Kamikaze WDW - The Magic Kingdom

There's a logic to the madness. You can read part I and part II of this story to know what's going on.

We made it out of Puerto Rico by beating a tropical storm, got to Orlando and managed to settle into our hotel room. Now, it was time to get down to business. After a not-so-good-night's sleep (the girls were still on an adrenaline rush from it all) we woke up on Friday and had a good, strong breakfast to get ready for the day ahead. When we exited the hotel to wait for a bus to the Magic Kingdom we were pleasantly surprised to find one already waiting for us. So, on to the Happiest Place on Earth!

Here is an interesting fact about our day at The Magic Kingdom: We spent the entire day, from morning until the fireworks show that night, in Fantasyland. Yes, the entire day. Not only that, we didn't get to do everything there was to do there, including PhilharMagic and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh among others. I have to admit, I wasn't too sad to miss It's a Small World.

So, what did we do? Well, after the requisite pictures at the entrance and the oohs and aahs of walking towards the castle, (which never gets old by the way. Plus it was my youngest daughter's first time in Disney) we headed straight for Fairytale Garden to meet Angelica's favorite princess: Merida!

Let me tell you guys, this moment made all the planning, hassle and worrying worth it. When Angelica saw Merida, the look on her face... Merida started talking to her but Angelica was completely stricken in awe. Then she started to touch her hair. It's as if she was saying "You are real! Look at your hair!" Of course, I was too busy enjoying the moment to do stuff like, you know, take pictures. Thankfully, Disney came to the rescue here. I paid to include Memory Maker in my vacation package so they took care of that for me. My wife also lapsed out of her own personal coma to take some pics of the girls afterwards trying out the bow and arrow. They loved it! 20 minutes into the trip and it had already payed for itself. Everything from here on was pure profit.

And folks, we did some stuff. From Merida we went to the Mad Tea Party, Dumbo, the Carousel and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. I was a bit concerned that the girls were gonna find it too scary but they absolutely loved it. Angelica stayed with Grandma for that one though. Not tall enough.

On Dumbo my wife took this picture which I thought was priceless. Can you see why? My wife was calling Angelica and this was the result.

From there we made a short stop by Rapunzel's tower for something I had promised the girls we'd do...

Everyone around thought it was pretty cute. We even got some applause! Veronica actually wanted to wait to see if she would come out. I promised we would meet her later.

By then, it was time to head over to The Crystal Palace for our reservations with Winnie the Pooh.

Here, things got a little weird. Veronica, who is usually fearless, did not want her picture taken with any of the characters here. I don't know why. Not a Winnie the Pooh fan it seems.

The Festival of Fantasy Parade was next. I tell you, these girls simply can't get enough of the princesses. They cheered for every single one they saw in the parade. Thankfully we were saving the best part for later.

After the parade, we could tell the girls were exhausted. It wasn't part of the plan but we felt it best to head over to the hotel, have them sleep a couple of hours, then regroup and return to finish what was left on our schedule. Frankly, I don't think we were gonna be able to go through such a long day without a break. 

So they slept, then they overslept. It was raining so there was no point in waking them up so I waited until it passed to do so. I was forced to rearrange some fast passes and we ended up missing the one we had for Cinderella and Rapunzel but since the girls were able to rest, we managed to get all we wanted to do even with the extra lines. Besides, this was the most important part of the visit: Meeting the Princesses.

After we got back in the park, we first met Anna and Elsa. My own little Anna (Veronica) and Elsa (Maria Rosa) were speechless. I enjoyed seeing their faces as the sisters from Frozen took the time to talk to them. Not that my girls said much. They just pretty much nodded at everything they were told. The look on their faces say it best I think.

Cinderella and Rapunzel were pretty much the same experience in that my girls were just in awe. These are the "regular" princesses after all. By that I mean that when they are not playing Frozen, Maria says she is Rapunzel and Veronica says she is Cinderella. We were really lucky and happy that these two were together in the same experience. Veronica managed to tell Cinderella about how much she loves her shoes. Even at the Princess level, girls talk about shoes it seems.

 I should point out, that Angelica became a total character groupie! We literally had to restrain her from running over to the characters and giving them hugs while it was some other person's turn. She might have ruined a couple of pictures... I would grab her hand and explain we had to wait in line and she would cry and give me this face like "But Rapunzel is right there! Why do we have to wait?! I mean she is right within my reach Dad! I don't get it." Such is life. When our turn would come up, my brother would joke that it was time "to release the Kraken".  She was sneaky too. She would wait until just the right moment to escape my grasp.

From there we went to Enchanted Tales with Belle, where my oldest got to play the part of Maurice, Belle's father. I wouldn't mind more character experiences like this one. It was interactive, the kids loved it and you get to take pictures. It was one of my favorite moments on this trip.

 

Then, we rode on Journey of the Little Mermaid which is a classic "Dark Ride" It's so full of color and so many things going on. Everyone loved this one. I forgot to take any pics here though...

Finally, we missed Celebrate the Magic. The show where they project all sorts of stuff on the Castle from different Disney films. It started just as we were exiting the Little Mermaid ride and were taking a restroom break. We were just caught out of position I guess. The projection can only be seen from the front and Journey of the Little Mermaid is behind it. So while that was happening we made our way to a better spot so we could watch Wishes.

If Wishes causes the jaws in adults to unhinge, what do you think the effect is on a child?  Plus Tinkerbell "flew" right over us! This is one of those "moments" that parents live for. Veronica kept looking back at me like "Is this really happening?" I did not want it to end. Sadly, it did.

Of course, after that "moment" was over my body quickly reminded that we were on the tail end of a very, very long day and while the girls had been able to sleep during the afternoon, I hadn't. My feet were destroyed. In fact, I they hadn't hurt this much since running the marathon. The walk back to the room was painful. I was actually concerned I would have trouble getting up the next morning. I was exhausted. But the memories... no amount of pain will take those away.

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?

The Deal With Fast Food

I was watching a documentary called Fed Up over the weekend about our collective addiction to sugar and processed food. I think it's something worth checking out. It really made me think about our eating habits. I say "our" because it's not just my habits but my family's. I hate to think I'm passing some really bad things down to my girls and it worried me a bit.

About the documentary itself, I invite you to watch it and formulate your own opinions on it. In my case it made me think about my eating when I was growing up and how it has changed as processed food has become more accessible. After careful analysis, here are some things I found interesting.

When I was a kid, fast food was not as widespread as it is today. The first big chain to make a serious expansion in Puerto Rico was Burger King. There were others of course but back then they started popping up more frequently. If we wanted to eat some Burger King, we had to drive 30 minutes to a mall in San Juan to get some. My Mom worked in San Juan so if she wanted to take us, she had to come from work, pick us up then go back to San Juan to eat there. Needless to say, she had to be in a very good mood to do that and we had to earn it. There had better been some good grades or something like that if we were to dare ask to go to Burger King. 

The main source of food was my Grandmother's cooking, and it was good. She was like most Grandma's in that she never measured anything so most of her recipes died with her, much to my dismay. This woman was a monster cook. Any native dish I eat is still compared to her version to this day. So, Burger King was simply a treat we would get once in a while. If it was a really special occasion, we would go to Pizza Hut. Fine dining at its finest if you asked me. "We are going to Pizza Hut? I better go air out the good clothes. You don't wear shorts to Pizza Hut."

Then came McDonald's and their massive expansion in the island which forced Burger King to reciprocate. The success of both chains ushered the entry of the others. You know, Wendy's, KFC, Taco Bell and they were everywhere. By the mid 90's they had taken over the island and things changed. I don't think for the best.

My Grandmother's health deteriorated and was unable to cook for us. My Mom worked so we started to eat what was accessible and convenient. Where back in the day it took 30 minutes to get a Whopper, today there are three Burger Kings within a mile of my house. Three. Right next to one another. To those three Burger Kings in a town that previously had no fast food joints you can add a McDonald's, 2 Church's Fried Chickens, 2 Taco Bells, 2 Subways, a KFC, a Wendy's , a Papa John's and a Pizza Hut. I have no problem picking up a pizza in shorts and flip flops at Pizza Hut these days. Change indeed. And that is just my hometown. I'm not even talking about the adjacent towns that have other choices within 5 to 10 minutes of my house.

We eat way too much fast food at my house. It's a sad fact but it's true. There is not a week that goes by when we don't eat it. We have allowed convenience to overtake our desire for health. We go to these places and eat and we don't just settle for basics either. It's the combo meal which means soda and of course no small potions either. For a while now, I have been going to these places looking for healthier choices but that doesn't really exist does it? At least not equally. I mean, why pick a salad when you can have a combo meal a lot less? It's certainly a model that prays on those strapped for cash. They literally penalize you for making the healthier choice to switch your beverage to bottled water by paying more for something that is actually cheaper. Nope. There really are no healthier choices in those places. Only the illusion of choice.

This isn't some elitist rant asking for the eradication of fast food and I'm not telling anyone what to do. This is a very personal thing I'm sharing here. I still eat fast food and plenty of it but changes have to be made. Cook cannot be a 4 letter word. My wife has agreed that we need to make more home-cooked meals but I have to step up my game as well. As the resident Chef of the house I'm gonna have to put more effort on this. I see my daughter's whining over soda or saying they don't like something my wife cooked without trying it because they'd rather have some burger, that is my fault.

The line has been drawn.

If you want to learn more about the documentary you can see the trailer at www.fedupmovie.com 

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.