Author: davidsnow

My Current Status

It has definitely been a while since I last posted and for that, to anyone, I’m sorry. In the past few months I’ve gone through quite a lot emotionally and mentally. From trying to cope with my family issues, to getting a second part-time job and going on my first date since the start of Covid(to name a few). I consider this one crazy roller coaster of a life just recently. This isn’t going to be anything like my other random posts. And for that, you have been informed.

Family

Look, don’t get me wrong, I love my family to death. Even if I don’t show it. But then again, my entire family doesn’t really show love either. At least not in a way most families do. Like what you see in the movies or TV shows. Maybe it’s just how we were raised, but the best way to put it like my Aunt’s boyfriend once said to us many years back, “I’ve never met a family so ununited.” He’s not wrong. We hardly speak to each other about our issues or how we are emotionally. Most of how I deal with life was through television, and how everyone in it got through their problems. Never worked out so well for me considering my situations were mostly different and I always felt like I had nobody to talk to. I know there’s plenty more I’d like to say on this subject but let’s just move on. So long story short, I’m on my own and hardly see my family anymore. Mostly only see them during the holidays. I show my love for them from a distance.

My New Job

So I started my second job just over a month now as a Host in the restaurant business. Something new I’m trying since I consider myself to be a “people person.” If I’m being honest, I thought at this point in my life I may have gotten a lot more blog posts up on the internet and would get noticed enough to not have to work any jobs and do what I enjoy doing. And one of those would include writing. Which brings me here, the work is easy and for the most part my coworkers are pretty cool. I have found a liking to a few of my coworkers which makes the work day, or night, much easier. Although, there is one individual I am not too fond of. After only working with him just a handful of times, I’m already picking up on his behavior towards me that gives off a negative vibe. I won’t go into details of what that is. Just needed to get that off my chest.

First Date Post-Covid

One of the good things about working at the restaurant was that get to meet people or guests as we call them. After just briefly noticing this individual, we went out on a date. And I have to admit that I was a little nervous, which I did tell her so she wouldn’t get any awkward vibes. It went really well. We went to a distillery because the original plan was this Fall Fest that was going on downtown was canceled due to the rain. I didn’t expect us to talk for as long as we did, so long in fact, that the distillery closed and we ended up continuing our conversation afterwards. But before that, something magical happened. As my date went to use the restroom, and there were only a handful of people left inside, Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” came on and I couldn’t help myself and started singing with it. A few other people sang with me and we all knew… this was going to be a moment. My date did catch the second half of my performance.

My Current Status

Family will be family and I’ll love them all unconditionally. No matter what happens. And as for my new job, people will be people. As in haters are going to hate and lovers… will love. That’s what makes us all unique as individuals. The people make the job experience. Whether you want to stay because of them or quit because of them. And for my first date in a long while, it went a lot better than I expected. Just some of the beauties of taking a chance on someone. So much so, your coworkers will ask about it!

As for me, life can be pretty difficult to deal with. Some things are hard not to think about, especially the negatives. But I’m very fortunate to have people that care about me and my well being so it does make it easier to talk about. The progress is slow but I am healing nonetheless. Until next time…

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My Apartment Design

My Inspiration started when I was in high school, not long after upgrading from basic cable. One day I came across HGTV and before I knew it, my life had changed. Just seeing the ideas some of these professionals had, their mindset to create such elegant and beautiful designs within a home. I guess that’s why they have their own television show. Either way, I was hooked! Design On A Dime and House Hunters were one of my favorite shows to watch then. Always loved the concept of designing a place on a budget because that gave me the opportunity to do the same. considering I’m not a baller by any means. So that transpired to me wanting to do that when I had my very own place. It took over a decade but overall I’m happy with how my place turned out.

A short video tour of my current place.

The Sims

Since being introduced to The Sims video game franchise from a good buddy of mine, Vincent, I fell in love with the game. It’s one thing to play the game and see what type of career and lifestyle you give your Sims, but another when it came to building your own home. One of the features on why I enjoy playing the game so much. Along with Fallout 4.(Still haven’t beaten the main storyline) But when they came out with seasons, that’s a wrap! The aesthetics with video games is half the reason I play them. The other is having a good storyline. As time went on, Sims just got more and more technical with its’ build mode option. I didn’t like it at first, but as I adapted to the new games, and familiarized myself, I thought to myself, “It’s not so bad.” I definitely spent hours with the build versus playing the game. But I guess that’s also part of playing the game. Here are some examples of what I’ve done below.

PS3 Build #1
PS3 Build #2(Was still a work-in-progress)
One of my favorite builds on the PS4
Back side
Fallout 4 Starlight Drive
Another view(wasn’t sure how to go about the walls for the rooms)

The Long Wait

I was 21 when I left home moving from one place to another amongst friends. Since leaving home, I moved 8 times in a span of about 12 years. Almost every place I went to I didn’t have the luxury of calling it home. And on top of that, I bounced around from job to job until eventually I had to settle for a little while. It didn’t occur to me until much later that what I needed was to live on my own. I was getting older and I had to keep a steady paycheck to be able to save in order to do so… A long story later, I get my own place and was finally able to design the interior within the confines of my apartment. And that’s pretty much it for how I got inspired when it comes to interior designing. But there’s plenty more than just interiors, I do enjoy doing blueprints, architectural designs as well! Anyway, it wasn’t an easy task for me to get to this point. There’s a much bigger story that I will be telling later throughout my blog and on my YouTube channel. Stay tuned!

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500 Calorie Meal In A Hurry

If you’re a fan of Panera Bread, then this article might be for you. Or if you’re just a food person in general. Either way, welcome all! I wanted to broaden my horizons with my cooking skills. I like to think of The Sims as a guide to help me in real life. Like the food that my Sim creates can look very appealing. You really can learn something from video games. Just need to put in the hours.

On To The Meal!

A pastrami sandwich that is simple, yet a little salty, but has a refreshing taste. And if you’re like me, top it off with a dill spear pickle. I’ve had plenty of sandwiches and burgers that dry out my mouth in which the pickle helps wash that down. This isn’t one of those. Maybe it’s got something to do with the spinach and avocado but either way, the pickle was still a delight to have. Toasted buns always seem to give sandwiches that extra kick for looks and style. Although, I may have toasted it too long because when I actually ate the bread, it cut the roof inside my mouth which is still a little tender at the moment. Or maybe I just don’t know how to eat a sandwich.

I wanted to make a healthy meal, despite the high sodium count from the lunch meats and of course, the bacon. But it’s bacon, so you have to. I used salami and pastrami considering when I was grocery shopping, those were on sale at the time(trying to stay on a budget). But you can use just about any sort of meats you desire. Or keep it vegetarian. The options are almost unlimited. And I was able to make this meal around 500 calories only.

Smoothie Time

Just the perfect beverage to compliment a meal on a nice hot day. Cool and healthy. The smoothie that I decided to go with had both fruits and vegetables in it. To keep things simple and easy, I used frozen fruits mostly. Liquid choice, I went with orange juice. You could also use milk, water or any other beverage you like.

So, something that is difficult for me to say. I have a little bit of an eating disorder, so getting the necessary calories I need daily is hard to come by. One method that helps me is being able to drink my calories. The good thing about this recipe is that it comes with plenty of vitamins and nutrients like potassium, calcium and vitamin C. With the orange juice, this only comes out to roughly 200 calories.

Ingredients/Recipe

Total Time: 10-15 minutes

Sandwich: spinach(1oz), avocado(1oz), provolone cheese(1 slice), salami(4-5 slices), pastrami(4-5 slices), bacon(2 slices), and 2 rye bread. Whether or not you decide to toast the bread, I use a little bit of olive oil to help give it that nice golden brown color.

Smoothie: spinach(1-2oz), avocado(1-2oz), frozen fruits(1 cup), and a cup of orange juice. Very quick and easy to make. I pack the spinach in first followed by the liquid and then top it off with the rest and blend to your liking. No need for ice since the fruits are frozen.

And there you have it! A delicious simple meal and drink at roughly 700 calories. Tune in for more updates to see what else I have prepared from my kitchen. I’m David… until next time.(I still haven’t figured out a sign-off catch phrase)

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First Plane Ride & Airbnb Experience

Introduction/Wedding

Planes, Airbnb and a wedding. None of this would have been possible if not for my friends Vincent and Eddie. If I went at this alone I’m certain I would have been lost at the airport and my flight would have left without me. With that, I would have missed out on a friend’s wedding and a hidden nightclub to say the least. So, to tell this story we’ll have to go back to 2015…

A friend of mine, Wae, recently moved to Texas and was soon to be married. Our history, he is the brother of my sister’s baby daddy. We knew each other already but when I got a temp job, not only did I work at the same location as him, but we ended up working in the same department. So that brought us closer together. Wae was a big influence during my early fitness days. He got me to workout with him at the gym he went to. And as we like to call it, we were getting “swole!”

So it was a traditional Lao wedding. An event that I believe goes on an entire week. But probably ended up being 2 days maybe. From preparations to having monks come and blessed those who are soon to be, and of course, the reception. Now, you know it’s an Asian wedding if there’s Remy Martin, Hennessey, Heineken and Corona involved. So, this wasn’t one of my most proudest moments, but when I was at the venue of the wedding sitting at a table, I noticed that the servers bringing out the food was wearing the exact same thing I was. A simple white button-down shirt with a black vest and tie. One of the guest at the wedding mistaken me for a server too. I’m sure they weren’t the only one. How embarrassing for me. Eventually, after a few drinks I was able to look past that and still managed to have a great time, even though I knew almost no one.

Posing before heading off to the wedding. (Photo by Eddie)
Sangria bar?
Art inside the Dallas museum
Candy shop with a bouncer?
Hidden nightclub. (All other photos complimentary by Vincent)

My Experience

Going back to the flight, I probably wouldn’t have even gone if I was by myself. Fortunately some of my friends wanted to tag along and experiencing the city of Dallas. The worst part about the flight for me was descending. Every time I flew my ears would pop, even when I would chew gum or tried plugging my ears. So the flight was taken care of for me as I set-up the Airbnb, which was a nice cozy apartment. Only like a 5 minute walk from downtown. Thank you Natalie for the listing! I would definitely stay there again if I find myself back in Dallas.

A lot of what we did was checking out dive bars, eating a really large pizza because, well, Texas. Found a nice Mexican restaurant with cheap margaritas, checked out the museum and a couple nightclubs. And I can’t say exactly how it happened but we somehow found ourselves inside a pretty cool nightclub, which was hidden behind or underneath a candy shop. Overall, it was a great experience for me with plenty more stories like this to come. Stay tuned!

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Retro Gaming

My Origin

Let’s go back to the 90s! For me, this is where the debut of the Nintendo and Gameboy started. I can’t remember which one I played first, but I do remember my oldest brother buying a Nintendo from our neighbor at a garage sale… and that’s when Contra was first introduced in my life. The classic side-scroller shooting game that opened up my imagination to playing with sticks that looked like guns. Also, Tetris was another classic I enjoyed before the world of Pokémon took over a good chunk of my childhood. From Gameboy to collecting cards, it was huge. And the nice little comeback it made with Go! that got people to go outside, go for a walk and get a little exercise.

When the SNES and the N64 came out, one of my favorite games to play was Mario Kart. I had a passion for cars and racing. Sometimes when I’m not playing games I would be playing with my toy cars. Just a kid with a big imagination. I had this rug or mat with a town in it that I got lost in for hours. Having these Hot Wheels car wash stations and all sorts of things you could get to build your collection. When Need For Speed: Underground 2 came out, that’s when my love and passion for cars felt complete. On top of The Fast and The Furious and me getting my first car. To have an open-world concept like that was mind blowing. And if that wasn’t enough there was the sexy Brooke Burke voice acting in the game.

Mario Kart on the Nintendo 64
Graphics of NFS: Underground 2 on PS2

Blast From The Past

As I got older I started opening up to a lot more different types of games. Final Fantasy VIII was the only game from the franchise I played but I loved it. Unfortunately I never beat the game. Only got as far as disc 3. One of my old neighbor Jerry, was a big influence in my life. I don’t think I would have ever heard of Metal Gear Solid or Dragon Ball Z if not for him. He introduced me to the world of Anime and so much more. Here’s to ya! Alongside Jerry, some of my closest friends to this day, we were brought together by video games and other things I’m sure. Madden was a big hit with NBA2K right there with it. But the biggest game to us at the time was Socom II. That game got us in trouble a lot. I would have my friends over often on the weekends. One of the things we would do is play basketball on the driveway, order pizza and we would play Socom online late into the night. Having difficulties keeping quiet, we would get yelled at either by my oldest sister or parents. It definitely was fun while it lasted though.

The classic 3rd person view from Socom II

A lot has changed when it comes to gaming. Quality to say the least. But something that I enjoy about video games more recently is the story. There’s just so many to name and maybe in future posts I’ll talk about those games. Of course, I would like to actually finish the game first. Which is something I’ve noticed about myself. I played a handful of games without beating the main story. Almost as if I’m not ready to finish it because I just don’t want it to end. Like the side quests itself might not have much meaning after the fact. I’ll be sure to make it a goal of mine to do so… sooner, rather than later.

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At Home Chef

Cooking History

Growing up I was a picky eater. Very cautious about what I ate, which could explain why I was almost always very small. Even for most of my 20s I was often mistaken for looking like a teenager. Unless I was a regular at bars, I typically would get carded. Thinking back at it now, it wasn’t such a bad thing. It’s good to look young some times. Just don’t feel it. My physical health could use some work… anyway, cooking! An art-form to say the least. When I was younger all I knew were simple dishes like instant noodles, or eggs. Anything that took little effort. I didn’t develop any cooking skills until I started living on my own. One of my biggest influencers that got me to enjoy my time in the kitchen is Ross. One of my oldest friends to this day. We met back in grade school and he taught me so much of what I know today. Along with some Food Network shows that inspired me. Some of the things he taught me was knowing your utensils, how to use them and depending on what I’m cooking, to use certain types of pots and pans. Anywhere from steaks to sauces, and more. We even made our own homemade pizza once!

Beef and Broccoli

One of my signature dishes. I would say this is a simple, yet delicate recipe to make. Once you can get the flavor and sauce down to your liking, the rest is whatever you want. Meat choice down to just about any sort of vegetables you want to use. That’s the beauty of making a stir fry dish, it’s easy to change so you don’t feel like you’re eating the same meal day after day. What I love about beef and broccoli is how quick and easy it is to make. Good source of protein even though the sodium count can get a little high.

Back when I was still in high school, I remember having a competition with a couple of my friends. We would see who could make the best beef and broccoli. At this point I was still a novice in the cooking world. My dish was really simple. Ross’ rendition was pretty solid. But my old neighbor Jerry, who I spent a lot of my time with growing up, took us to school. He used this sauce I would have never thought to use and it brought out the flavor of the dish very well. I placed last… but I never gave up. I kept at it, trying to perfect this meal to where I wouldn’t need to change anything else.

Prep work of what I used. Approximately 10 minutes.

Heated up garlic and chili oil to start.

Meat went in next. Wanted to get crispy edges before tossing in the veggies.
Veggies in. Letting it breakdown a bit before seasoning.
The finished product. About 10 minutes of cook time.

Recipe/Instructions

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 20 minutes Serving Size: 2

Any choice of meat, I went with beef this time. Used about 10-12 ounces. 1 broccoli head, about 1/3 of a medium onion(I used sweet onion), 2-3 cloves of garlic and a yellow bell pepper.

After cutting the vegetables and meat to your liking, I heated up the pan with about a tablespoon of oil on medium high.

  1. Scooped in some hot chili oil(for extra kick) with the garlic. Mix around for about 30 seconds to a minute.
  2. Toss in the meat. Cook until liking of doneness. About 2-3 minutes.
  3. Next, throw in all the vegetables. Mix it in with the meat stirring often for the next few minutes.
  4. Seasoning. I used about a tablespoon and a half of hoisin sauce, about a teaspoon of soy sauce and fish sauce each. Sugar is optional. Same with Sriracha.
  5. When the juices start to show from the meat and veggies breaking down, I mix in some corn starch and water to thicken the sauce. Results will vary based on how much starch and water you use. And that should be it! Just plating.

The Wrap-Up

Very quick. Very simple. Shouldn’t take more than 20-25 minutes to make. I do on a personal preference like my foods a little bit more salty. So when you’re seasoning, don’t add too much to the dish right away. I was told, “It’s better to under-season than to over-season.” Just a fair warning, when I tossed the meat into the chili oil, it hit my nose pretty good. I don’t remember if I was coughing or sneezing afterwards. Maybe I’ll scoop in the chili oil towards the end. See if that makes a difference with overall taste. One of the things I noticed when cooking this meal was the pan I used. When the veggies went in, I didn’t have room to move everything around. Which is why a wok would work perfectly in this situation or with any stir fry dishes. Something I’ll have to invest in for sure! But for now, this will do. Til next time.

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First Blog/Lao New Year

Introduction

Where does my story begin? That’s hard to say, considering there were many events in my life that were memorable. Having to pick just one is difficult to start with. But the least I could do is tell you a little bit about myself. I’m 33 years old and just recently celebrated Lao New Year with my family. For Thanksgiving I was in charge of making the turkey of which I burnt… just once. And there was another time I undercooked it… I’m getting better. Practice makes progress.

There was one time I had a shoe thrown at my head, going to a wedding dressed exactly like the waiters. Now I am one as of today. Sort of. Had an amazing trip to Florida with one of my previous employers to be a part of a thing they called Team Rally. I was a stripper for a night, escaped from a party we started and I farted in front of a girl I had just met. These are to name a few of many stories I’ll be sharing in detail, in the near future.

Lao New Year

Let’s start with one of my most recent memory. I went to my mom’s to celebrate the Pi Mai. We had the Sou Khaan(a blessing in having a happy and healthy life) which is where someone is saying good prayers for you while tying a white string around your wrist(s). The Lao Buddhist tradition has it where you typically have both hands together sitting flat, then you bow down to honor the one that prays for you. Or so I believe. I haven’t been paying as much attention to my ancestors religion the older I got. You do however have to sit in almost any other position than crossed legged or Indian style, which can get very uncomfortable after a long period of time. Normally during a Thuk Baht ceremony(people offering food for the monks for blessing them).

We then had ourselves some pho. Afterwards, I helped my brother-in-law move a mattress and dresser to his and my sister’s place. I spent some time with one of my nieces and one of my other sisters was later going to grill some chicken and fajitas, which told me only one thing… that I was staying longer. While waiting for the food, I got to spend some quality time with my sister’s boyfriend before heading home for the night. The conversations we had felt real. I had a great time talking to Derrick. We shared stories, had some laughs. I even told him and my sister about my fart story… Overall, it was exactly how Ice Cube explained it, “Today was a good day.” I got to spend some time with my family, bonded with my sister’s boyfriend and eat some really good food. As simple as it was, it was memorable.

The Takeaway

That night I learned a part of what it’s like to be a parent. Derrick has a kid with my sister. And that made me think of my friends with their kids, and understanding from their perspective what it’s like not having as much free time as they used to. Not seeing it from their point of view. I never understood until this night why it was so difficult hanging out. So the very few times we are able to get together for events and whatnot, I just want to make the most of it. Just cherish the moments with the people you surround yourself with. I hope you enjoyed reading this as I enjoyed writing it. Until the next one.

Kawb Jai

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