Simple Living

I wanted to spend more time at that Used Bookstore I found last week and was fun exploring their selection of books.  I picked up a few more works by Yukio Mishima.  The prices are very reasonable and barely $5/each (Amazon wants double for a Used Copy or several times that for Brand New).  I'm not able to find them at my local library so this seems to be the next best thing. I could only snag Book# 4 of his Tetralogy and will need to stay on the hunt for Book #1 & #2, which kinda makes it fun like a mini-treasure hunt.  I'll be in LA and Vegas in a few months so I'll try find those books there (already scoping out where the major Used Bookstores are in those Cities...) For Coffee, took the SideCar as I was undecided whether I wanted an Espresso or a Cappuccino.  I love whoever invented this thing as I get the best of both Worlds and somehow the Cappuccino tends to taste sweeter when you can readily compare/contrast it with a bitter Espresso, although this particular on

I took the plunge and picked up the 42mm size Apple Watch Series 2 in Space Gray for $399.  The Apple Watch looks and feels a lot better than I had thought and it was worth the wait to get the basic improvements like GPS and 50M Water Resistance in the 2nd Generation release vs. the 1st Generation. Initial Reaction -- Positive I've only worn it for a few hours and haven't really tried much beyond the basic functions of Email, Text Messages, Phone Calls, Music, etc.  It'll take me at least a week or more to really get a better understanding of how useful this watch will be, but I do like the utility of being able to control & access some features of my iPhone without having to access it.  Sounds silly to say, but makes more sense when you have the Apple Watch and your iPhone jammed inside your pants pocket. Overall, the Apple Watch is very well designed and has an appealing look & feel.  The build quality is good and like most Apple Products they focus on form m

It was surprisingly difficult to find some books by famous novelists at several local bookstores and by chance I stumbled across a small used bookstore that had the mother lode in terms of many great works I've been wanting to read from Mishima, Chekhov, Hemingway and more...all for a low price!  For now I restricted myself to just three (3) books and one of them is by Yukio Mishima 'The Temple of Dawn'. This is the 3rd book in his 4-part epic 'The Sea of Fertility' that was to be some of his last published works before his abrupt death.  While I would have liked to start from the beginning, they only had this one available and it proved an excellent choice. For starters, it's a mere 330 pages (much shorter than a Tolstoy colossus) and surprisingly the first few chapters read more like a Traveler's Guide as the main character Mr. Honda travels from Thailand to India and back to Japan with very detailed descriptions of the life & culture of each of these

Was surprised at how cheap this Old Fashion was at a local bar.  For Happy Hour they charge a mere $4.75, about the price of a regular beer.  Other Bars would charge $10-12 for the same drink.  Granted it's not as fancy using plain ice and whatever fruit & ingredients they have in stock, but it tasted decent. The only danger was at this price it's easy to drink a half dozen of these and not realize you consumed that much alcohol.  Cheap, but Dangerous.

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.