Cheff Jeff at WASSABI Portland

YO YO YO!!! What it do my Oklahomies,Nompton brotatoes, and all you visitors to our blog?! Well, here's an update of my life. Two days before I return home from South Africa I get a phone call from a strange number with the area code 503 (Portland). It turns out to be my aunt and she has never called me before. I call her back and she asks me to fly out to Portland, Oregon to help her out at her new restaurant, which just opened up in April.. It's called Wassabi (www.wassabipdx.com). I was hesitant at first and told her I'd have to sleep on it and call her back when I got into the states. I woke up the next day and decided that this was a chance to get out of Oklahoma for awhile. Five days after coming home from South Africa, I am back on a plane to Portland. Trust me... I'm and sick and tired of flying now. What a drag...

I get into Portland and settle into my apartment, which is extremely bare and lonely. All I had was a bed and a night stand and a worthless, crap lamp that probably wouldn't even illuminate a 2x2 feet coat closet. I was without cable and internet there for over a week. I went from my BMW to a 10-speed bicycle. What did I get myself into?? BUT.... I do move into my aunt's place today to house and dog sit while she is gone on vacation for two months. I'll have two yorkies as my friends, Smokie and Bandit, and yes they fit their names very well... Bandit is a mischievous dog... I'll finally have cable, internet, a car, some FOOD, and... a HOT TUB!!

Not only have I been deprived of the necessities in life that make a human happy... I've been at work at the restaurant for the past nine days working from 10:30-10:30. When am I going to get a day off? Who knows.. I'm the only chef and my uncle is still on his drive back from Oklahoma. Restaurant is pretty cool and modern. We have 13 total flat screens and a projector. One of which is for the employees in the kitchen.. They are very spoiled. We show a movie every Wednesday and have popcorn. We have 14 awesome beers on tap too. Anyway, I do have to say that I work with a great staff- Brandon, Ian, Sam, Lace, Bri, Natalie, Sherry, James and the family. It's so laid back and easy. I'm on my computer 24/7, reading, flirting, watching Entourage or whatever is on tv. I went to a Blues festival in downtown with a girl from work last week. The blues dancing was a bit more difficult than I thought and probably not something I could see myself doing on a regular basis but I would definitely give it another try.

Fourth of July... I actually had to work but we closed super early because it was so dead. Closed up shop at 6 and pigged out on the patio during the employee potluck and had all you can drink draft beers. Any 14 that you wanted to try. After that, my aunt and uncle decide to make a last minute, spontaneous drive to the beach house, which is only an hour and a half away, to surprise the rest of the family that is out there. The place is beautiful!!! I'll snap shots of the place the next time I head there. As we are almost pulling in, one of my uncles text me and says "Happy 4th of July! Too bad you're working at Wassabi." Perfect timing right? He was damn surprised when I got there. It was great to see his face. Had some beers and food with the family then we headed to the casino where I lost $40 of my aunts money on the penny slots... Don't ask me how. the next morning we wake at 8 and head back to work.. That's the end of that. Boredom resumes..

Next weekend, i head to Portland's International beer festival for free beer, thanks to my uncle.. The weekend after that I'll head to the 23rd Annual Oregon Beer Festival of all the microbreweries.. I'll be sure to update photos from there.. My youngest sister flies in on the 20th and the older one flies in on the 25th.. Will be great to see them.. All of the grandchildren from all of my grandparent's 11 kids will be here.. I think there are 16 or 17 of us. HUGE FAMILY! Brotato John Bobz is planning on coming up in a couple of weeks.. I hope he does.. I miss that ninjer. B-Ren is also making a road trip up here in August.. Will be nice to see him as well. Well, that's all I have at the moment.. Here are photos of the restaurant!!! Oh, the PRINCE and MANHATTAN rolls have made their debut and they are a hit!! I don't know when I'll be back in Nompton.. Probably the first week of September.. I miss you all. I'm so home sick.. Bye.









We have a tv in the kitchen so that the chefs and servers can watch basketball and soccer.


My mom and sisters sent me this photo on the 4th of July.. How sweet! :)


14 beers on tap and I think 4 of them are Oregon microbreweries.


Before this was labeled, two of my uncles thought this pitcher was Vietnamese coffee. They poured themselves a cup and added cream.. Turns out it was soy sauce and they didn't realize it until they took huge gulps on their drive home. hahahaha



PRINCE and MANHATTAN make the debut!







We have an employee computer for Facebook or whatever in the employee break room. Spoiled much?






SPAMMED!!

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WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA

So... I've been back from Johannesburg, South Africa for about a week now and just now got time to post photos and tell a little a bit about my journey. First of all, my total trip time was about 30 hours. OKC to Chicago was 3 hours, Chicago to London was 8 hours, and London to Jo'burg was 11.5 hours. And then we have layovers.. What a pain in the ass. Got off the plane in Jo'burg and it was 30 degrees. What a drag. And it cost me 50 bucks to get to my hostel, which did not have heating. I slept with a thermal, long sleeve, hoodie, North Face, beanie, scarf, gloves, Ugg slippers, and a comforter. That still didn't do the trick. Couldn't sleep until 5:30 in the morning and woke at 9:00am because of the time difference and jet lag. Free breakfast in the morning consisted of toast and coffee. That's what I ate for the next 6 days.

When I woke the next morning I changed hostels to be closer to the stadiums. Met a Colombian in my room who went to the same games as me so we switched hostels and traveled together for the next 2 days. I got on a cab and went into downtown Jo'burg, then hopped onto a bus to get into Ellis Park for the USA v. Slovenia game. We got screwed out of our money for transportation to the stadium by the way. It should have only cost us 5 bucks, but we ended up spending $30. Get to the pitch and all they have for beer is Budweiser. Hotdogs were a deal and good. Game began and the entire crowd was going insane because we thought we lost the game at half time. Score was 0-2 Slovenia. I have to add that we have the rowdiest crowd ever. Luckily we kicked ass and came back 2-2.

The next day was so-so. I fell asleep at midnight due to craziness at the game. I didn't wake up until 5:30PM the next night. What a waste of an entire day!!! I showered and I walked to the mall to make up for my unproductive day. I went to eat dinner at a place called Sophia's, which was an upscale Mediterranean restaurant. I ordered a beef carpaccio appetizer, Veal marsala entree and a glass of South African wine for $25 after gratuity. What a deal. That was the end of that night.

Next day is Sunday. I met a fellow American from Chico, California and we decided to be brave and try to walk to Soweto and Soccer City Stadium, which is about a 4-6 hour walk from where we were at. This is probably the best day we had there besides the matches. We only walked about half a mile before we met a nice South African who showed us to the mini bus that would take us downtown. He even rode with us to make sure we got there all right and hopped onto the correct bus. We get into our second bus and the last guy the gets on sits next to me in a packed mini bus. We three start to chit chat and he offered to show us around his hometown of Soweto. As dangerous as it is, we were up for it. We met his family, his friends, he showed us around towm , gave us food to eat and we just hanged out for 4 or 5 hours. It was a great time and I shot some good photos. South Africa has some of the nicest people I've ever met. When it was nearing game time his sister and he drove us both to the stadium at no cost. This match was Brasil v. Cote D'Ivoire. Brasil wins 3-1 and they have some pretty legit girls. We head back to the hostel and hanged with some English, Scottish, African, American, French, and Brasilian guys around a fire pit. Great stories from here but one stuck out:

This English guy was in the restroom at the Brasil game and there was piss on the toilet so he wanted to wipe it off. All that was left of the toilet paper was the center cardboard. He picks it up and wipes it and when he goes to throw it away he sees that there is crap on his hand. I guess some guy decided to wipe his ass with the cardboard because he ran out of paper. Well, this English guy storms out of the "cubical" aka stall and wipes his shit hand all over the mirror and washes his hand. End of story. He's scarred for life.

Monday, the day before I leave. I did nothing but sleep and hang out with my English and American buddies. Went to watch the Portugal game at an Italian restaurant and had a beer and large pizza for less than $10 bucks. Later on that night I went to see Robinhood with my hostel buddies. A medium popcorn, drink and a bag of candy cost $5. How legit. I know. Went home and passed out after that.

Next morning is the day I leave. I headed into downtown to bargain with some locals for gifts and it was a success. I bough 7 vuvuzelas and 2 jerseys. As soon as I bought my last two vuvuzelas we were looking for a bus to get onto. In the process of doing that, I ran into a guy. I thought I it was my fault so I turned around and said I was sorry. He replies and says, : it's okay but you have to be careful because people can grab you ( he grabs my belt) and pickpocket you." In the middle of telling me this he steals my iPhone. What a complete dick. They work in groups. There were 3 of them and 3 of us. What a crap ending to my last day in Jo'burg.

That's the end of that trip and now I'm back in the USA but currently residing in Portland, Oregon, helping my aunt out at her restaurant. Enjoy the photos!!!

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