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07 june 2000
----- I treated myself to dinner tonight. I mean, I TREATED MYSELF to dinner tonight. I went out for a quick smoke before dessert, walking down the line of cars parked out front ... RangeRover, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Infiniti, Rolls Royce (yep, another one), Acura Integra, Mercedes convertible, and a limosine blocking the latter three. The Integra, of course, was mine. From beneath the cloud of my now-impending oral surgery (Friday, 2:45pm), I decided it was time to try the one restaurant I've been consciously avoiding since moving to Malibu, the one place that serves my favorite cuisine, the one place that is more expensive than any other, the one place that is within walking distance of home. So I fortified my credit card and went to Nobu, Chef Matsuhisa's oasis-by-the-sea, so to speak. I perched myself at the sushi bar and watched a horde of my new celebrity neighbors come and go. I made nice with Shingo, my chef, for the best way to get the best meal at a sushi bar is to sit at the bar and bond with the chef. Shingo turned out to be a really nice guy, and his respect for me increased when he discovered my lack of taste for any kind of maki (roll) at dinner, and the fact that I was a bonafide member of the Marukai Japanese Market near his home in Torrance. The dinner, omakase, was spectacular. Shingo prepared the following courses for me, in order: i) ankimo sashimi (hi luny) in a sweet sauce, garnished with beluga caviar ii) live octopus sashimi drizzled with lemon, garnished with cilantro and chili peppers iii) seared tuna salad with red peppercorns and soy-wasabi dressing iv) tempura amaebi (gotta love it) with lemon v) black cod filet, steamed (this was incredible, tasted like sweet butter) vii) miso soup vi) sashimi platter with red snapper, giant clam, and sea urchin viii) berry cobbler, vanilla ice cream, and fresh fruit The above was complemented by two glasses of premium cold sake. It was one of the most delicious meals I've ever had. The final tab, after tax and tip, for me, myself, and I: $141. Wonder why I've been avoiding this place for so long...? (I've spent much less than that on two people and was propositioned afterwards -- yes, a strange aside) No, it wasn't quite worth it (is any meal worth that much money?), but it was still a pretty incredible experience, and I'll be going back to see Shingo soon, although I'll make sure to do the ordering that time, in a halfhearted attempt to keep the price down. Maybe if I order California Rolls like most of the movie stars in the place, I'd get out for under fifty bucks. Sorry Felicity, you have no taste, I just cannot bear to do it. ~~~ Came home from work tonight and set out to add a new discussion area to these pages. Everyone else is doing it, why shouldn't I? Of course, being the control freak that I am, I figured I'd download some freeware and host it myself. I went through a good six software packages, installed them all, tested them all, and hated them all. They were all way too robust for my purposes. Of course, what I was really looking for was the stupid simplicity of LUSENET, which every other diarist/journalist/journaler seems to be using now, but I couldn't find it. So I decided to join the crowd... And it is with great pleasure that I announce the birth of "live sweet shrimp," the amaebi forum. Of course, the first topic begs for emotional support in light of my coming surgery. Be the first to post ... I dare you. 07 june 1999: didn't write : 07 june 1998: heaven's gain : The rain was cold and stinging, and yet it felt beautiful on my skin. I took the shovel, dug into the earth, and said one last goodbye as I spooned the dirt onto the casket.
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