I visited the new Genki Ramen last night in beautiful San Francisco, CA.  The interior of Genki is very stylish.  Plasma Televisions adorn the walls blasting Japanese Pop videos.  The tables are stained a deep red and decorated with logos and carvings.  Everything looks custom made.

The menu was pretty standard noodle house fare, with several appetizers such as edamame, chicken karaage, vegetable tempura, onigiri, and gyoza.  I also noticed several non-standard items for San Francisco.   These included a three types Okonomiyaki and unagi fried rice.

I ordered the Tempura Ramen and grilled Onigiri.  Here’s my rating:

-Food:  B+  The broth for the Ramen was delicious.  Since the restaurant house makes its own Charsu, I’m assuming they use the byproducts of that to make the broth.  One thing I noticed was that the broth itself wasn’t particularly salty which I thought was great.  The color was a milky brown almost like chocolate milk, with some oil droplets floating on the service.  The noodles were cooked perfectly and were served slightly al dente.  The grilled Onigiri was awful, it was brought to the table falling apart drenched in unagi sauce.  I wouldn’t order that again.

-Ambiance: A  The place is really nice.   The custom tables, the plasma televisions, special chopstick holders all add to a great experience.  Makes me wonder what they spent initially to adorn the restaurant.

-Service:  B+  Nothing to write about.

-Selection: B  The had all the Ramen house fare.   Nothing too exciting added or omitted from the menu

-Overall:  B+ The food was decent, the service was ok, the interior was flashy.  I definitely would go back and recommend this place to friends.

Funny, they certainly seem to want to come over here.  Not too many boos are heard when they’re jumping the border…or indulging in our health care…or education system.

But throughout the Miss Universe pageant last night, which was hosted in Mexico City, Miss USA Rachel Smith drew boos from the crowd.  That wasn’t the worst part of the night for Smith, who slipped and fell…hard…during her cross-stage walk.

Despite the taunting, Miss USA had a decent showing, ranking fifth.

Throughout the night, contestants placated the Mexican audience.  The eventual Miss Universe, Riyo Mori from Japan, opened her speech with a “hola, mexico.”  Even Smith closed her speech with a “buenas noches Mexico.  Muchas gracias!”

Donald Trump, who co-owns the pageant, speculated that the boos were focused more towards the global policy of the U.S., rather than Miss USA herself.  Still, when the show went to a commercial break, an NBC representative warned the audience to behave, because “this gives the world a bad image of Mexico.”  (from Drudge)

Don’t talk to Armando Benitez.  The giant’s reliever gave up two runs in the bottom of the 12th inning.  Not only that, Benitez gave up the first run on a balk - his second of the inning - with a man on third.  The next batter, Carlos Delgado, ended the game with a walk off homer.  Did I mention that all of this occurred with two outs…and just a few minutes after the giants had valiantly generated a one run lead in the top of the 12th?

For the Mets, it was a great way to end the four hour epic.  For the giants, it was a heartbreaking way to keep their three-game losing streak alive.

On the heels of Rose O’Donnell’s resignation from The View, a groundswell of support has risen to try and get Elisabeth Hasselbeck fired for being a bitch.  I don’t know if that’s a technical reason but it makes some sense.

Hmm I don’t know if he kept all the good beats for himself.  Is this the emergence of the angry Kanye?  The song is so slow he’s seriously just talking over music.

Wow, yellow fever has gone global.

New York Times is reporting today that the former director of Chinese Food and Drug regulation has been sentenced to death following a series of scandals as a result of substandard drugs being sold abroad.  In light of the recent pet food scandals it appears that industry in China is left to manufacture and sell products without any oversight.  This poses a big problem globally as China emerges as a world power.  In most cases it seems that a Chinese drug maker added a dangerous chemical to some product either to cut costs.  The United States really should step in and begin testing these imports from China to issue safety before allowing these products on the market.  I’m currently worried that purchasing a food or drug product in China might kill me down the road unless someone steps in to ensure its safety.   Maybe this is a great idea for a private business?

As japadamus has mentioned before, I have a hobby by collecting internet t-shirts.  The best place to get yourself some cool, limited edition t-shirts is threadless.  The men’s and women’s  shirts are normally $15 and $17 respectively.  Every now and then, though, the fine people at threadless put up a $10 sale.  Every shirt’s $10.  It appears that the sale will last a week, with new shirts listed every day.  Woot!

 Nowadays, it’s pretty important to be politically correct in every aspect of your life.  One possible exception?  Porn.  In Japan.

This DVD from Japan is titled “Beauty and the Black Beasts.”  The plot?  From what I gather from the back cover, which is not quite appropriate to post on this site, the plot involves a Japanese girl sleeping with many many black men.

Maybe the japanese are just behind the times.  I mean, ‘black beast’ has been an inappropriate moniker for african americans here for, what, 50 years?  Maybe political correctness just takes some time to travel east.

From CScout Japan.  In America, cigarettes with cartoon characters get banned, and bright colored malt beverages like Spykes draw the ire of attorney generals across the US…all with the hope of saving our precious children.

No so much in Japan, where fake alcohol drinks made for kids have been on the market for several years.  The Kodomo children’s drink looks like beer and is packaged in a beer bottle, but has an apple juice-like flavor.  The concept has been so successful that the company now offers versions of wine, champagne and cocktails for kids.

From the Kodomo ad below, the drink seems like it’s intended to give kids an adult-looking drink, while adults of course sip real alcohol.  Kinda make sense, especially because kids often want to do what adults do, and then annoying nag until their demands are met.  Leave it to the Japanese to think of a solution to this problem.

Funny thing though, Japan’s minimum age for drinking is officially 20, but kids are served alcohol all the time over there.  You can even buy beers from vending machines.  I had my first hard liquor in japan when i was 15…I went into a bar with a friend, ordered an absolut peppar on the rocks (horrible choice) and was served my drink without incident.

1.  Artie announced that he’s burned out and feels like he’s going to die.  He stated that he’s going to leave the show in January in an attempt to get “healthy.”  He plans to travel to Europe and spend some time clearing his head.   He also mentioned that he may enter rehab just for the respite from his daily life.

2.  When consoling Artie, Howard mentioned that there were two times in his life when he reached a low point.  He used the phrase “There was two times in my life when I had a gun in my mouth.” 

Wow, this is pretty surprising considering the fame and success Howard has achieved.  Robin was very shaken up with these comments, she said “I’m shaking, I don’t want to be here anymore”  I’m sure the show is going to come back to Howard’s comments and try to fully explain what he meant by that statement.  We all knew that Howard had some issues, but this explains his need for therapy three times a week.

Following the confrontation Rosie had with Elizabeth Hasselbeck, she announced her departure from the show effective immediately.  Like I mentioned in my previous post, Rosie has F-U money and doesn’t need to be told how to think by a no talent blond air head.  I guess the search is on for Rosie’s replacement.

Hilarious vid of Conan at San Francisco’s Industrial Light and Magic, George Lucas’ studio.

From The Consumerist.  The other shoe drops?  A month after chemically enhanced pet food started killing off pets in the U.S., a chinese fish distributor sold poisonous puffer fish as monk fish - sending several diners to the hospital.  The pufferfish was sold to stores and restaurants in Illinois, California and Hawaii, and was labeled “monk-fish, gutted and head off, Product of China.”

I have to say, I don’t mind the chinese making my toiletries, furniture, even clothes or electronics…but I’m growing increasingly suspicious of food imported by the Chinese.  It’s one thing if my blender falls apart after a week, but quite another if I am poisoned by my food.  I love cheap just like the next guy…but I think we need a little bit more oversight here, no?