white cement 3's, 1.29.23

money and i were talking about sneakers when he brought up the white cement iii’s. he has a pair from 2011, and i do, too. only thing is, i haven’t worn mine. well, i have and i haven’t. i bought 2 pairs in 2011, my senior year of highschool. i camped out in my car overnight to purchase both pairs. i remember showing up at 2am, going to the harris teeter across from cary towne center, getting an issue of rolling stone with lil wayne on the cover, and reading it until the mall opened up. when the mall opened up, i walked in finish line. there were already 3 people in line. when it was my turn, i asked for two size 11’s. the guy behind me said he was a size 11 and they only had two left, so i bought a size 11 and a size 11.5. the guy asked me credit or debt, but since i didn’t have either, i told him cash. i still have the receipt and everything from that morning 12 years ago. it’s been a while since i looked at my white cements, but it’s definitely a blast from the past. what’s crazy is the white cements are rereleasing in march, so you know i’ll be on the lookout.

here’s to hoping i can get my hands on a pair, as well as the next 12 years not going as fast as these previous 12.

-ratha, 4:44pm, 1.29.23

korean bbq, 1.28.23

i went to sura after spending some time at copley place. they were packed. i’m talking about 20-30 people waiting for a table. we put our name down but ended up leaving to another korean bbq ayce joint in saugus off route 1. when we pulled up, we got a table immediately. the grills and the service were amazing, definitely better than sura. our server even came and cooked the galbi for me intermittently, which was love. the only issue is the galbi wasn’t as good as sura. still really good though. we went to lynnfield marketplace afterwards to get dessert at jp licks. i was going to get a smoothie, but i saw the girl in front of me order some drink that looked incredible. i asked the worker what she got and she said it was a cookies and cream frappe. i asked for extra thick, and it was the best thing i’ve ever had at jp licks. that’ll be my new go-to moving forward.

what a good night it was, though the best thing is realizing it’s saturday after feeling like it was sunday the whole day.

-ratha, 10:35pm, 1.28.23

seaport money, 1.27.23

we pulled into a parking garage to do valet in seaport. as we pulled in, there’s a mclaren parked right beside where we left the car. we also saw a mclaren while riding to yunque on the freeway in puerto rico. is that a sign? who knows? regardless, i wonder what people who live in seaport do. it’s so much money in that area and i can’t help but to aspire to have that type of bread one day. in my 30’s for sure it’s happening.

i gotta level up above these regulars and leave the life of a mediocre career behind…

-ratha, 8:11pm, 1.27.23

reunited with bagel, 1.26.23

as much as i loved vacationing, nothing beats being back with bagel. sleeping with him, walking with him, and feeding him are some of my favorite hobbies.

it’s cold up here, but we get to be cold together and i don’t know if there’s anything more heartwarming than that.

-ratha, 6:31pm, 1.26.23

mookie betts in the cold, 1.25.23

it was depressing leaving mid 80’s weather and coming home to snow. when our tickets were being scanned for the woburn express, the guy scanning the tickets asked me if i’ve ever been told i look like mookie betts. i’ve never heard that before as i typically get compared to tiger woods lol. he said he thinks it’s a compliment, and i told him from someone like him it is. when we got into the station, we were looking and i see where he’s coming from. i think it’s the skin tone, but i still think i’m more handsome lmaooo.

though being back in the snow is upsetting, the mookie betts comparison lightened up the mood.

-ratha, 9:13pm, 1.25.23

the last day, 1.24.23

today was the last full day in puerto rico. i saw a wild rooster, went to the mall, and walked the beach. it wasn’t too busy, but that’s fine with me. i’d hate to be stressed and overwhelmed on vacation. when it’s warm out, i love eating dinner outside so that’s what we did at tayzan. the night was perfect, with the exception of the happy birthday song being performed at the table across from us. still though, the food was good, the company was wonderful, and the night was beautiful. i hate leaving, but i love the thought of coming back.

i’ll miss you, san juan.

until next time.

-ratha, 11:12pm, 1.24.23

stk for dinner, 1.23.23

at dinner tonight, a lady screams for help. as soon as i look over, a guy in a suit–someone who i assume worked at the restaurant– is over at the table. the lady who pleaded for help is holding her son’s head from behind his chair as he’s sitting still. after a minute, the guy dressed in the suit walks away and signals to the waiters that everything is okay. her son was choking, which is a terrible feeling. minutes later, our food comes out. i got a cowgirl ribeye, corn, and mac & cheese. for what it’s worth, the food wasn’t that good. it was decent, just not worth the price i paid. still though, given what happened before the food came out, dinner could have been much worse.

i’m glad that lady’s kid ended up being okay!

-ratha, 10:31pm, 1.23.23

dinner at rakuten, 1.22.23

i walked 0.3 miles to rakuten, an asian/criolla fusion restaurant. crab rangoons was the appetizer and mongolian beef was the entree’. both were superb. nothing compares to the mandarin mongolian beef, but this was more than satisfactory. as the waitress is bringing my check, she asks if i’m chinese. i told her i’m part, but i’m mainly cambodian. she says she came to puerto rico in 86’. she had two kids here and she loves it here. i asked if she knew spanish, and she said she does. it reminded me of an asian guy at the mall i saw earlier who spoke spanish very well. she claimed her chinese and spanish are fluent, but her english is a bit iffy. i told her i thought her english was very good. she told me to come back. i think i will, because some of their sushi rolls looked appetizing. afterwards, i walked to ben & jerry’s to get a milkshake. the area was hustling and bustling for a sunday night. i’m not used to that, but perhaps that’s the regular for san juan.

i hadn’t had a proper walk in days, since i left boston, so it felt good to relax and get some cardio in the midst of a warm, lively winter night off ashford avenue.

-ratha, 11:37pm, 1.22.23

7:15pm reservations, 1.21.23

we had reservations at morton’s steakhouse at the caribe hilton, but they have some type of festival going on, so they shut down a few roads. unfortunately for us, one of the few roads they shut down, we needed to take to get to morton’s. after 40 minutes of driving around in circles, letting party bus motorcades led by cops on bikes, and being stuck in traffic, i was able to find my way to the caribe hilton. we pulled up in the nick of time. i think it was 7:12pm when we walked in the restaurant. so a few weeks ago i did my ranking of best steak of all the steakhouses, and it’s changed. morton’s cooked my steak to perfection. i asked for medium/pink center to which my waiter responded that medium is a red center. he said after that it’s medium-well which has a pink strip in the middle. i didn’t want medium-well, so i went with medium. nervous at how it would turn out, turns out, it was probably the best piece of steak i’d ever had. because of such a fantastic experience, i’m for sure pulling up to the morton’s back home with high expectations.

i’m hoping they don’t disappoint me.

-ratha, 9:16pm, 1.21.23

riding waves, 1.20.23

must’ve laid out on the beach for 3 hours today doing absolutely nothing. it was beautiful. then we hit the pool and the hot tub. the hot tub is so relaxing. i definitely need one in my house when i get one. we went to the mall, ate burgers and fries, and shopped around a little. i got some polos from zara, along with a short-sleeve button-up. being in the tropics makes me wanna turn up my scarface and pablo escobar attire. i know being a drug kingpin is looked down upon, but i can relate to the ambition. being on the beach in san juan, driving around seeing palm trees, and being in warm tropical weather makes me feel like scarface. i just need the money to match the feeling lmao. i’m getting off track, but the point is, i could definitely get used to days like this. 5 days left in this trip, but the goal is to make this a lifestyle.

in due time ratha, in due time.

-ratha, 7:23pm, 1.20.23