to try it and overall its quite good.  Too bad I haven't seen this in the states yet, it would be an interesting option next to the Green Tea and Java Chip's.  This drink however is too sweet and once was enough to get a taste of Starbucks Japan.