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First of all, just to clarify, sushi isn’t raw fish. In fact, all it has to include is rice; from there it can have a number of different toppings (including vegetables, cooked or uncooked meat, etc.) Sashimi is the delicacy consisting of various raw seafoods. As it turns out, this means that my first sushi experience wasn’t actually my first, as I’ve had sushi many times in Korean restaurants. It was, however, my first sashimi (raw seafood) experience, and it was quite the way to get started.

So, my buddy took me to Sushi Sennin in Manhattan, which turns out to be the fourth best sushi restaurant in the world, and the best in New York. I had many foods that were firsts for me, including kobe beef, octopus, eel, caviar (beluga), and what I believed to be wasabi.

In what turned out to be yet another bit of interesting trivia, very few people in the world have ever had wasabi. The vast majority (if not all) restaurants in both the United States and Japan serve fake wasabi to those that order it. This is even true in the very best restaurants such as the one that I was in. The only way to get real wasabi to 1) be in a very high class sushi place, and 2) ask for “fresh wasabi”. If you haven’t satisfied those two requirements you’ve likely never had wasabi at all.

Anyway, we ordered two chef specials that included around a dozen pieces of sashimi, octopus, ginger slices, a couple of sushi rolls, a kobe beef appetizer, and a bottle of excellent saki. My buddy is doing quite well and picked up the bill for right under $600. It was a great way to get try sushi sashimi for the first time. Very cool indeed.

Last night was metal (that’s good). We went to a place called the Playwright in Manhattan (they have Irish accents) to watch GSP fight Hughes and it was completely insane. I knew GSP was going to win; I think he’s a way better fighter overall, but I was very worried that Hughes was going to bust out with some kind of super-human (he’s part god) deathslam or something. That didn’t happen; he was systematically destroyed, and very quickly. I’m very happy for GSP; he deserves to be on top.

I also picked Monson to win over Tim. That one didn’t come to pass, however. I was very impressed with Tim’s ground game; he was amazing. Then I remembered who trains him — the sickest grappler ever, and my all-time favorite fighter — Jeremy Horn.

So then we exited the place at like 1:30am to find ourselves right in Times Square. It was live. If you haven’t been to this place you need to do so. The place is lit up like it’s daylight, and every building has a giant digital display or billboard of some sort. It’s really a shock to the senses.

The coolest thing was that the place was right in the middle of the Wii launch, and there were thousands of people in this one line waiting to get one. These giant screens were playing the full trailers and they even had people dressed up in Wii costumes. There was so much energy. You combine that with like 25 leathered-out, “don’t make me rock you” NYPD officers and you have a definite scene.

[EDIT: I Was Here]

Very cool stuff — can’t wait to show my girlfriend when she gets here.

The apartment leaves much to be desired; I dislike the headache associated with managing trash, laundry, cleaning, etc. I’d especially rather not have to deal with these things while trying to focus on a project.

And that’s why I would have preferred to stay in the hotel. I really enjoy the simple, sterile environment that a new hotel gives you. Oh well, lesson learned. At least this way we’re right in the city — literally a few blocks from the Empire State Building.

I got to see something really cool the other day. Some guy was being paid to hand out fliers at a mobile phone store here in Queens and the guy running the place saw what he believed to be the guy wasting time talking to friends.

So he moves out to where he’s in line of site of the guy (while still in the store, which had customers in it) and he opens his arms all the way out. “Hey! What I am payin’ you foah…” (think Sopranos). The guy, as if scripted, comes back with, “Why you bustin’ my balls?” (Sopranos) And he’s yelling this. Again, in front of customers.

People barely noticed, except for me. It was awesome.

So I am staying in Queens, which is markedly not New York City. I thought it was virtually the same, but it’s not. Not even virtually.

Well things are about to change. Our main contact up here got us a wicked cool place in uptown Manhattan. We’re right by central park and the Mac store, and we are getting everything taken care of. Laundry, expenses, tons of nice dinners, etc. This guy is hooking us up.

So the days of being stranded in the outskirts of the city are done. For the next two months I’m going to be in the thick of it. Taking the subway to work, being a stone’s throw from everything in the city, and absorbing the energy the way it was intended. Life is good.

I rode the subway into Manhattan today. It was like BART, only dirtier and louder. Also, nobody smiles in New York. I’m sure there’s a city ordinance or something.

I ate at a place in the lower east side called Chipotle. This place is what Moe’s is trying to be, but isn’t. I had a burrito that I will remember for quite some time.

I also bought some clothes while in town. Actually, that’s what I went there for in the first place; it turns out that “business-casual” doesn’t exist in New York, so my single dress outfit was not cutting it. Dropping a quick $400 stopped the bleeding a bit.

So it was a good day. I changed my room to one with functioning wireless Internet (hence this post from bed), got to do the Manhattan thing, and took the Subway expedition off the list of things to do.

And tomorrow is another day…

…yeah, that’s really all I had.

Starting next week I’m going to be in NYC for ten weeks doing an engagement up there. I am really looking forward to it. I’m going to take a ton of pictures, walk the streets of Manhattan, and just generally “soak up” the culture of the city.

Some highlights are going to be:

• Go To a 2600 Meeting
• Mac Store (been already, but going back)
• Coffee Shops
• Book Stores
• Absorb The Overall Energy
• Ride The Subway
• Take The Staten Island Ferry
• Go to Ellis Island, See Statue of Liberty
• Eat More Pizza (I’m familiar with NY Pizza, but will sample more)
• Try Other Food (Indian, Thai, et al)

** List edited based on helpful comments If you guys have any ideas on what I must do while I’m up there, do let me know. I’m going to be staying right in Manhattan, so I’ll be in the thick of it. Can’t wait.

So I’m off to New York again — this time for a full 10 weeks. This is both good and bad.

The good part about it is that I get to save a ton of money. Food is actually my biggest expense, and three months of someone else supporting that is going to net me a couple grand. That combined with a bonus arriving during that time will yield a hefty sum for the savings account.

I’m also enrolling in college again as of October, so I’ll be doing that and playing WoW at night during the whole engagement. Fun fun. Dragonmaw server, btw…email me if you want to game.

Hopefully I’ll be able to bring my girlfriend up to see me as one of my paid breaks. She’s never been to NYC so we’re going to go do the necessary stuff: WTC, Empire State Building, Central Park Ice Skating, 5th Avenue, etc. Should be cool.