Hello, My name is Onigiri and I'm a book addict.

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I’m a reader. If you know me really well, you’d also know that I dabble in writing also. Well I’m not sure if I write well, but I sure can read. Most people might have a book or two piled up on the night stand. Me? I have a pile next the night stand, by the window, on the bed, next to the two overflowing bookshelves...

My addiction to book has gotten so bad I now have taken to sneaking off to the bookstore when I’m alone just so I can get my fix. I used to bring a friend, but most wont let me go near a bookstore if I’m with them. They have all figured out that if they let me go into one they won’t see me again for another few hours and getting me out of one is near impossible. Some people close out the bars, I close out Barnes and Nobles. Yes, I know, I’m a sad, sad nerd. *sigh*

So is there a point to all this?

This is my lovely way of telling you that some of my future post (er... probably soon) will involve the discussion of books. Hopefully, you will all be interested in what I’m reading at the moment and what I think about them. I read just about every genre and even the odd cereal box if I don’t have anything handy around (an oddity since I usually have some reading material nearby). My favorite genre is fantasy, but I do tend to branch out depending on my interests at the time. Lately, I’ve been reading more sci fi, bestsellers, and occasionally a romance or a mystery book. I have a slew of favorite authors and if one strikes my fancy I will often try to read everything they’ve written. I have a bad habit of reading a few different books at one time, all very different. In my currently reading pile there is a fiction book, a book on writing, a classic, and a history book. Just to give you a glimpse of I will possibly be reviewing, here's what I'm reading:

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephensen


On Writing by Stephen King


Dracula by Bram Stoker


Salt: A History of the World by Mark Kurlansky

My first food blog

Saigon Cafe

In a fit of boredom I deceided to drag a friend of mine out to eat pho . It didn't take much; just a bit of whining and bribery. (Cause I'm good like that -_^)

I started out the night with Vietnamese iced coffee which is one of my favorite ways to drink coffee. Coffee was introduced to Vietnam by the French so needless to say it is NOT your typical American weak brew. No, it is pure espresso served in a French press that is suspended over a collins glass with a separate glass of ice. What makes this drink so unique is the thick layer of sweetened condensed milk that lies in the bottom of the glass. So when your press is done dripping you grab a spoon, stir, and pour the mixed coffee over ice. What you get is a sweet, creamy, and strong iced coffee drink. Nummy!

Next we each had an appetizer so we could share. I had the pork and shrimp spring rolls and my friend ordered the egg rolls. Spring rolls are similar to egg roll, but are not fried. The rice paper wrapper is generally rolled around thin noodles, lettuce leaves, mint, bean sprouts, shrimp, and in this case pork slices, served cold. The dipping sauce, quite unique to Vietnamese cuisine, is a mixture of sugar, vinegar, chilies, and grated carrots. The spring roll was good, but it didn't have the mint or bean sprouts tucked in like I'm used to. The egg rolls were well seasoned but the pork was still a bit raw.

I had the Hu Tieu Mi and my friend had the Pho Saigon. My dish was good. It is a similar noodle dish to pho only its made with both egg noodles and rice noodles, then topped with Chinese bbq pork and seafood instead of beef. This soup is made to be a meal and trust me there is plenty of food. All the noodle soups are served with a plate of bean sprouts, basil leaves, sliced chilies, and pieces of lime. There are always condiments such as Siracha sauce, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce at the table. This way you can garnish and season your soup to your taste. My only complaint is that the broth at first was a bit sweet, but a squeeze of lime and a squirt of Siracha sauce solved that. My friend says her broth was a bit bland but the meat and meatballs were good. Both had plenty of noodles to slurp up. In fact, neither of us could finish our bowls.

Service was quick and friendly. Be sure to tell the staff you want your appetizer first so they can hold off on making the soup. It's a very quick meal to put together so it came out when we were still trying to finish our appetizers. Was it the best pho/mi I've ever had? Well, no. But the restaurant is in a good location, close by, and they make a pretty good bowl of noodle soup. I'll probably be back in a month or so.

Food: 7/10
Service 8/10
Price: Cheap and filling.
Authenticity: Missing a few ingredients but all in all pretty close to what I'm used to back home.

Update

I really need to get the hang of this blog thing. I keep saying "Hey this is cool, I should blog about it" and end up coming home and read other people’s blogs. Well since I seem to have a few different thing I want to write about I should be posting a bit more frequently. I think the Cymbalta is really helping. I feel tons better and have been easing my way back into being a social bunny again *hops around*

Sometimes drugs are, like, your friend dude.

The joys of new medication.

I must apologize to my vast audience of probably one person (thanks Emi).

It’s been awhile since my last confession... er post. To this I must blame my ever wonderful condition of fibromyalgia, with its ever annoying symptoms of fatigue and pain. This relapse has put me out of commission for the last three weeks or so. No need to worry however as I have taken my sorry self off to the doctor and been prescribed a new medication. Whether or not said medication is helping I’m not sure. The pain does seem to be decreasing and I do seem to have a bit more energy. So that’s good news.

Hurrah for doctors and modern medicine you might say? I am not so sure. The latest round of pharmaceuticals given to me is called Cymbalta. I was given 4 sample bottles consisting of 7 pills each and told to take one per night without the need to fill my stomach first. After also handing me a prescription to fill once the samples ran out and a command of "see me in four weeks", the doctor with a cherry smile and a wave, disappeared. Leaving me with a bag full of drugs, a $15 copay, and questions.

Questions, oh you know, like..um what the hell was this drug and why am I taking them? The internet is a wonderful thing I tell you. I’ve since found out that Cymbalta is an anti-depressant that also helps alleviate the symptoms of fibromyalgia in women. Only women. Weird, but true and another sign that men and women are vastly different creatures. I also found out that there are some annoying side effects. The side effects are nausea, dry mouth, decreased appetite, anorexia, increased sweating, and suicidality.

SUICIDALITY??? Taking an anti-depressant that causes suicidal thoughts and actions. Great! Reminds me of the anti-nausea pills I was on once that the side effect is nausea. Kind of defeats the purpose huh? So far I’ve been on it for about 4 days and the only side effects seem to be dry mouth and decreased appetite. Which means I drink loads of water, pee frequently, and forget to eat. Maybe I’ll lose weight. The only problem being I’m not hungry but my mind thinks I need to eat and likes to remind me at about nine at night. This leads to me standing in front of the open fridge for half an hour while I rummage through food that doesn’t sound appetizing or takes too long to cook whereby I end up eating junk food. Methinks somehow this will NOT lead to weight loss, whaddya think?