Crazy for em Ottocakes.

About five years ago, my boss told me about a particular cheesecake that was offered by a worker named Otto at the restaurant of The Academy of Arts.  I didn't think too much of it until I tried my first piece of "Ottocake" during a lunch at a museum in Makiki.  It was very flavorful and clean.  Cheesecake was definitely worth the price of admission.  A year ago, I had my second slice of Ottocake at a joint co-worker's baby shower.  The cheesecake was phenomenal.  Simply "Amazing plain".  I was told there were many Ottocake flavors including red velvet.  Red Velvet cheesecake????  I was sold!  I had to get this red velvet flavored cheesecake.  I walked into Ottocake on Smith Street in Chinatown weeks later.  I thought what a cute little place.  There was one of those bakery type displays with various cheesecakes being sold by the slice.  The cash register was a vintage ring em up type register.  Prices of cheesecake, beverages, and other baked goods were written on a small chalkboard.  A friendly skinny Caucasian gentlemen, greeted me with an Aloha, welcome to Ottocake, How may I help you?  Looking through the glass.  No, RED VELVET!  I settled on raspberry cheesecake.  It was Ono.  SOOOO GOOD.  I was hooked.  After a year of regular weekly visits the list of cheesecake flavors tried includes: lemon, banana foster, peanut butter cup, raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, key lime, cookies and cream, kilamanjaro, amazing plain, chocolate, chocolate caramel, lehua honey, pumpkin, chocolate raspberry, chocolate chocolate chip, red velvet, blue velvet, mango, white chocolate strawberry. chocolate haupia, tiramisu, mocha, root beer float, german chocolate, lilikoi, blueberry, dark chocolate cherry, strawberry basil, orange chocolate chip, mojito, peanut butter nutella, and green tea,

It's only walking right?

48000 steps, 1 McDouble, 1 McChicken, 1 2 dollar KFC drumstick, 1 Costco hot dog, 4 liters of water, 1 liter of Powerade, 8.5 hours, and 18 miles later, my two willful friends and I sit at Good to Grill waiting for our final meal of the night.  We did it guys.  We did it.  To me, there was never any doubt we could do it.  It was a matter of completing the task.  Surely the walk around Diamond Head on the way to Koko Marina was a 2 mile detour.  Certainly, we all had thoughts of catching the 10th 22 bus that had passed us, back to the civilization of Kapahulu.  But why not; it's only walking right?  Without the comradery of my fellow walking friends I would have stopped after I got my half dollar sized blister on my left foot.   We had a goal in mind and with one step at a time we kept trotting along.  Because that's what it took.  One step at a time.  Just keep going.  It's only walking.  In the end, it was the lengthiest physical continuous goal I've ever tried.  We did it. We did it...  On to the next goal.

My take on Health and Weight Loss.

Losing weight is simply a matter of repeated self control but complete different from being healthy. Essentially any type of carbohydrates simple or complex will turn into fat if you don't spend the energy. Meats put a hamper on your system because it makes your body work to digest. Fruits and Vegetables are wonderful because they are full of water and vitamins. A lot of citris fruits help the immune system with vitamin C. A lot of berries help with B vitamins that help convert proteins into energy. Eating fruits and vegetables (lightly steamed or raw) is actually like digesting water at the same time. The more water you have in your cells the more efficient your body will be. So essentially its about eating water not drinking water. Complex carbohydrates which are basically whole grains, take the body a little longer to digest so they dont hamper the body and the energy can be used throughout the day as it takes it's long digestive process. To ensure the energies will be used, we need to eat fruits and vegetables to help us digest water and turn protein into energy, eat complex carbs for energy throughout the day and protein for relatively instantish energy. Exercise is important because if you don't lose your muscle it degrades like everything else. Strong people are generally healthier because their body can handle more bullshit because there is more water in muscle than in fat. The more water are in cells the more efficient your body will function.

Losing weight is basically portion control. Eat until you are a little less then full. When you are full your body struggles to process everything in you. The less you eat the more your stomach will shrink to normal size requiring less food. Eat 5-6 meals every 3 hours if you can. I'm talking about maybe one third of the portions you eat before you get full. Think of it as putting a little more fuel as you travel from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Keep feeding the engine. Don't eat three hours before you go to bed because your body will be trying to process food during your resting period. You won't get enough rest because your body is focused on digesting and you don't burn enough carbs/fat while you sleep so the current food you just ate will turn into fat. Eat vegetarian once in a while. The vegetarian nation is growing. There are a lot more options with chains like Whole Foods opening. There are some ethnic foods like Thai or Vietnamese that almost always have vegetarian options. Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian food in restaurants cost about the same.

Friendship

Lately my tolerance for bullshit has dropped.  I decided to make a good list of the people who consistently show a dedication to being nice to people.  This includes daily habit of trying their best not to step on anyone's toes, contributing to humankind, making the best effort to be centered and people that have not crossed me.  At the moment, there are 21 people on this list.  I've decided I'm a very judgemental person and even some of my closest friends may not be on this list.  In retrospect, these people are so awesome, I will make my best effort to hang out with them to learn something.  Don't get me wrong, just because you aren't on this list does not mean you are on the shit list.  You are most likely neutral.  Some of you might think wow what an arrogant thing to do ranking friends.  Well, I dont give a flying fuck.  Love me or hate me I think I am a decent human being that has decent friends.   Tolerance for bullshit is hard.  I'm tired of getting stepped on.  I'm tired of being nice to people who do not care about anyone but themselves.  I'm not the greatest human being but I do try to be nice.  People who think about themselves too much is why people cheat (instant gratification), is why some wars start ( I want their land for money), and its why our planet is dying (global warming).

Sad

Well, I've gone the other direction from Naturalistic Simplicity.  I'm disappointed yet hopeful to get my life back on track.  I have been under the weather in the month of December/January.  This has made me overindulge as a compensation to my sufferings,  I ate a lot more.  I bought a lot of unnecessary things.

At this time being in this uncomfortable state, my body in an attempt to maintain balance has gone to the flight or fight mode.  Apparently it has decided to fight.  It was either be more reactive/defensive(fight) or ignore everything (flight/isolation).  I was more judgemental, more reactive to stoopid people, and often times jump through conclusions because I was looking after the id.  I also made the conscious effort to spend more time with my parents which made me more reactive because my dad's logic is illogical and my mom just doesn't think before she speaks.  So over all it has been a volatile time for me.

I've also learned a few lessons along the way.  One is that I've been wasting time on some friendships that turned out to be very one-sided.  Although I have very little close friends that I care about with all of my heart.  It's time to lessen the efforts with some people who are my "friends".  The other thing I'm trying to do is to judge people for their contribution to society instead of my impression of them.  Some people are naturally aggressive but they do great things for the world.  It's important to overlook some personal dysfunction if it is for the greater good.  I need to to get back to simple eating with whole foods, organics, and fruits to help my cells retain water.  I also need to spend less time with family to regain a grasp of my "ego-less" state.   Slower eating and less indulgence in food and materialism is needed.

I'm sorry if I had offended anyone during this time.  I realize that this is hard for me to overcome because this reactive nature has been pounded in by my parents since I was a kid.  However, because I am aware of this it can only get better from here.  I know what I have to focus on.  On the plus side, this fight mode made me a work machine.  I've been maintaining better long term focus at work and playing longer at a high level in sports.

Eye of the tiger with shades.

I've never really cared for spending 200 dollars on a pair of peripherals that you can only use when the sun is out.  Fashion statement was not even an afterthought.  I am one to be the most comfortable in a white cotton t -shirt, basketball shorts, and slippers.  However, I did purchase sunglasses recently.  I came to the realization that the blinding camera light we use at work was a strain on my eyes directly.  I decided it would be best I get some kind of shading accessory like sunglasses or a hat.  I look terrible in most sunglasses and even worse in hats so I decided the lesser of two evils will suffice. 
I tried practically every pair of sunglasses at the store in Waikele and found one that fit me and looked half way decent.  I would have bought it right away because the salesperson was really helpful and informative but it was no polarized.  Weeks later, I looked again for the sunglasses I found and my friend told me I should get a pair that protected the side angles of my eyes from the sun.   So on the search again for another pair.  My friend asked me to try another pair on and I said "Are you serious?  That's gonna make me look like a drag queen."  I tried them on and I indeed looked like a drag queen.  I found a pair that had slightly smaller frames and it looked good but just didn't fit on my face.  I asked for help and I found the golden pair that worked.  I bought the pair of Revo Overhang and took it out for a drive.  After weeks of using it at work, during tennis, and walking, my eye health improved drastically.  I felt my eyes were less strained even using a computer for most of the day. It was a worthwhile investment. 
Some tips on buying sunglasses.  Do some research on the styles that you think would match you.  Do some research on the technologies you might like (like moisture wicking for sports).  Don't knock it till you try it.  I never thought I would look good in the style of sunglasses I got.  Ask for help.  Some salesman really do know what they are talking about.  Protection is key but it has to match your face.  As with all big purchases set a price range for yourself.

Path to Inner Peace on a Daily Basis

Three questions to ask yourself at the end of the day.  If you can answer yes to all three, you are probably mildly to extraordinary peaceful. 

1.  Have you done your best you could've done with the hand you were dealt? (Effort)

2.  Have you positively influenced someone's/another's life besides your own? (Compassion)

3.  Have you lived out your internal moral beliefs today?  (Action)

Barefoot - a step towards going green.

My barefoot walking began from running.  I thought running was one of the few exercises I could enjoy by myself.  I did some research on what kind of shoes to buy based foot type/how the foot naturally moves during a walk.  I got my Gel Cumulus 11 from running room.  I started running maybe twice or thrice a week.

I was really getting into it and decided to buy a book about running.  Born to run was the perfect book.  It was about several races and a journey in extreme long distance running.  The book mentions some evolutionary concepts on why we were born to run and without much padding.  Some thoughts about barefoot walking/running emerged from reading the book.  Naturally the foot is suppose to move the way it wants to move and over time learn to adjust.  To me the energies of walking barefoot is another way to get closer to the spirit of the earth.  The energies from the ground travels up the nerve sensors connected by our foot.  In my opinion the stronger our feet are, the stronger our knees, back, spines, neck, and head will become.

I remember hearing about vibram five fingers from two friends a while back and after some convincing from the book I decided to give it a try.  I looked up where to get them on yelp and I proceeded to go to Wheatgrass Store in Kaimuki.  The place is very friendly.  After struggling to get my toes in the fingers, I made my purchase of the Sprint model.  I went overboard in the first two days of trying it.  I did two days of 7 hours of walking.  The top of my foot hurt like hell.  It was not the muscle but the bone.  The third day, I took it easy wearing well padded shoes and I notice the difference in foot strength right away.  I was walking like 3 times faster from the foot strength I gained the last two days.  After wearing these for a month, I enjoy walking barefoot in these but I have a few complaints.  1.  The foot gets sweaty after a while and I have to wash it each day I wear it.   Toesocks are an option but mines fit snug so I will have to buy a size up if I buy socks for it.  I'm thinking it will get hotter with toesocks.  2.  I have to look out for glass and gravel because the roads/sidewalks are terrible in Hawaii.  3.  I cannot wear these everywhere.  I feel it is a little too informal for a nice restaurant or even work. 

Due to reasons 2 and 3 I looked up alternative options to having the barefoot feel.  I found on tennis and running forums a new shoe called terra plana aquas.  These aquas fit smaller then the normal shoe but it fits well because it is wide.  The blue pair I got corresponded with me going green.  Straight from the site: The Aqua navy is 100% Vegan! Navy upper made with Abrasion PU and Eco Nylon. The dark grey and red upper is made with Nubuck and Nufoam.  The soles are Latex Rubber.  I feel very light on my feet and they feel awesome.  The shoes work well in the rain.  The moisure dries fast and there is plenty of ventilation.  I've had them for a week.  The only drawback to these shoes are the price.  Other then that, one step closer to going green.

The food in my life.

Those who know me knows I live to eat.  My five favorite foods in this specific place in time is from five different places.  From Phuket Thai, I would almost always have to get the Tofu Green Curry medium spicy.  From Spices, I would have to get Pad Thai medium spicy no peanuts!  From Teddy's Bigger Burger I would have to get a 5 oz burger with onion ring toppings and french fries.  From Pho Bistro II I would have to get the Combination Pho regular or large with no brisket.  From Da Kitchen I'll get the Teriyaki free-range chicken. 

Naturalistic Simplicity

Naturalistic Simplicity simply put is being nature and being simple.  It all started with me being concerned about my health at the age of 27.  I was out of shape, pushing 200 lbs and just felt burnt out too often too fast.  I decided I would lose some weight.  In that process, I changed my eating habits and lost 30 lbs.  Great?  Not really.  I did not exercise on a consistent basis so all the weight loss included fat and muscle.  I felt lighter on my feet but my energy level was sub-par.

I researched further ideas about energy levels.  Basically the keypoints I found out was I didn't eat enough good foods to maintain water in cells, I was not breathing in clean air, and my muscles and bones were not strong enough because I did not used them enough.  My friend recommended I watch food inc on netflix.  Instantly, I changed my views on the foods I was eating.  I did not want to eat as much beef that was not organicly raised through grass feeding because beef is not suppose to be fed corn or injected with hormones to make them grow really fast.  I did not want to eat filthy chicken in a cage with thousands of other chickens being forcefed corn to grow 3x as fast.  I learned what were the best fruits and vegetables to get the minerals and vitamins necessary to sustain water in cells for it to be efficiency.  I learned about walking barefoot and how that affects others parts of your body.  I bought an air purifier so I can breathe in my dirty room.

After a year of thoughts Simple and Natural is the way to go.  The problem with the world now days is everyone is geared towards getting more and doing more.  In the capitalist society our focuses shows in the celebrities and sports stars.  We spend so much time looking at fame and fortune we forgot about the world.  We spend our time spending money on football games, sports gear, movie tickets, makeup that we did not care where it came from.  Carbon emissions is killing us.  Materialism is killing us.  Lets all get the next Iphone right.  Whats the point?  The more we get the more we want.  Where does it end?  Simple is good.  Natural is good.  To me that's what matters to my health and that's what matters to the earth's health. 

Don't get me wrong.  I'm working towards this goal.   I'm not a vegan and I love to eat meat.  But the meat I do eat I try to be more conscious about.  Today, I ate a local grass fed beef burger at Umeke Market, a burrito at Down to Earth, then two burgers from Jack in the Box.   I do go out and spend more then the minimum in food purchases.  I do spend money to buy tennis accessories and pool equipment.  I am still materialistic but I try to purchase things I can use to promote what I love to do as well as better my health for the world and I.