it was a funky buddha friday
we've been gone a while. perhaps months. on the way up from the 'burbs, i mentioned to danielle and katie that every time we go to funky buddha, something crazy happens. i believe that the exact words i used were, "some fucked up shit happens." and wouldn't you know it... but i'm getting ahead of myself. we started at sushi station in arlington heights, for some average-ish sushi treats.
sushi station
it's got the old conveyor belt setup that everyone loves. something passes by that you like, and you open up the little hatch and grab a plate. but don't sit in a position where you're parallel to the conveyor, because you'll get seasick watching the sushi pass in your peripherals. but if you can sit perpendicular, right on the counter, it's fun to watch the rolls go by. the sushi is decent, but the problem with this setup and all other sushi restaurants like it, is that you can't guarantee the freshness of the rolls.
if you make it out here, i recommend the following items, unique to this establishment. the bostation roll, with tuna, avocado, and crab salad, has a wonderfully simple flavor that everyone will enjoy. i also had the jellyfish salad for the first time, and it was delicious. with a hint of sesame and a little rice wine and vinegar, it's very similar in flavor to seaweed salad. for the faint of heart, they have a lot of cooked nigiri, including seared squid and steamed scallop... and for rolls, they have many featuring imitation crab and tempura shrimp, and they even have a teriyaki roll, with teriyaki chicken and cucumbers!
sushi station: B- the sushi is average (C+) and the quality varies due to the nature of the conveyor. so go early so that you can spot the fresh additions... or you can order off the menu. the ambience of the restaurant is conducive to having a slow meal with a lot of conversation, and it's very fun and loud inside, so that's why the grade goes up to a B-.
funky buddha lounge
so we got to buddha at around 10:30pm, and we rolled in with danielle, katie, danny, chris, al, mel, jim, and phuc. david was already there and drinking when we arrived. we popped in the dj booth to bother cj and give him the business cards i designed (and danny printed). drinks were flowing from the get-go... a good supplement to the ghetto fabulous plastic bottle cocktails we all pounded in the car on the way down. vodka and gatorade was katie's concoction, a combination that i do not recommend.
first surprise of the night... the unexpected appearance of liz and eugene, who i haven't seen in forever and a day. i think it was at this point that i noticed that al was very talkative tonight... i don't think i saw her at any point, not talking to someone. we'll get into that later. right about now, danny decides that it's time to toast to a round of maker's mark shots, chilled. it's disgusting, yet delicious at the same time, and i was already on my third vodka red bull, so fuck it.
the second surprise was the unexpected appearance of lonnie and xavius. cool, because i haven't seen them in a while either. i would've expected aymeei to follow right behind, but she wasn't to be found. i think she's mad at me. finally, the third and last set of surprise guests shows up... karl and renato! they added late, so they used the names roy and tim to get in free.
so cj finishes his set and we all make our way back to the vip section. at this point, everyone is sorta doing their own thing. some of us are sitting, some standing, some dancing, and everyone all over the place. i decide that this is the point to tell david the ariel story, which takes forever, and at some point we notice that al is sitting down and appears to be upset. we get reassurance that she's okay, and we continue the convo.
so i don't know what happens. i'm wasted and zoning out on the paintings in the vip room, and all of a sudden danny comes over and tells me that we may have to leave because al puked or something. i was taken off guard, so i sort of sat there stunned. mel and danielle were taking al to the restroom, and danny followed to help out. i walked back to the other room to close out my tab so that we could get the fuck out. i'm not sure where the hell everyone is, and i'm drunk, so i just take my sweet as time finishing my camel ultra light.
i make my way to the back of vip just in time to follow david carrying al out the back door to mel's car, making sure to take a couple pictures... "for the memories." this is off the topic, but the last time i said "for the memories", was in london, when i told chris to check out the last toilet stall in this public restroom. he opened the door and started dry heaving, which almost made me puke. it's amazing how i thought it was so funny, and didn't get disgusted until i heard him make that pre-puke-gurgle-burp sound. i seriously almost lost it. so back to the story.
we stayed at buddha until it finally shut down... about 30 minutes after al and mel left. just enough time to do a little more talking, dancing, and drinking. and just enough time for some guy to latch on to katie for dear life. she couldn't shake him, and he followed us out. on the way out, chris took a picture with a group of asian ladies. it looked like a lineup at a thai whorehouse. one of them was from italy... a filipina-italiana. nice. danny kept pushing the fact that chris was a filipino from london. he was in fact, yelling it through the crowd. we kept trying to hook the two of them up. in the end, she blurted something like, "oh... well people from london are snobs." the crowd gave the textbook, "ohhhhhh" after chris got burned. i wanted to say "ahhh, fuck you...", but i didn't know who those girls were with, plus they were cute.
that was pretty much it. we all said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. we were gonna stop at the mcdonald's at the oasis, but decided against it. danny played some smashing pumpkins, siamese dream, on the way home, and i sang from the back seat. after i got home, i downloaded the pictures to fotki and started writing this blog.
sushi station
it's got the old conveyor belt setup that everyone loves. something passes by that you like, and you open up the little hatch and grab a plate. but don't sit in a position where you're parallel to the conveyor, because you'll get seasick watching the sushi pass in your peripherals. but if you can sit perpendicular, right on the counter, it's fun to watch the rolls go by. the sushi is decent, but the problem with this setup and all other sushi restaurants like it, is that you can't guarantee the freshness of the rolls.if you make it out here, i recommend the following items, unique to this establishment. the bostation roll, with tuna, avocado, and crab salad, has a wonderfully simple flavor that everyone will enjoy. i also had the jellyfish salad for the first time, and it was delicious. with a hint of sesame and a little rice wine and vinegar, it's very similar in flavor to seaweed salad. for the faint of heart, they have a lot of cooked nigiri, including seared squid and steamed scallop... and for rolls, they have many featuring imitation crab and tempura shrimp, and they even have a teriyaki roll, with teriyaki chicken and cucumbers!
sushi station: B- the sushi is average (C+) and the quality varies due to the nature of the conveyor. so go early so that you can spot the fresh additions... or you can order off the menu. the ambience of the restaurant is conducive to having a slow meal with a lot of conversation, and it's very fun and loud inside, so that's why the grade goes up to a B-.
funky buddha lounge
so we got to buddha at around 10:30pm, and we rolled in with danielle, katie, danny, chris, al, mel, jim, and phuc. david was already there and drinking when we arrived. we popped in the dj booth to bother cj and give him the business cards i designed (and danny printed). drinks were flowing from the get-go... a good supplement to the ghetto fabulous plastic bottle cocktails we all pounded in the car on the way down. vodka and gatorade was katie's concoction, a combination that i do not recommend.
first surprise of the night... the unexpected appearance of liz and eugene, who i haven't seen in forever and a day. i think it was at this point that i noticed that al was very talkative tonight... i don't think i saw her at any point, not talking to someone. we'll get into that later. right about now, danny decides that it's time to toast to a round of maker's mark shots, chilled. it's disgusting, yet delicious at the same time, and i was already on my third vodka red bull, so fuck it.
the second surprise was the unexpected appearance of lonnie and xavius. cool, because i haven't seen them in a while either. i would've expected aymeei to follow right behind, but she wasn't to be found. i think she's mad at me. finally, the third and last set of surprise guests shows up... karl and renato! they added late, so they used the names roy and tim to get in free.
so cj finishes his set and we all make our way back to the vip section. at this point, everyone is sorta doing their own thing. some of us are sitting, some standing, some dancing, and everyone all over the place. i decide that this is the point to tell david the ariel story, which takes forever, and at some point we notice that al is sitting down and appears to be upset. we get reassurance that she's okay, and we continue the convo.
so i don't know what happens. i'm wasted and zoning out on the paintings in the vip room, and all of a sudden danny comes over and tells me that we may have to leave because al puked or something. i was taken off guard, so i sort of sat there stunned. mel and danielle were taking al to the restroom, and danny followed to help out. i walked back to the other room to close out my tab so that we could get the fuck out. i'm not sure where the hell everyone is, and i'm drunk, so i just take my sweet as time finishing my camel ultra light.
i make my way to the back of vip just in time to follow david carrying al out the back door to mel's car, making sure to take a couple pictures... "for the memories." this is off the topic, but the last time i said "for the memories", was in london, when i told chris to check out the last toilet stall in this public restroom. he opened the door and started dry heaving, which almost made me puke. it's amazing how i thought it was so funny, and didn't get disgusted until i heard him make that pre-puke-gurgle-burp sound. i seriously almost lost it. so back to the story.
we stayed at buddha until it finally shut down... about 30 minutes after al and mel left. just enough time to do a little more talking, dancing, and drinking. and just enough time for some guy to latch on to katie for dear life. she couldn't shake him, and he followed us out. on the way out, chris took a picture with a group of asian ladies. it looked like a lineup at a thai whorehouse. one of them was from italy... a filipina-italiana. nice. danny kept pushing the fact that chris was a filipino from london. he was in fact, yelling it through the crowd. we kept trying to hook the two of them up. in the end, she blurted something like, "oh... well people from london are snobs." the crowd gave the textbook, "ohhhhhh" after chris got burned. i wanted to say "ahhh, fuck you...", but i didn't know who those girls were with, plus they were cute.that was pretty much it. we all said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. we were gonna stop at the mcdonald's at the oasis, but decided against it. danny played some smashing pumpkins, siamese dream, on the way home, and i sang from the back seat. after i got home, i downloaded the pictures to fotki and started writing this blog.
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