Kamikaze WDW - Disney's Hollywood Studios

Here's parts I and II of this trip just in case you want to catch up.

Here's another interesting tidbit from our trip (read the previous post for the first): I've been to Orlando to visit the parks countless times. Of all those times I have been here as "the head of the family" with my daughters three times. Three times and we have visited the same two parks every time. Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. There's a demographics lesson for you. Know your audience folks. Princesses and Disney Junior is where it's at. Hopefully, I'll be able to remedy the fact that my daughters have yet to visit Epcot and Animal Kingdom at some point in the future but for now, we came here for the Frozen Summer of Fun so here we are!

The day started... late. Everyone was pretty tired the night before and I told Mayline to allow the girls to sleep as much as possible so they could rest. These girls... at 5:30am they are usually up and about whether tired or not so I figured that with their level of exhaustion they would sleep all the way to maybe 7:30am but they went past that. Probably for the first time in their lives. After a record-breaking dressing and combing session we swallowed some breakfast and headed for DHS.

We literally walked through the gate to catch the start of the Frozen Royal Welcome parade. The main objective of this day was simple: Catch all the Frozen-related activities happening in the park. So, while late, we were off to a good start. Disney, being well... Disney, made sure to create the proper ambiance for the parade by making it snow along the parade route. You don't see that everyday. Especially during a hot, Florida, summer day.

So that got the girls amped up and after hearing Let It Go for the first time of many this day we headed over to the Animation Courtyard for some character time with some of the girl's big favorites.

This part of the day was Angelica's show by the way. "The Kraken" ran all over the Animation Courtyard leading the way to the characters she wanted pics with, which were all of them. At one point, we saw the line for Doc McStuffins to be shorter than the one for Sophia the First  so we switched. She went ballistic. I would've never guessed that this would be her reaction to the characters. Worst case scenario: she would be afraid. Best case? She would "tolerate" getting her pic taken with them. She ended up the bravest of the three. That's kids for you.

Next off was Olaf's Summer Cooldown over at the Main Stage. Here I made my best Queen Elsa impression.

And here is a tiny Cast Member for your viewing pleasure.

So Elsa can conjure snow flakes. So what? I can conjure cast members... apparently. Olaf's Summer Cooldown is essentially a dance-along and it was pretty fun. We did the Twist, threw around some beach balls and of course endured a rendition of Olaf's Ode to Summer. The streaming jets of cold mist at the end were extremely welcome. It was a pretty hot and humid day. 

I was a bit disappointed by Disney Jr. Live on Stage. Whether because of changes or technical issues, some of the effects on the show were missing and I think it took away from the experience. That didn't stop the girls from enjoying it of course but my gut feeling is that next time we come here, we'll be skipping this one unless they update it with something like Miles from Tomorrowland which is big at my house. Kids grow up. It happens.

Lunch was at Pizza Planet. I was warned that this place looks nothing like it does in the Toy Story films but the girls insisted and I obliged. I tried the Meat Lover's pizza. Nothing to write home about but you know, it's pizza. Can it ever be bad?

From there we did our first round of Star Tours. I say first round because the girls LOVED it so much that we went again later in the day. After all the girly stuff, after all the Princess stuff, after all the Frozen stuff... they are my daughters after all. I was so proud. Of course, that lasted all of 15 seconds. We went straight from Star Tours to the Frozen Sing-along.

This is the "main attraction" if you will, to the whole Frozen Summer of Fun. It is done in the stage where American Idol used to be. Here's the short version: Princess Anna summons Arandelle's official historians to tell the extremely truncated version of the events in the film. Think of the film, take out everything except the songs and you're there. Of course everyone is encouraged to sing along. Do I have to tell you that my girls enjoyed this attraction? Anna and Elsa can pop up a million times and it will never get old for them. Plus, they got to sing their tiny lungs out. My favorite part? When one of the historians mistook Kristoff for Justin Beiber. 

Then came the highlight of the day for me. My friend and coach extraordinaire Katrina Pilkington and her husband Gary drove from Tampa (she'll soon be moving to Las Vegas) to meet us at the park. It was absolutely amazing to finally meet someone who has inspired and motivated me so much in person. As much as I loved meeting you Kat, hopefully you'll get to see less of me next time we meet. Wink wink. By the way, Mayline thought you were taller. That's what happens when you have a bigger than life personality.

Mini-Coach Summit

Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania were waiting for us and we knew from previous experience this was a favorite for the girls. The best part here was when they all decided they had beaten my score by combining everyone else's so I guess I was the loser.

Which brings me to another attraction I was sad to see not working properly. Voyage of The Little Mermaid was missing all of the water effects. Again, maybe it was just broken but this and Disney Jr. Live on Stage were reminders that DHS is a park in a state of transition. There are big things coming here and the Frozen stuff is basically masking all that has been closed. Hollywood Studios has always been one of my favorite parks and I can't wait to see it 100% functional again.

We also ran into Minnie Mouse all dressed up for beach summer fun and dancing the afternoon away! Veronica and Maria did not want to dance with her for some reason but guess who was total game for this? Oh yeah. Time to "release The Kraken!"

This brings us to the low point of the day which I know sounds bad. It wasn't too bad I guess but sometimes, especially with kids, the only way to know you're gonna get burned is to put your finger in the fire.

Oh, the two oldest were gonna scream for real in a bit

The two older girls wanted to ride The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. I was hesitant but they insisted. I explained what the ride was and how it worked. As we walked up to it I pointed at the fact that people were screaming inside the building. They bravely kept walking. A part of me thought: "well, they loved the Mine Train and they went crazy for Star Tours so maybe this was not gonna be so bad." Well, that part of me was wrong. As soon as the ride was over, Maria was trembling in terror (how fitting) and Veronica was outright crying. It took a lot of soothing to calm them down. Yeah, they're not gonna be riding this one anytime soon. To this day, The Tower of Terror is a touchy subject around our house, so don't bring it up. Me? Some of you may know that Tower of Terror is programmed to act differently every time and this particular turn was my favorite ever. It was the first time I felt truly weightless while riding it. Which is probably what scared the girls more than anything.

We are in the last row. The very last girl on the left, screaming and crying and laughing nervously is Veronica, then my Mom looking amused at her reaction followed by Maria, holding on for dear life. Quite the scene.

Fearing some permanent damage, we quickly went back to Star Tours for some badly needed happy memories. Did I mention how happy it makes me that they love this ride so much? 

After that we had dinner at ABC Commissary where everyone had Cheeseburgers except me, who was feeling adventurous and tried the steak. It needed a bit of salt but otherwise it was pretty good. ABC Commissary actually has a pretty decent and varied menu. I have tried different dishes here over the years and have always been happy. Definitely recommend this one if you are looking for Quick Service option in DHS. Quick side note: For the sake of order and peace, I sat everyone down and went to order by myself. The order was too big for me to handle and just when I resigned myself to doing two trips, the Cast 
Member who gave me the food happily offered to help me carry the trays to our table even though it was not his job. This is a Quick Service restaurant after all but that's Cast Members for you.

It was during dinner that it started to rain. Really hard. Thunder, lightning... it was pretty bad. it was at this time that I started fearing that we were gonna miss Fantasmic! and the Frozen Fireworks Show. Or rather, that it was not gonna happen at all. And basically, that's how our day ended. After a couple of hours of waiting it became evident that the rain and lightning was not gonna let up and my brother reluctantly went out in the rain and bought some ponchos, which did almost nothing because it was raining so hard and we ran to the buses and eventually our room. 

And so it was over. We almost got to do everything we set out to do. We missed Fantasmic! and the Frozen Fireworks although it was not our fault and we didn't get to see Frozen Fever which was no biggie as we had seen it when we saw Cinderella at the Theater. Everything else we had set out to do in this Kamikaze trip to Disney World, we accomplished. Oh yeah, I would have loved to catch Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular one more time since it's scheduled to close but that was a personal thing so it was never part of the official schedule. No joke, it took me about a week and a half to get rid of the felling of exhaustion after we returned home. It was just so crazy but looking back I wouldn't have done it differently. We made some wonderful memories on this trip and the girls... The girls are still talking about it weeks later. Sometimes, I'll be driving them to school and they'll ask me if we can talk about the trip. Tower of Terror and all. 

Yup, I'd say it was worth it for sure.

The Road to Goofy

So it officially begins... Sort of.

The actual training plan for the Goofy Challenge begins in September. But the enormity of the Challenge definitely warrants preparation. So I have worked out a long term training plan which includes the preparation of the preparation.

The current agenda is paying off big time. Cross-training in the form of P90X3 is starting to show it's benefits. The program is tough and it has been challenging to get used to the extra work besides running, but the purpose was to come out stronger out the other end and its working. Yesterday, I ran probably the best 4 miles I have run in a long while. I've been losing weight slow but steady, just the way I want it and I've been eating better than ever. Now, it's time to focus all that into the specific task that is the Goofy Challenge.

The main part of course, is the running. I've been running steadily about 3 times per week. Now I need to specify those runs into regular runs, workout runs and long runs. Regular runs are what are usually called easy runs but I refuse to call them that. Nothing easy about running long distances if you ask me. Fun? Of course! Good for you? Definitely! But easy? Not if you are doing it right.

Workout runs have a specific purpose. Tempo runs, speedwork, hills... they all fall in this category. One of my runs per week will be a workout run. I will be very careful in this area as this is what I believe got me into knee trouble the last time.

Long runs are, of course the bread and butter of the training plan. I will be adding distance very slowly. Starting early affords me this time to get my body used to it. Eventually I will add a second long run to start "simulating" the Goofy Challenge conditions so that will be 4 runs a week total with 2 long runs on consecutive days. Again, being very careful to avoid injury. I know it sounds like a lot but it really is alright. In fact, apart from the extra long run, its not that much different from my current schedule.

Then, there's racing. I feel weird even saying it but I've hardly raced this year. In fact I haven't raced since the Puerto Rico Half Marathon but that has been by design as I focus on cross-training and other things. However, racing will be an important gauge of where I'm at training-wise. There will be three races that I consider part of my training plan. First, the Popular Bank's 5K, which I have done every year since it was my first race ever. A PR here is, in my opinion, a step in the right direction. Then in September there will be the Lola Challenge Weekend. This one will be very important as it will involve running a 10K on Saturday and a Half Marathon on Sunday. I call it the "Mini-Goofy". I can't think of a better way to make sure everything is going according to plan than this. Finally in November I will again run the Diva's Half Marathon. Yes, it will be done in a tutu. Can't really back away from that at this point. On both of these instances, I'm not looking for a PR of any kind. I just want to finish and feel good afterwards. If I can pull that off, it would be great. If I can run the Divas Half and wake up the next day without any major ill effects I would definitely hop on the plane to Florida in January with a whole lot of confidence.

In the cross-training department, I'm currently halfway through P90X3. I think I have made enough emphasis on how tough but rewarding this has been. As I reach the peak of run training and therefore, mileage, cross-training has to be brought down in intensity as I focus more on running. I was thinking of doing a second round of P90X3 back to back but after some thought, I think it would be better to try something that is lower impact. There is a great program called PiYo that is lower impact but still challenging that I'm very interested in. If I end up doing it, I'll tell you all about it when I do.

And that's pretty much it. The Road to Goofy in a nutshell. Nothing is written in stone though. I will be adjusting things as I go along and if you guys have any suggestions I'm all ears so bring it on!

An Important Announcement

I admit I've been struggling a little bit about how to approach this post and in some moments I actually thought about not writing it at all. However, in the interest of full disclosure, I think it's important I talk about it for a bit just so you know where I'm at and since it is part of this fitness journey then why not?

As you may have read here lately, there have been some pretty big changes going on as I ramp up my efforts on my way to the Goofy Challenge. Nutrition, diet, even the entire family approach to how we deal with health and everyday life has changed and so far it has been a very positive experience for which I'm very happy, especially having my wife on board working out and eating better. One of those changes is cross-training and P90X3 which has kicked my butt in a million, albeit good ways. The effects of that have also been very positive, even if I have been sore most of the time for the past 4 weeks or so. People at work and friends are starting to notice the changes.

Which is why, I decided to become a Beachbody Coach.

Beachbody is the parent company that makes P90X3, plus many other workout videos and they have a business opportunity where you can sell their products and earn a commission for it. Coaches also give support to the people who buy the products through them at no extra cost to keep them accountable and increasing their chances of finishing their program and stick to their workouts and nutrition, thus adding value. For me, the logic behind the decision to do this is: If people ask me what I'm doing and I tell them, and they end up buying a video or Shakeology because of it, is it a bad thing that I earn a commission? For something I was going to tell them anyway? Heck no!

This is not something I was planning to do but then people actually started asking "You look good. What are you doing?" so I felt I should look deeper into it and give it a try. After all, we have three girls to take care of and money doesn't grow on trees. Plus, I got running shoes to buy you know. I see bloggers promote and endorse products they believe in all the time and in my case, P90X3 has proven to be a game changer in my fitness journey so far. I feel this a logical next step.

However, I do want to make a few things clear and put your minds at ease.

What I won't be doing

The Fat Runner has been, and will always be about my running journey and sharing it so that maybe it can help others. That is not going to change. I will not be pushing products on this blog or trying to convince anyone to buy them. 

I will also not pester anyone I have met through this blog to buy them either so friends and readers, rest assured I have not turned into a greasy car salesman and you can continue reading knowing that this place will remain what it always has been.

What I will be doing

You will see banner ads that lead to my personal Beachbody coach page on this blog. There were ads there before so the only difference is, you will see more Beachbody ones than the others. Hopefully, it will prove to be more profitable than the 18 bucks Google says I have made so far with Ad Sense... (and I'm rounding up)

When I do a workout like P90X3, I will mention it like always so you know what I'm doing fitness-wise. It is part of my journey after all. It will not be to sell it to you. If I try a new workout from them, I will review it as I always have, both the bad and the good. Just like I do when I report on running gear, watches, my bike etc... I know that cross-training is an important topic for runners and we are always looking for both practical and functional options so my reviews will focus on how these workouts impact runners.

Plus, there are several videos I have my eye on that I would like to try out and as a coach, I get a discount so it's like... cool. Win-Win.

You will see on my social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram...) mentions and invites for Challenge Groups. This is the support part I was talking about earlier. I will be setting up these groups for people who want support and accountability while doing the workouts. A haven if you will, so they can share their experience and motivate each other. I can tell you that the support I have received from friends online has been an integral part of why I have made running a really important part of my life so being able to pay that forward is something that interests me very much. So, when you see me mention it on social media you will have a head's up and will know what I'm talking about.

Of course, I will not turn you away if you ask me about it and I have always been here to help. If you have always wondered about these videos or Shakeology or anything else I'm always more than happy to answer your questions and help out in any way I can. This blog has put me in contact with some pretty awesome people and opportunities so I'm always more than happy to repay in kind.

So that is pretty much it. 

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

The Winds of Change

So a lot of stuff going on in The Fat Runner household...

We're cross-training ourselves into shape. Hopefully a nice shape. As far as shapes go, round doesn't seem to agree with my running. The biggest change by far though, has been nutritional. A complete 180 degree turn in that area and so far, our kitchen makeover has proven to be for the better. We have severely cut back on fast food and other processed stuff and the effects are already being felt.

Chicken Sausage Frittata

 My wife started feeling funny about two days after we started. I've been thinking of a word to describe what she was feeling and the best I could come up with was malaise. A general feeling of malaise. She felt weak, with no real desire to do much. I thought at first that it was the onset on a cold or something like that. Then, she told me "I feel like I need to eat candy or something sweet." Well, she didn't need to say anything else after that. She was going through withdrawal. A natural side effect of eating home cooked meals instead of processed is that you consume a lot less sugar. Sure enough, a couple of days later she was feeling great and I'm kind of surprised about how great actually. She is also doing P90X3 and she wakes up every morning charging to do it. Amazing how we get used to things and let them take over.

Then there's me. After a week of eating as clean as I have in a very long time, I was faced with the situation I was kind of dreading. I was on the road, no lunch from home and hungry. I had to eat something so after much pondering I settled for a Mexican food place and had some tacos. I went heavy on the salad and went for chicken instead of beef trying to at least minimize the damage. An hour later I was regretting that decision. I had to get to the bathroom. Bad. The tacos were really not agreeing with me or my stomach. I've never had any problems with eating fast food. Believe me. But after only a week of better nutrition my body just said "Hey! What happened here? You were throwing in the good stuff!"

Panko breaded Tilapia, asparagus and rice with beans

And it's not like we have been lacking flavor-wise. I love to cook so I took this opportunity to revamp our diet as a challenge. Chicken Marsala, Mexican Tostadas, Open-faced Bacon and Egg Sandwiches... it has all been made at home with healthy recipes and it has all been good. Of course, I've had to manage my time a little better to be able to cook. My wife is taking care of dinners (and subsequent lunch for me the next day) while I do breakfasts and try to keep it interesting on the weekends. Not only are we feeling great but the cut on fast food, as I mentioned in the beginning, has been severe, which is a good thing. Where we were doing 13-15 meals eating out, the average these past two weeks has been about 3-4. Not bad right?

Major Kitchen Makeover

"You can't outrun a bad diet." I can't begin to tell you how many times I have heard that over the last three years.

Not only do I keep hearing it, but I live it on a daily basis. It's really simple: When I watch what I eat, I lose weight. When I don't, nothing happens or worse, I gain some back. No amount of running can save me from that fact. Nutrition has got to be on point.

A while back I wrote about a documentary I watched called Fed Up that really put things in perspective about the need to cut back on processed foods and especially unneeded sugars. My family was totally stuck in the "Buy fast food because I don't have enough money to go grocery shopping./I don't have money for groceries because I buy fast food all the time." circle of total viciousness. I wanted to do something about it. Especially now with the Goofy Challenge coming up.

So last week I told you about how I will begin cross-training and stuff. Well, my wife bravely said she will do P90X3 too. In fact, she already began doing them. Before me. I'll explain why in a bit. The thing is, with so much positive energy going around the house (and a tax return check arriving at just the right moment) we decided to just do it and last Saturday I left home and when I came back, the mini-van was filled to the brim with good, fresh, wholesome food. Fruits, veggies, lean beef, fish and poultry and mostly unprocessed stuff. It felt so good to see the fridge filled with the good stuff.

I also sat down with the wife and developed a plan on how we were gonna eat. Essentially three meals and two snacks per day. Thankfully, we are already experts at using MyFitnessPal so tracking all this will be pretty easy. Also, as the resident chef of the house, I have been looking for healthier recipes as well as developing some of my own. Some exciting times going on in our house. Keep in mind, we didn't buy any "diet" products. No "low-fat" or "light" anywhere to be seen. I also bought some protein powder for after our workouts.

More than anything else, our goal right now is to severely cut down on fast food. Weekends especially are really bad in our house. This week has been pretty stellar so far.

So last Monday, my wife began P90X3. Why not me? It seems my excitement got the better of me or something. I must have been jumping for joy while I was sleeping Sunday night because when I woke up Monday morning, I could hardly move my neck. It was really painful. I spent the next three days like that. I'm a lot better now. It still hurts a bit but now I can move my neck somewhat. Things happen for a reason though because during the week, Kat sent over my running/P90X3 hybrid schedule so now Monday I begin full on. The bad part will be that my wife will already be past the "soreness stage" and I won't be able to make fun of her any more just as I will be going through it myself. Not fair at all.

Philadelphia Half Marathon: The Food

While it would seem from my previous post that all I ate while in Philly was Ramen -and I admit, sometimes I wished I did- I actually had a chance to eat at some cool places I would like to share with you guys. In the spirit of bringing something different, I avoided going for Cheesteaks completely and I hope you guys appreciate how hard that was because they are awesome. Though, if you want, we can talk about them. I sure have had my share of them.

Five Guys Burgers

What?! Fast food? Really? "What is going on here at The Fat Runner? Have you lowered your standards?" Well, I don't think they were that high to begin with but this is really  a case of "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."

I had this meal in Atlanta International Airport, during the longest layover in the history of humanity on the way to Philadelphia. While many of you might be familiar with this chain, they have not expanded to Puerto Rico. Strange, as this is the land where McDonald's and Burger Kings, among others, seem to grow out of the ground. I decided to mention them here because, compared to other fast food burgers, this was truly, above par. I'm kind of thankful they have not reached my shores actually. I probably would have to change the name of the blog to The Fatter Runner.

Essentially, this is fast food done right. The ingredients were fresh, the bacon was very crispy and everything made to order. While not the healthiest option, cooking burgers on a flat top is the way Nature intended. I'm not saying to go have this every day folks, but if you are gonna do a "cheat day", I can't think of a more glorious option. It certainly beats most cardboard burgers out there.

Reading Terminal Market

Not really one restaurant but an entire experience. If you don't mind the hustle and bustle of crowded places, you should go try something from this amazing place. If you think Epcot over at Disney World Resort is the bee's knees for all the different food, you should come here. Epcot has got nothing on this place. While the place is huge, it feels tiny because it is always filled with people and with good reason. You can find anything you want from most parts of the World to eat under its roof. Middle Eastern, Asian, Mediterranean, Italian, American, Latin American, Southern... I could go on. And it's not only the variety, it's all good too. It's not every day you can eat BBQ Ribs while your friend has an authentic Greek Gyro right next to you. I had some Chicken Lo Mein at a Chinese joint. Very yummy.

Federal Donuts

My friend Al took me to this place right after the race. Federal Donuts is... unique. They really only sell three things. Coffee, Donuts and Fried Chicken.

And that's it. This can be a double-edged sword for a restaurant. The phrase "simple menu" is thrown around a lot  these days but if you are gonna do only one thing, you better deliver the goods. Federal Donuts delivers and then some. Yes, the combination of chicken and donuts sounds weird but it's really not too far off the chicken and waffles combo that is so popular. Plus, it really works. The coffee and donuts are of course, a proven entity but add in the fried chicken -which you can order in several incarnations from Asian inspired to dry seasoned- and you will end up with something special. The donuts in particular stand out. Served piping hot, they really are like nothing I have ever tried before. And when I say piping hot, I mean "I can't hold them long enough to take a bite" hot.

And that is it. Those are all the interesting places I managed to fit into a weekend. Although I did not do the Cheesteak "thing" on purpose, I can't talk about Philadelphia eats and not tell you about the classic steak joints like Pat's and Geno's or my "regular" spot when I lived there, Jim's Steaks. Don't let the local passion for these places deter you from trying them all out. They are all good. In fact, I'm gonna tell you a little secret regarding the famous Pat's/Geno's turf war (they are across the street from each other in case you did not know): Their sandwiches are pretty much the same.

Please allow a minute or five for the mob with pitch forks and Eagle's Jerseys to quiet down their chants of heresy. I'm not saying they taste exactly the same. The concept of the authentic Philly Cheesteak is one and the same: Bread, Rib Eye, Cheese Whiz(yes, the radioactive orange stuff) and the option of onions (wit' or wit' out). Anything beyond that is not a Philly Cheesteak. Peppers, mushrooms, Provolone... all great and tasty additions but not authentic. So if the concept is the same, what gives?

The difference between them is the bread they use and the fact that Pat's chops their rib eye and Geno's slices it. No more, no less. So do yourself a favor and go to both joints. Better yet, go with someone else, order a sandwich from each, then share half of each right in the middle of the intersection where these two legends face each other every day. That would be the right thing to do in the City of Brotherly Love.

Terakawa Ramen

Being in Philly, it would be very easy for me to simply go on a Cheesteak crawl, then go to a couple of Pretzel stands, report back to you and just call it day.  

But the truth is, even though I visited Philly this weekend for the race, I actually lived here many years ago. Well, I lived in Lancaster, but the office I worked at was in Norristown, very near the city so this is not new territory for me. Which means I already had my "cheesteak competition" phase were I defended my personal steak joint as the best ever.(It was Jim's Steaks in South Street) I already debated endlessly on the Pat's or Geno's endless controversy (They are both awesome by the way) and I sadly missed the advent of newcomer Tony Lukes. But when it comes to Philadelphia's iconic sandwich, I have truly been there, done that. No, my pursuit on this trip was more of a personal nature and oddly enough, has nothing to do with Philly. I was in a passionate search for Ramen. As in Ramen Noodles.

Wait, what?

Allow me to explain. Not too long ago, I saw a PBS show on Netflix called The Mind of a Chef. In it's first season, it explored the craft and mind of David Chang a chef who literally exploded in the New York City food scene with his restaurant Momofuku and then Ssam Bar, Milk Bar and Ko. It's not every day a chef changes the way a whole scene works but that's what Chang did. And it all started with his passion for Ramen Noodles.

In the show, Chang travels to Japan, where he visits several Ramen joints and many of the places that make the ingredients required for Ramen (like the aforementioned noodles). I have been mystified by Japan and it's culture for quite some time so seeing the method that goes behind making this seemingly simple dish totally caught my attention. I had to have some Ramen and I had to have it now. Not to mention try to make it but that's another issue altogether.

Thankfully, Philadelphia is close enough to New York to be in the path of the shock wave that Chang created and sure enough, this city went through it's own "Ramen Revolution" of sorts a couple of years back, with many places springing up and some of them surviving and thriving well after everything settled down. The main reason for that being that Philly has a pretty vibrant Chinatown so the market for Asian food is always there. Good news for me. So after much research, I settled on Terakawa Ramen as the place to go and I'll be forever grateful I did.

Right off the bat, I fell in love with the place. Small and cozy, with the simple, elegant lines that define Japanese decor. I just wanted to stay there forever, although it was not possible with the line of patrons waiting at the door that wanted to enjoy the same thing I did.

 I'll be forever sorry I had no time to explore more of the menu. I really wanted to try the Pork Buns (part of the Chang explosion I was talking about) among other things but I guess I'll just have to come back. While they have a signature Terakawa Ramen bowl, I decided to go for the traditional Shoyu (soy) Ramen that started it all.

I'm gonna try, very hard, to put into words what the above bowl of incredibly yummy goodness tastes like but I'm gonna fail. There are no words. There are moments where everything in the universe comes together for an experience that you will never forget. I was trying something new. I was carb loading. I was cold. Then, I had some Ramen and suddenly everything was fixed. The broth, to put it in a single word: perfection. Savory and not too salty as you would expect from something called Shoyu. It was divine. Then the noodles. Toothsome and exactly what I needed pre-race. Piping hot, this dish warmed me up and made me feel so good inside. And the toppings.. the bamboo shoots, bean sprouts and fish cake (the white slice with the pink swirl)... all good. But the pork. Oh my, the pork.

Those two slices of majestic awesomeness (you can order extra, which I should have) literally melt in you mouth the second you put them in there. I could have eaten about a truck-full of the stuff. And I forgot the egg. A Ramen staple. Soft-boiled and marinated in soy sauce. I can see some people having trouble with the texture of it but the creaminess explodes in your mouth.

Yes, I just wrote an entire post dedicated to a single bowl of Ramen but that's just how we roll here at The Fat Runner and the next time you are in Philly you should definitely check this place out. It's something totally different and worth your time. They even have vegeterian versions of both the Miso and Shoyu Ramen. Don't be surprised if I write about making this dish in the future. It's that good.

Eating Las Vegas

OK, to round out my Las Vegas trip(and clear my head regarding my knee) I want to tell you about three places I ate at that I think are worthy of mention. If you ever do travel to Vegas you might want to check these out.

The Bellagio Buffet

In a place that seems to have invented the All-You-Can-Eat Buffet. There really are two that stand out above all. One is at the Río Hotel and the other one is this one. Since I had tried out the one at the Río on a previous trip, I lobbied to try this one out and it did not disappoint.

There is not a lot I can tell you regarding the food. It's good, it's extremely varied and there is a lot of it. What sets the Bellagio apart is quality. Just because there is enough food at one time to feed all of America in one sitting doesn't mean they skimp on the details. The stuff I tried was well cooked and tasty and some dishes were downright awesome.

But the reason I decided to mention it in the blog is entirely non-food related. I mention this place because in all its opulence, all its quality, all its excess, someone just plain screwed this place up. You see, like many, many people who eat there daily, I had an urge to go to the bathroom at one point. No problem finding one. They are labeled well enough. But once I got in it, it hit me right in the face: There is only one toilet. One. Is this some kind of sick joke?! Really? This is akin to a pub giving away free beer 24-7 and not having urinals. Who the heck thought this up?! And here's the thing. You go to any other place in the hotel (or any other hotel for that matter) like the casino and there are bathrooms  everywhere with rows and rows of toilets. I guess that's how they get people to leave.

Le Thai

Located Downtown right on Fremont Street (though not beneath the "TV Roof" you gotta walk a bit past that) is this very small and unassuming place. And I mean small. If 7 people go in at the same time, that's a full house (no pun intended). There is an al fresco patio in the back but who would want to eat outside in 100 degree heat??!!

Well, as it turns out a lot of people do. The place is that good. It has generated a lot of good word of mouth and you can't read a "best of Vegas" article without this place popping up in there. And it lives up to the hype guys. For real. I ate with my brother and we sampled three dishes. An appetizer called Thai Pork Jerky which is fried pork served with rice and their signature waterfall sauce. The combination of the rice, pork and sauce was awesome. The waterfall sauce plays that combination of sweet and spicy flavors which is so part of Thai food. Loved it.

Pork Jerky... Yum!

Then we shared two entrees: The Awesome Noodles and the Short Rib Fried Rice.

Awesome Noodles: Truly Awesome

 The Awesome Noodles live up to their name and then some. At first, when you look at the dish you might get confused. The noodles are flat and very wide. When you at them mixed with everything else, it's almost like there is no noodles. They look like vegetables or something. Don't let that fool you. Dig in and get ready to be blasted by classic Thai flavors!

Short Rib Fried Rice: Dish of the Day

The rice was even better. Stir-Fried with the aforementioned Waterfall Sauce, you will not want this dish to end. My brother and I kept switching plates to keep tasting both until we ate it all.

The Heart Attack Grill

A part of me feels a little ashamed of having eaten at this place but we were in Vegas. When in Rome...

I don't think this place could legitimately exist anywhere else in the World. In a place that revels in excess, this joint takes it to a whole other level.

The Heart Attack Grill

Let me begin by saying that anyone who weighs 350 lbs. or more can eat for free here. There is a huge scale in the front where you can check if you qualify for this particular perk. The menu -if you can call it that-  is basically an experiment in how far you can take the "unhealthy" theme of the place. And unhealthy is the key word. On one of the columns proudly hangs their Guinness Book of World Records plaque declaring it the "Unhealthiest Restaurant in the World". Here are some facts:

1. To eat here you have to wear a hospital robe. No exceptions

My brother, the model

2. Want a beer? They only sell the biggest serving of whatever beer they have. Shots are served on pill bottles or injections. Wine comes in an I.V. drip.

3. They only serve Coca Cola from Mexico. Why? They use real sugar instead of corn syrup. Because, you know... Mexican Coke, that's the really good stuff.

4. Fries are deep fried. In Lard

5. The burgers are cooked on the griddle also using lard.

6. They claim that their milkshake has the highest butterfat content in the World.

7. The menu has only two items: The Bypass Burger which you can add meat patties to from the Single Bypass all the way to the Quadruple Bypass and beyond. They also have a Chili Dog. A huge Chili Dog. That's it.

Our waiter (they are all dressed as sexy nurses) came in to take our order and warned that no substitutions can be made. For example if you want bacon and cheese with your Double Bypass, then its 15 slices of bacon. No exceptions. Me and my brother both ordered the Double Bypass Burger and decided to share an order of Chili Fries just to try them out.

There is so much wrong with this picture.

The burgers as you would expect, were huge. I could barely get a whole bite in my mouth. The fries looked as if they had a ton of grease on them with some chili thrown in. But the million dollar question is: Is this place any good??!!

Well, yes and no. Making no compromises means they can add flavor any way they want but there is a point of diminishing returns. The flavor is there, surely but eventually the insane amount of fat catches up with you. It coats your stomach and your lips and no amount of goodness will make you keep eating.

But the spanking will.

Just as my brother and I were pondering just how much food we were gonna leave on the plate, a "nurse" took a couple in another table to what seemed like a torture rack with a video camera attached to it. After making one of them bend over this device, she took a wooden paddle and proceeded to spank her. Hard. Very hard. About three times. Then the guy, who got spanked even harder. Their crime? Not finishing all  their food.

Oh, we finished our food.

Look, I'm in no way recommending you eat here. And I wouldn't even dare imply that you go there regularly but the whole point of this place, is the experience. We had fun. Sure, I didn't eat anything else until I got back home the next day as I was so full but it was fun. And that's the whole point. Take it for what it is and make sure you finish what you ordered. Watching other people get whacked is fun but getting hit yourself... Don't think so.