tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24343340916149146822024-03-13T06:58:40.134-07:00Sunfire Lunch TourWe have committed to eating at every single restaurant in the Castro St. area in downtown Mountain View, in sequence, no matter what the restaurant. You will find our daily reviews here.Yishanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10457070986730822597noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-59315195538229774042011-05-01T12:36:00.000-07:002011-05-01T12:36:37.174-07:00Day 32: Posh Bagel (Niniane)There was so much bellyaching amongst Sunfire members about going to Posh Bagel, because it is at the bottom of our building and people are tired of eating there. But there is no flexibility to the rules of the Lunch Tour!<br />
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Posh Bagel has many types of bagels, but I always get the Whole Wheat.<br />
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Here is my sandwich: turkey on whole wheat bagel. I've had it many times before. It's good.<br />
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LG was the only visitor who was accommodating enough to eat with us at Posh Bagel. <br />
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We talked about how Jack Dorsey is splitting his time between Square (where Yishan is consulting) and Twitter (where LG works). <br />
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Later in the afternoon, Chris Robinson made homemade vanilla ice cream for us. It was so good! He told us how he gained 10 pounds in 10 days after buying this ice cream maker. He said the most fattening was creme brulee ice cream. Chris: "When you're spooning the ice cream to your mouth, before it's reached your mouth, you've already gained weight."Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06731517033909059791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-90688376463829936142011-04-29T00:26:00.000-07:002011-04-29T00:39:09.936-07:00Day 32: Posh Bagel (Yishan)<img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://www.evernote.com/shard/s31/sh/fce51999-531f-453f-9b00-01da0fbb1ee8/5543d488897b111987d9c17ee019edde/res/6ea8f68d-6b68-409f-b5f2-1243625a56e4/cameraroll-1304061034.216976.jpeg?width=320&height=239" border="0" alt="" />Niniane questioned my devotion to the lunch blog while we were heading out to lunch today because I had not yet posted my entry for Cantankerous Fish (it's up now, but it's backdated), but I pointed out to her that I was voluntarily going to Posh Bagel, which is not really that good and also the place I have to eat breakfast at almost every morning after I work out and come into the office, because it's right downstairs. That convinced her. Plus, I am getting my Posh Bagel entry up before hers!<br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://www.evernote.com/shard/s31/sh/9a0cdabc-4595-41db-9ca6-d0407e9e437c/1000c2e1957695cb36efc9723d3943bc/res/f9f077dc-0244-4a84-8be0-6e065acf290f/cameraroll-1304061055.380269.jpeg?width=320&height=239" border="0" alt="" />LG visited today, Makinde returned from his trip overseas (programming mobile software for poor schools in Africa), and the mixer today was with Evernote. I'd seen Evernote before, but had no idea how awesome it is. I am currently using it now.<br /><br />The meal at Posh Bagel wasn't too bad. In fact, the food is pretty consistently okay, and they have a much larger menu than you think. There are soups, salad, fruit, bagels, crepes, sandwiches, smoothies, pastries, juice, breakfast foods, and (I think) paninis. I think the issue is that you come in and look at one part of the menu and your brain sorts the place into "that kind" of establishment and proceeds to edit out noticing the other menus. For example, I've come to this place for years and only recently noticed that they also serve soup. I just wish it were open past 5pm (3pm on Sundays).<br /><br />I eat here almost every day that I'm at Sunfire, as it is now a consistent part of my morning routine. The food isn't amazing, but somehow I never get sick of it (maybe that means the food is really amazing). The staff knows me, and they are very friendly.Yishanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10457070986730822597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-33644080546989333122011-04-18T14:20:00.000-07:002011-04-29T00:26:09.242-07:00Day 31: Cantankerous Fish (Yishan)<img style="margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 480px; height: 359px;" src="http://www.evernote.com/shard/s31/sh/8dc32628-863f-4fc6-8620-da506779f3f2/ce4bb2575d4c44def4d483fd3cde9d26/res/6d4a4c9b-875e-4b1e-9c60-a9d0d28c71b4/cameraroll-1304060958.150498.jpeg?width=640&height=478" border="0" alt="" /><br /><br />I think having a company holiday in honor of your own company is brilliant (e.g. Minted Day) and I was happy to see The Return of Niniane. Sorry I had to go to a bunch of meetings in the afternoon, Niniane.<br /><br />A lot of people ordered fish and chips. It was decidedly mediocre, but this restaurant is mediocre. I seriously don't know how it's stayed in business; I think it's because the expensive lawyers upstairs at Fenwick come downstairs and spend a lot of money at the bar or something, or take clients to lunch there because it's close by. There are plenty of better places within a couple blocks. You really don't expect a placed called Cantankerous Fish to have mediocre fish and chips, but there you go.Yishanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10457070986730822597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-76597325777993991552011-04-18T14:19:00.000-07:002011-04-18T14:52:43.899-07:00Day 31: Cantankerous Fish (Niniane)Today is Minted Day at <a href = "http://minted.com">Minted</a>, the startup where I work, so everyone has the day off. I came down to Sunfire for the day. Yishan wrote me numerous IMs about how overjoyed he felt about the tap-tap sound of my typing at the desk behind him. Then he promptly left for the entire afternoon after lunch. :/<br />
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We ate at Cantankerous Fish. They have a weekday happy hour, so we often go for drinks and small plates after our mixers. Jahanzeb revealed that despite hearing the pronouncement of Happy Hour at every mixer, he thought it was just a joke and didn't realize that people actually came down to eat and drink. <br />
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I had the fish tacos, which were very good!<br />
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Jahanzeb told us that tonight he is flying to Seattle for tryouts of X Factor, which is NOT Fear Factor but rather a version of American Idol. Jahanzeb is an amazing singer who has treated us to concerts, so we are all rooting for him. We thought about how we could trick users into inadvertently sending sms'es that vote for him. <br />
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I said how I just started watching "The Wire", and Doug revealed how it's listed as one of the items on <a href = "http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/03/09/85-the-wire/">"Stuff White People Like"</a>.<br />
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It was the first day for iTeleport's new designer, who came from Tucson, Arizona. Her name is Monica. Everyone working at iTeleport ordered fish and chips during lunch. <br />
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Linda Avey and I talked a bit about attending Piaw's wedding yesterday. Piaw showed a powerpoint presentation of "Top 5 Reasons to Marry Me". The fifth reason was "Never do your own taxes again." This is very self-aware (since Piaw loves personal finance and taxation), and also timely since taxes are due today.Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06731517033909059791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-41533627152406440482011-02-19T21:46:00.000-08:002011-02-19T21:46:53.225-08:00Day 30: Cascal (Niniane)We went to Cascal and ordered a bunch of meat. Yishan has been weightlifting, so he needs to fill up on protein. We ordered a tapa sampler, and then an order of asado (lamb, chicken, steak). I was amused at the large quantity of meat.<br />
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The waiter brought the sampler, and then... TWO orders of asado. I started to voice my objections, but Yishan informed me that he in fact did order two asados. <br />
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It was a cornucopia of meat.<br />
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We sat outside, and the weather was good. Surprisingly, despite being in downtown Mountain View, we did not run into anyone we knew. <br />
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During this meal, I revealed that I have fallen off the exercise bandwagon. Yishan informed me that he already heard about this, from the personal trainer that we both go to. Then he gave a passionate motivational speech. As a result, I started exercising again.Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06731517033909059791noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-7377929272161294152011-02-19T21:45:00.000-08:002011-02-22T00:18:54.582-08:00Day 30: Cascal (Yishan)Just to fill in some details about Cascal:<br /><br />Both the tapa sampler and the asado were quite good. We weren't able to finish the asado, but taking the leftovers home afterwards meant that I had meat to eat later.<br /><br />I did not consider my "speech" to be particularly passionate or motivational, but I am really glad that Niniane found it so, because she started exercising again. I'm not even sure what I said, so if she falls off the bandwagon again, I will not be able to reproduce this result. Readers, please help encourage Niniane to stay on the exercise bandwagon. She even has a "self-improvement using social pressure" site called <a href="http://www.trackville.com">Trackville</a> that she programmed that helps you do this, so you should join it and encourage her every day! <br /><br />Niniane got a new camera (or rather, cell phone) so now her pictures of the food look much better! <br /><br />To answer the commenter: the restaurant was indeed rather expensive, and I would not consider the quality to be commensurate with the price. It was good food, but it was <i>really</i> expensive (on the other hand, we did order two asados). However, they also have a half-price happy hour and are right next to Cantankerous Fish, so those who attend the Sunfire mixer could elect to come to Cascal instead, as the decor and styling is much better.Yishanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10457070986730822597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-88806333814708469802011-02-10T19:42:00.000-08:002011-02-19T21:42:04.643-08:00Day 29: Shiva's (Niniane)I really like the Riesling white wine at Shiva's, and the butter chicken. I usually always get the same thing whenever I eat there. <br />
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The waiters at Shiva's describe the dishes in a professional tone of voice, and then serve you onto your plate, which is nice.<br />
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I went with Victoria, an engineer at a biomedical device company. <br />
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<img src = "https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_JBLghEXTEag/TVS3lAAgc4I/AAAAAAAABJs/Cc1G0u85Pyk/s640/IMG_20110210_191418.jpg" width=100%>Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06731517033909059791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-85367888092634296362010-10-05T16:38:00.000-07:002011-02-19T21:41:31.651-08:00Day 28: Maruichi (Niniane)The black sesame ramen soup at Maruichi is distinctive. It doesn't look appetizing, but it tastes interesting.<br />
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I didn't take a photo, so here is an internet photo:<br />
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My guest was Matt, who worked on the cloud rendering for the movie <u>Avatar</u>. We talked about 3-D graphics.Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06731517033909059791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-37976432293931621592010-08-30T14:33:00.000-07:002010-08-31T12:20:27.805-07:00Day 27: New Mongolian BBQ (Yishan)This place is really the old Mongolian BBQ, which is to say Colonel Lee's Mongolian BBQ. Back when PayPal had its offices right behind this row of restaurants, I would sometimes come here to get take-out for lunch and bring it back to the office, where it would be so delicious-smelling as to be highly disruptive to meetings.<br /><br />Sometime in the past few years, they upgraded the interior of the restaurant and changed the name, but everything has actually stayed the same: the inside looks a lot better, but the staff is exactly the same (in particular the one chef who waters down all your food) and the serving trays and food selection are the same as well. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/TH1S88bXXFI/AAAAAAAAAB8/Bp_yY8EweyU/s1600/IMG_0648.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/TH1S88bXXFI/AAAAAAAAAB8/Bp_yY8EweyU/s320/IMG_0648.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511652725937888338" /></a>Today's visitor was Alex Khomenko, from 23andMe. We knew each other from PayPal days when we were on the same team, and then later we went our separate ways when I joined Facebook and he joined 23andMe. Alex was an extremely good engineer back when we worked together; these days he is Director of Engineering at 23andMe. They are hiring, by the way.<br /><br />I have been able to identify two chefs here, the older one and the younger one. The older one is much worse than the younger one, because he throws water on your food and basically washes out all the flavoring sauces that you put on it. It makes your dish incredibly bland. The only way to counteract this is, when to get to the sauce area, to fill up <i>all</i> the interstitial space in your bowl with sauce (and I mean all - right up to the brim) with sauces, including sauces much spicier than you would normally use. After the watering-down, your dish will taste approximately okay. If you get the younger chef, he doesn't water down the food and you can use a normal amount of sauce, which is to say that you still need to use quite a lot. I really loathe the old chef (he has been here since the Colonel Lee days), as he's pretty much the primary reasons why this mongolian BBQ lags significantly behind in terms of meal quality (because the ingredients and such are perfectly fine) compared to <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/sus-mongolian-bbq-santa-clara-2">Su's Mongolian BBQ</a> in Santa Clara and <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/great-khans-mongolian-festival-san-jose">Great Khan's Mongolian Festival</a> in the Valley Fair shopping mall. Great Khan's is, incidentally, probably the best mongolian BBQ you can get in the area - the problem is that you have to go to the mall and walk all the way to the food court to get to it.<br /><br />The price here is very low, and quality is commensurate. While Alex and I were eating, Ted Wang from Fenwick happened to walk by looking for lunch and said hi (apparently Fenwick works with 23andMe as well as Facebook, so Alex and I both knew him) and then asked how this place was, to which I replied, "Well, it's commensurate with price." He looked at the price of the lunch specials which were posted, chuckled a bit, and thanked us before continuing on.<br /><br />Bottom line: This place is a <i>bargain.</i>Yishanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10457070986730822597noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-77072900129545441992010-08-26T14:00:00.000-07:002010-08-31T11:55:39.159-07:00Day 26: Bella Vita (Yishan)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/TH1P3tIOVcI/AAAAAAAAAB0/IZj-UPXE7Zw/s1600/IMG_0638.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/TH1P3tIOVcI/AAAAAAAAAB0/IZj-UPXE7Zw/s320/IMG_0638.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511649337396843970" /></a>This is that fancy Italian restaurant on the corner of Castro and Dana that none of us had never been to. Turns out it's pretty good. <br /><br />Today's guest was Michael from Facebook, and people from Sunfire were Andrea, Niniane and me. Unfortunately, that front-facing camera picture I took was quite poor. I don't remember what everyone got, but Niniane got the special, which was crab ravioli, and I got the pepperoni pizza. Both were good; I got to sample some of Niniane's crab ravioli via a pizza/ravioli trade agreement.<br /><br />Other than that the restaurant was unremarkable, but if you are looking for a new alternative to the other Italian restaurants on the street, this one is quite adequate.Yishanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10457070986730822597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-42553557723243980722010-08-26T13:34:00.000-07:002010-09-04T13:37:40.518-07:00Day 26: Bella Vista (Niniane)I had the beet salad, which was quite good! The crab ravioli had a heavy sauce, so I would only advise eating it if you don't plan to walk very far afterwards.<br />
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Michael from Facebook talked about crazy business-development ideas. At first, everyone thought the idea was crazy. Then Yishan slowly came around, and decided that it's "so crazy it might be great". I remain of the opinion that it's just crazy.Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06731517033909059791noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-42983776856869520332010-08-25T15:34:00.000-07:002010-08-25T15:36:04.312-07:00Day 25: Taqueria Los Charros (Yishan)It was a hot day and this place didn't have air conditioning. <br /><br />I never know what to say when I meet Peter Norvig, because he is so much smarter than me. This was useful for not leaking any information about Facebook features.Yishanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10457070986730822597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-61878950533438776182010-08-25T14:00:00.000-07:002010-08-25T15:06:43.672-07:00Day 25: Taqueria La Charro (Niniane)<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JBLghEXTEag/THWElVReh4I/AAAAAAAABBk/MJOf9XwEgB4/s1600/photo-769046.JPG"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JBLghEXTEag/THWElVReh4I/AAAAAAAABBk/MJOf9XwEgB4/s320/photo-769046.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509455496058144642" /></a></p>Today Peter Norvig (director of research at Google) came to visit.<p>We talked about his times at NASA, and how Google has evolved over<br />
time. Peter and I speculated about Facebook features, while Yishan<br />
tried to keep a poker face to not leak information.Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06731517033909059791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-51295090414309511352010-08-23T18:05:00.000-07:002010-08-23T18:13:28.155-07:00Day 24: Temptations Indian Chinese (Yishan)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/THMbXTMo8MI/AAAAAAAAABk/1UR7wAh010E/s1600/IMG_0627.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/THMbXTMo8MI/AAAAAAAAABk/1UR7wAh010E/s320/IMG_0627.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508776856308478146" /></a>This is the Indian-Chinese fusion restaurant on Castro. I went there today with Giri Rao, a visiting engineer from Google. The menu at Temptations has many items, including Indian, Chinese, and Indian/Chinese fusion dishes. Giri and I were also an Indian-Chinese lunch duo, but we had an Indian appetizer (Gobi Manchurian) and each ordered Indian entrees. I got my usual butter chicken, which I use merely as a naan delivery mechanism. The clientele at the restaurant consists predictably of Chinese people, Indian people, and a smattering of white people.<br /><br />The food was decent, and I especially enjoyed the appetizer. Gobi Manchurian is apparently deep-fried cauliflower, which is great. Next time I go I shall try one of the Chinese or fusion dishes.Yishanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10457070986730822597noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-12620808359936913112010-08-19T14:34:00.000-07:002010-08-20T01:18:37.064-07:00Day 23: Pho Garden (Yishan)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/TG44HPPxj7I/AAAAAAAAABc/Ef6XpTmuF3o/s1600/IMG_0624.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/TG44HPPxj7I/AAAAAAAAABc/Ef6XpTmuF3o/s320/IMG_0624.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507401091323629490" /></a>Today was another pho place, ugh. Once again, Niniane was conveniently absent, so I went to knock this place out with today's visitor, David Braginsky, an ex-Googler who is currently at Facebook. He came to visit and I treated him to lunch because he drove me to the emergency room at 3am a couple months ago after my tonsillectomy when a stitch came loose in my throat and I start coughing up blood. As you can see, these days I am the picture of health, so that harrowing night turned out well.<br /><br />Luckily, today's pho restaurant turned out to be a class above the other two (I'd never been here), so it could credibly be called an actual thank-you lunch. You don't want to thank someone for driving you to the emergency room at 3am by taking them to the worst restaurant at the street. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of David and me (Niniane is usually the one who remembers that we have to take pictures), so all you have is this picture of the best calamari appetizer I've ever seen. It was pretty tasty too. In the corner you can see David's hand, which he uses to produce quite exceptional code. <br /><br />This place is the home of that huge "2 lbs of Pho, 2 lbs of random meat products" bowl where if you eat the whole thing in under an hour, you get to keep the bowl or something. If you fail, you get a t-shirt. We both declined to try this challenge as we are both several years out of college, and instead got other dishes. I got a dish involving cubed filet mignon with garlic noodles and David got something similar but with rice. Neither of us got pho, and we appreciated the expanded menu sparing us of this. Both dishes were quite decent. If you have to eat pho on this street, this one is the place to go to - and it definitely qualifies for a mention in my other blog, <a href="http://sucks-less.blogspot.com/">Sucks Less Than Expected</a>.<br /><br />I think this is the last pho restaurant in the downtown area, thankfully.Yishanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10457070986730822597noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-84388962929066168772010-08-19T12:58:00.000-07:002010-08-20T13:02:35.523-07:00Day 22: Nami nami (Niniane)<img src = "http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JBLghEXTEag/TGxE6zYWSwI/AAAAAAAABBE/rqIoT7St1WM/s640/2010-08-18%2013.00.10.jpg" width=100%><br />
<div class="gmail_quote">Nami nami's tofu appetizer was surprisingly good (I don't normally like tofu). The black cod was also very expertly cooked. I would return here.</div><br />
<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JBLghEXTEag/TG7eX7tgPhI/AAAAAAAABBM/YKhKv6jx0fk/s1600/IMG_0398-703582.JPG"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JBLghEXTEag/TG7eX7tgPhI/AAAAAAAABBM/YKhKv6jx0fk/s320/IMG_0398-703582.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507583897067601426" /></a></p><div class="gmail_quote"><br />
</div><div class="gmail_quote">We talked about how Chris's fashion-related startup is going, and ways that we envision ourselves using his product. I would definitely use his product for online clothes shopping.</div><div class="gmail_quote"><br />
</div><div class="gmail_quote">We also discussed a controversial practice described by one of our previous speakers, the founder of a startup. He likes to reward his employees immediately when they do a good job. One of the methods he's chosen to do this is by sprinkling a few hundred dollars' worth of one-dollar bills over the employee's head. </div><div class="gmail_quote"><br />
</div><div class="gmail_quote">Several of us at lunch said that we would find this perturbing. Rob (<i>name changed</i>) said, "Having a handful of dollar bills thrown at you for your performance. When else does that happen?"</div><div class="gmail_quote"><br />
</div><div class="gmail_quote">Yishan said he wouldn't consider it an objectionable practice, but after hearing us talk about it, he is viewing it more negatively.</div><div class="gmail_quote"><br />
</div><div class="gmail_quote">We analyzed the components of what makes it tasteful. What if the money were direct-deposited? That would be fine. Is it because the amount is relatively small? What if your manager phoned you to say, "Due to your excellent performance, we are giving a spot bonus that will be direct deposited, in the amount of $2"? (Plus one of those two dollars would be held back for tax.) That's fine, said everyone, they would pocket it and go buy coffee.</div><div class="gmail_quote"><br />
</div><div class="gmail_quote">Rob said, "Normally, money is part of the employer-employee relationship. Giving a bonus strengthens the bond. But making a spectacle is different. It's like the difference between sending your wife roses for your anniversary, versus paying her $500 to have sex with you."</div>Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06731517033909059791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-61534646885465201022010-08-18T14:50:00.000-07:002010-08-20T01:01:23.967-07:00Day 22: Nami Nami (Yishan)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/TG40tbXdRCI/AAAAAAAAABM/jc7TBLOXl-E/s1600/IMG_0399.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/TG40tbXdRCI/AAAAAAAAABM/jc7TBLOXl-E/s320/IMG_0399.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507397349365597218" /></a><br />I've never been to this restaurant, despite the fact that it's right in the middle of the street amongst a bunch of restaurants I've been to. As it turns out, it's an <i>excellent</i> sushi restaurant, rivaling the other good one in downtown Mountain View, Sushi Tomi. You might need a reservation for lunch; we didn't have one and had to wait 15 minutes for a table to clear for us.<br /><br />Today's group consisted of Chris, Jahanzeb, Niniane, and me. I ordered the ten-piece nigiri (a one-piece upgrade from my usual 9-piece that I often ordered at Kanpai in downtown Palo Alto. Jahanzeb ordered a really good duck and mango appetizer (see pic below). We talked about Chris and Ben's project to build a product to tell you what size you are across different clothing brands and lines.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/TG41KZdfZhI/AAAAAAAAABU/CvPcZM9y8iA/s1600/IMG_0397.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/TG41KZdfZhI/AAAAAAAAABU/CvPcZM9y8iA/s320/IMG_0397.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507397847070238226" /></a>In the future if I want sushi in downtown Mountain View, I'm definitely coming here.<br /><br />Afterwards we went to get some gelato, because at some point I think Jersey Shore was mentioned and in this season they are all working in a gelato place.Yishanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10457070986730822597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-38717347636756282692010-08-17T17:09:00.000-07:002010-08-18T08:55:14.777-07:00Day 21: Chef Liu (Yishan)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/TGspsflWGyI/AAAAAAAAAA8/iyni0xbTKMI/s1600/IMG_0623.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/TGspsflWGyI/AAAAAAAAAA8/iyni0xbTKMI/s320/IMG_0623.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506540813759683362" /></a>The last time I'd been to this restaurant was 5 or 6 years ago, and my impression hadn't been a positive one. The place had just opened so we went a couple times (like when Queen House was closed) and on the second time, we had <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=chinese+crullers&aq=f&aqi=h1g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=C2TK8iSdrTKRfl_7rA9Xz3LkIAAAAqgQFT9ApORI">crullers</a> ("you tiao") but when you bit into them, there was an unsettling whiff of ammonia, as though the oil in which they had been fried had been contaminated with one of their cleaning products. We also found their chicken was also undercooked. They tried to pass it off as no big deal, and I was unable to convince them (should I even need to?) that you can undercook beef, you can even undercook pork (in this country), but you can't really undercook chicken. They comped me my orange juice on that visit and we never went back. <br /><br />Until now.<br /><br />It had been a few years so maybe things had improved. They own the place above them which they rent out to various small startups, and a friend of mine had worked for a startup there (WeBook), where they ate at the restaurant often without incident. This time, I saw the beef stew noodle soup on the lunch menu and was about to order until I happened to check their Yelp reviews to find recommendations on specific dishes since I hadn't been there in so long and was horrified to discover <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/chef-liu-mandarin-cuisine-mountain-view#hrid:_bdppPKxCXhFqFYDEMDVmg">this particular review</a>. I decided not to order the soup, and got General's Chicken instead.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/TGsp9bQVqYI/AAAAAAAAABE/4prQoOZO9xE/s1600/IMG_0622.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/TGsp9bQVqYI/AAAAAAAAABE/4prQoOZO9xE/s320/IMG_0622.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506541104655608194" /></a>The lunch party consisted of Adam, Matin, and Mike Tsao, and after all that, we ended up eating perfectly good meals without incident. They also came around and offered us complementary tea eags, which were quite beautifully done. I was half-afraid that they were pawning off some expired eggs on us, but a close examination of the film integrity just inside the shells indicated that they had been made with fresh eggs. The tea eggs were good, the rest of the food was okay - though obviously much better than my fears. The green onion pancakes were a little too doughy, rather than being light and crispy.<br /><br />Interestingly, one of the servers apparently recognized me, and confirmed it by asking me if the last time I'd been here was 5 or 6 years ago, and if my girlfriend at the time was white (the literal translation in Chinese being "foreigner"). I suspect this may have been because I'd either made a scene last time (I do recall being quite put off by <i>two</i> health code violations in a row) or if I'd made a positive impression by tipping them reasonably despite the negative events (I tend to believe the waitstaff shouldn't be excessively punished if the kitchen is run poorly). Maybe both.<br /><br />In any case, I still don't think I'm going back there again. Niniane happened to be absent for this lunch, the lucky duck.Yishanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10457070986730822597noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-37448175623060838122010-08-14T15:47:00.000-07:002010-08-14T15:48:17.673-07:00Day 20.5: Pho Hoa (Niniane)<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JBLghEXTEag/TGcdMQFG44I/AAAAAAAABA4/r3Lxhz98yuk/s1600/photo-797673.JPG"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JBLghEXTEag/TGcdMQFG44I/AAAAAAAABA4/r3Lxhz98yuk/s320/photo-797673.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505401165795746690" /></a></p>I came down from San Francisco via public transportation. Taking the<br>BART to Millbrae and transferring to Caltrain ended up taking almost<br>three hours. I never want to do it again. I ended up arriving after<br>everyone else finished eating the Indian food. Yishan was gracious<br>enough to sit with me at Pho Hoa while I ate.<p>There is a "just big enough" meal at Pho Hoa, which is $5 and gives<br>you a reasonably sized bowl, as opposed to the typical ridiculously<br>large portion at typical pho restaurants.<p>The sunlight streamed in through a skylight and shone on Yishan as we<br>spoke. We sat for a long while talking about startups, and the sun<br>moved during this period to shine directly on me instead. It's quite<br>surreal to have the sun on you, almost like a spotlight.<p>The tea was very strong.Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06731517033909059791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-73199976983336138222010-08-13T13:58:00.000-07:002010-08-14T14:12:52.571-07:00Day 20: Godavari (Yishan)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/TGcFN34G2MI/AAAAAAAAAA0/_Z7L6Ea2exM/s1600/IMG_0620.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/TGcFN34G2MI/AAAAAAAAAA0/_Z7L6Ea2exM/s320/IMG_0620.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505374805379438786" /></a><br />Godavari is formerly known as Sue's Indian Cuisine. The interior is different - more sparse and modern. It's an Indian buffet, and I have trouble telling if it's any different than Sue's because I only went to Sue's once, many years ago. In any case, I'm a very unsophisticated Indian food eater, in that I just get whatever thing seems to be most effective marsala/butter-based chicken sauce as a naan delivery mechanism. The food at Godavari performs adequately at this task.<br /><br />Today's visitors were Yumi Hosaka Clark, a colleague from PayPal days who now works at Intuit, and Jessica Mah from InDinero, a Web 2.0 version of Quickbooks (intriguing). I later tried signing up but wasn't able to get my Chase account integrated. I will try again later, I guess. Jawed Karim and Chris Robinson from the office also attended, with Chris coming up with numerous terrible analogies relating Y-Combinator to in-vitro fertilization. Niniane took the Caltrain down from San Francisco, which arrived much later than expected and resulted in her showing up as we finished eating, so she went to eat separately at the next restaurant (Pho) herself, knocking it off the list and taking one for the team like I did with the other Pho restaurant.Yishanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10457070986730822597noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-39448051381333287242010-08-12T13:46:00.000-07:002010-08-18T08:55:59.520-07:00Day 19: Gyro House (Niniane)<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JBLghEXTEag/TGRdyBWOzAI/AAAAAAAABAw/zLGVeJB43dc/s1600/IMG_0615-724320.JPG"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JBLghEXTEag/TGRdyBWOzAI/AAAAAAAABAw/zLGVeJB43dc/s320/IMG_0615-724320.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504627758490110978" /></a></p>Today we had a big lunch crowd, because Thursdays are mixer days and<br />the office is more bustling than usual. LG came down from the city,<br />as did Omar, my former colleague on Google Desktop.<p>I was dismayed to see that we were at Gyro House, because the gyros<br />I've eaten in the past were disgusting. But I think those may be<br />memories from college, where the chefs did not know how to make proper<br />gyros. The chicken gyro I ate today was great! I would definitely<br />eat there again, even though I still experience a tiny amount of<br />disgust every time I type the word "gyro".<p>We talked about startup culture, and what's happening at various hot<br />startups now.Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06731517033909059791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-49762024206666461982010-08-12T13:36:00.000-07:002010-08-12T13:37:06.825-07:00Day 19: Gyro House (Yishan)The gyros here were surprisingly good. I've never been to this place before.Yishanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10457070986730822597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-8703562914513976762010-08-12T13:30:00.000-07:002010-08-12T13:33:18.165-07:00Day 18: Hong Kong Bakery (Yishan)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/TGRaaKlPYwI/AAAAAAAAAAs/c80BheEQ4eA/s1600/IMG_0614.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FagBwPwddqM/TGRaaKlPYwI/AAAAAAAAAAs/c80BheEQ4eA/s320/IMG_0614.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504624050117239554" /></a><br />We skipped Hong Kong Bakery because it didn't really seem to be a real restaurant and there were no chairs or tables where we could sit down. Instead, we went to the Gyro House next door.<br /><br />This front-facing camera on the iPhone is really good for these shots.Yishanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10457070986730822597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-51331771497537433082010-08-11T18:35:00.001-07:002010-08-11T18:55:33.122-07:00Day 17: Totoro Korean House (Niniane)<div class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JBLghEXTEag/TGNP3-v4bxI/AAAAAAAABAU/-bRdCc4WSCw/s1600/photo-727181.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504330992732106514" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JBLghEXTEag/TGNP3-v4bxI/AAAAAAAABAU/-bRdCc4WSCw/s320/photo-727181.JPG" /></a></div>Today's lunch visitors were very funny. They told us about a site<a href="http://shaadi.com/"> http://shaadi.com</a>, for matrimonial matchmaking between South Asians. Apparently it's very fobby. They were quick to reiterate that none of them had ever used it, but they all knew about it.<br />
<br />
One of them said, "You make fun of the site until one day, you realize it's gotten to the point where you need to use it. Then you are depressed for a day, and sit in your apartment feeling bad."<br />
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<img src = "http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JBLghEXTEag/TGMHSNR4f3I/AAAAAAAABAQ/yp7YxdMJRhk/s640/2010-08-11%2012.47.41.jpg" width=100%><br />
<br />
None of us had ever eaten at today's restaurant before. so we were all a bit wary. My bulgoki was quite good. I would definitely go back. It was only $12 for lunch including tax and tip.<br />
<br />
The waitress barked orders at us -- to move to a different table, to take our entrees from her when she brought them over. It was strangely endearing, like having your mother boss you around in a harried tone of voice. Yishan ordered fried chicken, which took twice as long as other entrees. It turned out to be many pieces of chicken that were not battered and had clearly been cooked in a vat of oil. I feel like this restaurant is "keepin' it real".<br />
<br />
J told us about his surreal life last year, when he was doing his PhD thesis on software to help developing countries, but he'd also developed one of the best-selling iPhone apps. By day, he was helping illiterate Pakistani villagers use a voice interface to interact with computers. By night, he huddled in a tent, doing customer support for wealthy Americans. <br />
<br />
On another note, we debated about which product would be more offensive to men: a product where the man's friends vote on what they think his salary should be, or one where his friends vote on which of ten women (of varying levels of attractiveness) he would be able to land. I thought it would be the salary-voter, but the guys at lunch all agreed that the babe-voter would hit home harder.Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06731517033909059791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2434334091614914682.post-50166390363045277952010-08-11T13:25:00.000-07:002010-08-12T13:30:10.559-07:00Day 17: Totoro Korean House (Yishan)I think it's worth mentioning that the fried chicken was cooked quick unskillfully. When you fry chicken (or any other food), what is happening is that the water inside is boiling outwards, creating an opposing force against the outside oil, which is trying to seep into the food. During this process the food is cooked (by the heat of the boiling water), while the pushing-out water and the pushing-in oil remain roughly at equilibrium. <br /><br />If you fry the food for too long, the water inside eventually boils off and the oil wins the battle, simultaneously seeping into the food while the food becomes dried out (because the water is gone). So, skillfully-fried food is still juicy and not greasy because it's removed from the fryer after the food is cooked but before the water boils off, which keeps the oil on the outside - most of which also boils off from the residual heat, leaving it not particularly greasy. Unskillfully-fried food is greasy and dry. This fried chicken was unskillfully fried.Yishanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10457070986730822597noreply@blogger.com0