There’s so much to write about tonight — I feel like I’m playing catch up.

In preparation for my trip, the video game company I work for upgraded my Blackberry Pearl to the Blackberry Bold, since in Japan and Korea the only cell networks there are 3G (my Pearl wouldn’t work there). I’ll likely only get to use the Bold for the duration of my trip, so I’m determined to make the most of it! It’s got a fabulous large screen, backlit full QWERTY keyboard, GPS, and all the applications you could imagine. The camera on it will come in handy for uploading to my Facebook while I’m away. I’m hoping to get some blog posts in as well. The GPS is AWESOME. It can locate me within a couple metres on Google Maps and show me directions to anywhere I want to go. It can also tell what direction I’m going. And for totally non-work purposes, Facebook and Messenger work on it seamlessly. SO SEXY. Sometimes working in the industry has its perks!

I also haven’t had a chance to write about my last work trip to LA. After a presentation and some meetings, I headed out with my good friends (and previous business partners) from university Chris and Erik, who are now doing private equity down in LA. That’s the great thing about school… it always seems like there’s someone you know who is working wherever you visit in the world. We hit up Koi in LA, which was an amazing restaurant, and I spent the next evening shopping on Melrose.

Burton Women’s Supreme Snowboard Boots... so comfy. My boots last year were a half size too small, and I spent my 30 day season snowboarding with my toes curled under

Another pair of Burton long underwear that isn’t cotton and wicks moisture which is SO important in the winter, I couldn’t help myself from getting a SIGG Burton bottle, and of course, I had to get some underwear from Agent Provocateur. The designs on the underwear were SO cool. And the bra was really girly. I buckled under pressure.

Most of the stores were way WAY out of my price range, but I did manage to snag a couple goodies along the way.

Flashback to the present… tonight I spent a little time cooking up a red pepper cream rigatoni for Allan with hot peppers, mushrooms, shallots, and my favourite food, bacon. Okay, maybe a little too much bacon. Then again, can you ever have too much bacon? I’m sure we’ll die from heart disease one day. We always shop twice a week at, once at Granville Island and once at Capers. That way, we’re always getting fresh local organic ingredients. So hey, maybe it’ll offset some of the bacon fat.

Photo Credit: Canucks.com

Also, I can’t end this post without talking a little bit about the Canucks. This is old news, but Luongo’s new mask is fantastic. I love the ‘C’ over the chin piece. Also, I’m really happy with the direction that Mike Gillis is taking the Canucks. I know he’s not everyone’s favourite GM, but he’s obviously had an impact as evidenced in the pre-season. I’m also loving the trade he made for D-man Shane O’Brien and RW Michel Ouellet. Krajicek and Simek go down to the Lightning. And get this — both our new guys are Canadian. I’m loving our increasingly Canadian Canucks team. Keep it up, Gillis!

Photo Credit: Marc Jacobs

And lastly, man, I REALLY want one of these Marc Jacobs hair bands. They’re around $80-120 which is just ridiculous for a plastic hair accessory. But something about them just keeps me coming back. I’ve got my fabulous Marc Jacobs coat for fall, and these cutie hair bands would look perfect with it. The dilemma — I can’t choose between pink or black. Right now I’m leaning towards black. Any help?

I hope everyone had a good weekend!

Today was a crazy day on Wall Street. It’s no secret that the economy is in some troubled times. After the House of Representatives shot down the Bailout plan, the stock markets got hammered pretty much everywhere in the world. The Dow dropped about 780 points, which is its largest in its history. Yes, it’s the American economy mostly being affected, but ours is tied to theirs, and so is the rest of the world in some ways. It is a scary time if you’re thinking about retiring, but if you’re young and just getting going like me, then there’s a lot of opportunity. History seems to suggest that the greatest economic booms are made after a recession or a slow-down, so if you can stay employed and ride it out… you’ll likely be in a good spot. I’ll be keeping an eye on the economic news and crisis over the coming months.

In other news, while we wait for the housing prices to come down a bit, Allan and I have been trying to make our little place a bit more livable. We’ve sold all our furniture and more on Craigslist and are currently sitting on the floor while we wait for some of it to be delivered. Hopefully I’ll have some photos soon of the place when it is redone.

I’m also getting geared up for a busy October. First, it’s off to Tofino again for the Thanksgiving long weekend. I can’t wait. I love the coast and Tofino is one of my favourite places in the whole world. Usually we go there at least once a month in the off season (a few times a month in the summer). I hear there will be a good swell rolling in for the next couple weeks so I’m excited. Pretty much right when I get back from Tofino, it’ll be straight to the airport where we go to LA, then Japan and Korea for work in 2 weeks. Sometimes when you work in the video game industry you have to travel, and it can be tiring! I’ll be sure to post photos while on the “road” though.

This weekend, I also tried out a new recipe I’ve been dying to try out. When I was in LA a couple weeks ago, I hit up Koi Restaurant with a few friends and had a delicious dish called “Miso Glazed Cod”. It was amazing. I’ve tried to replicate it here at home, and I think I did pretty good! If you get a chance to make it, let me know what you think. It’s got a sweet and sour, flavour similar to teriyaki or soy.

Miso Glazed Cod (Makes enough for 2 people)

Ingredients

2 fillets of Black Cod (I like to get mine from Granville Island)
saké
125 mL mirin
1 cup white miso paste (I like the organic kind, it’s a little lumpier but I think it tastes better)
1/2 cup of organic cane sugar (you can use regular sugar though)

Cooking Steps
1. Pour the saké and the mirin into a saucepan and bring it to a boil for 30 seconds to boil off the alcohol in the saké.
2. Add the miso paste and bring your heat to low and mix well. Try to get all the lumps out as much as possible. Once it has been mixed, bring the heat up to high and add sugar. Make sure you keep stirring and keep going at it until the sugar is clear and liquid like.
3. Let it cool for a while.
4. Marinate cod over night in the mixture or for 2 days. Set a little bit aside, separate from the cod.
(See optional side dish preparation)
5. Preheat oven to 400°F and put the fish on a baking pan or grill/broiler inside the oven. Broil for 5 minutes to brown the fish and then bake for another 15 minutes or so. The fish should be flaky and separate easily.
6. Arrange the fish with the side dishes and serve with a VERY small amount of sauce on the side (don’t use as much as I did in the picture).

Optional side dish preparation — Mashed Potatoes with Shallots, and Steamed Vegetables:

1. Roast some garlic in the oven (let me know if you don’t know how to do this).
2. Sauté the garlic and a few chopped in shallots in 2 tablespoons of butter for about 20 minutes just before you cook the fish.
3. While keeping an eye on the shallots, boil some quartered Yukon gold potatoes.
4. Steam some broccolini and baby carrots (bunch carrots) over the potatoes while they are boiling!
5. Scoop the potatoes out and let the vegetables keep on steaming (don’t let them overcook though). I like to add a little bit of extra virgin olive oil to the water so the vegetables get some flavour.
6. Stir the potatoes around in the shallots until the potatoes dry out a bit. Add a little milk if you have it, and some butter, and then mash the potatoes until they are creamy, or however you like them. Personally I like them a little more textures so I leave the potatoes a bit more whole.
7. Serve the vegetables and the potatoes! I used a cup to make the potato shape but that’s not necessary

Enjoy!