同一个世界 同一个梦想 (Halftime Report)

沒有Egg nog latte 的日子. 第235日. 早上有雲, 下午天晴

One world. One dream.

Halfway through the Olympics... here are some random thoughts I wanna jot down before I forget them:

1) 1996 Open Ceremony (in Atlanta). I spent that Friday night having dinner with my high school chemistry teach at Alioto's at Fisherman's Wharf.

2) 8/8/2008 - 8:08PM

3) 2008 Opening Ceremony - nothing short of amazing. Zhang Yi Mou vindicated his debaucle in the handover ceremony at the closing of the Athens games.

4) 2008 Opening Ceremony - "終於可以吐氣揚眉！" -- S. Chung

5) Did a Tom Cruise jump onto the couch when US swimmer Jason Lezak chased down France to win Michael Phelps his 2nd of 8 gold medals.

6) Tears of pride as China places gold and silver in the women's 200m butterfly

7) Gymnastics men and women's team all around and Yang Wei getting his due

8) The shady gymnastics scoring system

9) Getting bored of the diving competition cuz there's simply no competition

10) Jamaica outruns the entire world with one hand tied behind its back

11) Why does Shawn Johnson run so funny when she does her Vault?

12) I wanna swim 50m under a minute when I turn 41.

13) I wanna do a double twist vault when I turn 33.

14) I wish I'd won the parallel bars gold (and team gold) when I was 13 years old.

15) USA steals Lang Ping to coach the Women's Volleyball team. So China steals Walsh/May-Treanor's coach to coach the Chinese beach volleyball team. Talk about "World Trade Commission"

16) Medal count: USA-72, China 67, Great Britain-27. If I didn't know any better, I would think that the only sporting events in the Olympics are beach volleyball, swimming, gymnastics, basketball and track.

17) Project 119 - China has 52 medals to go

18) Redeem Team will get trashed by the original Dream Team any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

19) President Bush went to church in China.

20) "Jia You!"

The Prime Rib (Philadelphia PA)

沒有Egg nog latte 的日子. 第225日. 晴

Went to "The Prime Rib" for dinner tonight. It was one of the steak houses I wanted to visit during my Washington D.C. excursion - but we opted for Sam and Harry's instead. Mainly because the Prime Rib has a strict dress code. (Jackets required!) Visiting Philly allowed me to check off another steakhouse off my list...

Here's my review:

Went in with a full suit/tie and sat at the bar. Everyone there was either a politician, a neural surgeon, a partner of a firm or a wife of the aforementioned. So I didn't feel too out of place dressing up. They offered a nice Hot August Nights menu. $33 for a 12-14 oz cut, salad, 2 sides and dessert as opposed to just their signature dish - a 28-32 oz bone in ($41.95). Of course, need to order RARE when it comes to prime rib. Anything warmer will be uncivilized.

Salad wasn't anything special. HOPR puts on a better show. The potatoes layonaise and creamed spinach both were portioned perfectly. The onions were beautifully cooked to provide the perfect sweetnesss to balance out the rest of the meal. (skipping the steak for now) The chocolate mousse pie was waaaaay too rich. And the "Ghosty Town" Cab was a tad too acidity for my taste buds.

And the main course - was unfortunately - overcooked. SIGH.... I asked my bartender if I indeed ordered RARE. I didn't even finish my sentence and he already said, "Yeah...that looks a bit overcooked." A bit?!?! The steak was well done!!! No signs of blood anywhere!! Much to my regret, I turned down his offer to bring out another steak. As I was walking out to use the restroom, a random stranger comes up and apologizes to me for overcooking the steak. Turns out he was the manager. (WOW! That's impressive.) Then as I got my check, the bartender said "Your wine is one me. Sorry for the temperature problem."

I didn't completely blame the chef for overdoing my steak. It was partly my fault for not ordering the signature dish and going with a half-cut. But I take offense at the bartender for not openly admitting to the chef's utter complete failure at cooking a prime rib the way it's ordered. Nonetheless, definitely worth a second trip. Only next time... order the House Cut.

The Phillies

沒有Egg nog latte 的日子. 第223日. 晴

Philadelphia is known for it's US history, it's cheesesteak and it's sports fans. I had the honor of visiting the Phillies ball park - Citizen Bank Ball Park and listening to AM 610 WIP Sports Talk Radio. Here are some my of thoughts:

1) Beautiful park - Up close and personal - just like AT&T. But there are too many sections are tiers - makes it hard to buy a ticket and find a seat.

2) Die-hard fans - everybody and I mean EVERYBODY was dawning Phillies RED or else some other Phillies paraphernelia. Those who weren't were probably visitors (like me). The shirts aren't cheap either... goes to show how much they're willing to spend to show their support.

3) Not too intelligent fans - Always heard that Philly fans knew their stuff. They'll not only heckle you... they'll heckle your mom, your sister, your sister's boyfriend, etc... And they'll skewer you if you're doing bad. But when they were annoucning the opposing team's players - I didn't hear one single "Boo." What's up with that!?

4) Not too intelligent fans Part II - Bottom of the 6th... middle reliever comes in. Strikes out the first batter in 3 pitches. Strikes out the second batter in 4 pitches. The third batter is down 1-2... nobody claps?!? Is anyone watching the game?!?!?!

5) The wave - some kids tried it... albeit it only lasted a couple of sections but they shouldn't have done it.

6) Ballpark food - Cost the same as AT&T (an arm and a leg) but the food quality is sooooo much better. Waited 35 minutes to get a Tony Luke's Cheesesteak. Crazy.

7) Paying tribute - the entire stadium stopped, removed their caps and turned towards the American Flag during the National Anthem. Can't expect anything less from the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence. Very touching.

8) Multi-cultural - blacks, whites... not a lot of Asians though. And on my way out to the parking lot... someone called me a "gook." (Love thy neighbor....Love thy neighbor)

9) Sports talk radio wasn't as harsh on the organizations as I expected - but the fans are very passionate. And they'll REALLY get into it with the hosts - all in good fun and in the name of a championship.

10) When it comes to franchises... Iggles come in first..... and second. Phillies come in a distant third.

11) Stupid house rules - so I bought a shirt on Tuesday night's game. Go back to the hotel and realized it's too small. So I drive to their team store the next day to exchange a size. Usual hours are 9-5PM, but there's a day game. So the store doesn't open till 1.5 hour before the game. And get this... you can't enter the store unless you have a friggin ticket!! All I want to do is make an exchange!! The worker wouldn't let me in and didn't even try to help. She just told me to buy a ticket and come in the gates. Pay $14 to exchange a shirt??? NO WAY!!! And I was running late...

12) Stupid house rules Part 2 - so after I was done with work, I drive back to the ballpark. It was already 5:30PM. Parking lots empty, everyone's gone home. I knock on the store again, hoping to talk to someone sensible. A dude comes by... tells me they're closed. I explain my situation to him and say, "All I want to do is exchange sizes." Without hesitation... he grabbed a new shirt for me. DONE! So simple.

Dear Phillies Organization...

Hire more people like him, not the OTHER type.
It's for your own good.

Sincerely,
Satisfied Visitor