Little Tokyo Shabu Shabu
1330 S. Fullerton Road, Suite 108
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
(626) 810-6037
http://littletokyoshabushabu.com

I frequent Little Tokyo Shabu Shabu often. As being that I frequent the restaurant, the waiters have gotten to know me and my friends, so needless to say that the service is amazing. The food menu is extensive, the drink selection is abundant and the “Xango w/ Ice Cream” dessert will leave you craving more.

The food is always great. Vegetables are always fresh, meat is always tender, and unlike other Shabu Shabu restaurants, I have never been served frozen or freezer-burned meat. The menu consists of Appetizers, Shabu Shabu, Sukiyaki, Saki Wine List & Cocktails and Dessert. Your meat selections are Premium Angus Beef, Australian Lamb, and Kurobuta Pork. There is a Veggie Lover’s (Vegetarian) Platter, and I guarantee that the vegetables are always fresh. Seafood Shabu Shabu is also available, which consists of salmon, shrimp, mussels, scallop and Japanese fish cake).

I frequent this restaurant with an average of 4-6 people, and the great thing about the restaurant is that there is a private area that will accommodate me and my friends easily, usually available by reservation. They recently accommodated my group of 11 people without a reservation, and did so in a timely manner. The private LCD TV could be used to play your own DVD, so this would be perfect for a small company/client presentation/dinner.

I’ve been to Koji’s, as everyone mentions, but for the price, I highly recommend Little Tokyo over Koji’s. What would easily cost $30+ per person at Koji’s will cost under $20 at Little Tokyo.

The restaurant’s design is pretty modern, and can host about 30-50 people at one time. There are two LCD flatscreen TVs; one in the main dining area, and one in the private booth. The restrooms are separated from the dining area, and are generally clean at all times.

This restaurant is in my top 5 places to eat at in the southland, and if you are a fan of shabu shabu, Little Tokyo is a must.

Price: Excellent ($11-$30)
Service: Good
Food Quality: Excellent
Date Spot: Yes
Overall: 4.7 (out of 5)

So the big news is now official, and Formula DRIFT has officially released the press release today: Ernie Fixmer is the newest addition to the Formula DRIFT judging panel! Congrats, Ernie! I couldn’t think of a better judge than one like you who has experienced so much of the drifting scene. The title is definitely well deserved, and all your hard work has paid off.

I’ve known Ernie for several years now, and actually met him through his wife, Casidi. I spend countless days and nights at their home and at Ernie’s shop, aways catching the latest news about the industry and getting to watch the latest projects that Ernie works on, such as the 600hp Infiniti G35 and RHD R33 Nissan Skyline 4-door sedan with an R34 front end…

Whatever Ernie touches can be a guaranteed well-done project, and you can be assured that the project is the best you’ll see.

Here’s the official press release by Formula DRIFT:

July 8, 2008

Formula DRIFT Announces New Judge; One of the Original American Drifters, Ernie Fixmer

LONG BEACH, Calif. – July 8, 2008 – Formula DRIFT has selected Ernie Fixmer, one of the original American drifters, as their new judge for the Series. Fixmer will begin his duties at Formula DRIFT Round 4: High Stakes on July 11-12 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“Formula DRIFT would like to welcome Ernie to the judging panel and are confident with our decision,” said Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “Ernie has over 9 years experience with drifting and we look forward to his expertise in elevating the competition in our Series.”

Fixmer first grew his passion for drifting while enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in Okinawa, Japan during the late 90’s. Upon his arrival back to the U.S., Fixmer picked up one of the first major sponsorships of the industry while building his own Nissan 240SX. Fixmer was one of the first Americans to gain a D1 license and continued to hold that license from 2004-2006. He also competed in the Formula DRIFT series in 2004 & 2005. In 2005, Formula DRIFT competitors awarded Fixmer with the “Hardest Working Drifter,” award for his dedication to drifting.

“I am very excited and honored to have been chosen to fulfill this responsibility as a Formula DRIFT judge, and hope that my contributions will help the development of this motorsport, not only in the United States, but internationally,” said Ernie Fixmer, Formula DRIFT judge. “I believe that my experience will help guide my input so that we, as a collective panel of judges, continue to make fair and unbiased decisions.”

Fixmer makes his debut as the new Formula DRIFT judge on July 11-12 for Round 4: High Stakes at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

For more information visit: www.formuladrift.com

Want to learn more about Ernie? Check out his Wikipedia article; you’ll find out some amazing facts that you probably didn’t know before!

Congratulations, Ernie, and I’m always by your side! See you in Vegas this weekend!

I will start off with this. Relaxation is definitely a major player in the key to happiness. However, with my schedule, relaxation should actually be one of the last things I need to worry about. I blame my friends Ernie and Casidi. Starting with last weekend, on a spectacular camping trip to Silverwood Lake to this weekend with fireworks, barbecue and more food, I must say that I’ve been very relaxed and had a chance to find myself and my true happiness.

I enjoy spending time with friends, and I find every free moment I have to spend time with them. However, over the past several months, maybe even the past few years, I seemed to have kept my focus on working hard and only working hard. I was always a firm believer of working hard now, and playing hard later, but I’ve learned that by doing this, my friends often felt neglected while I let my focus get the best of me.

For the past few months, I’ve been making a conscious effort to become more of a friend, and slowly adapted my lifestyle to reflect this. Ernie and Casidi have proven to be the best of friends, and have welcome me into their lives with open arms.

What was the turning point for me? It’s small to most, but to me, it meant a lot. While we were out and about doing our daily fun activities, Casidi made a comment that made me stop and think about the perspective of things:

This is Joe. He’s our son

Such a simple statement, and a joking one. But it meant the world to me. It let me know that I was a trusted friend, and that I have been fully accepted into their circle of trust and loved ones.

There was a time in history when I was very close to these two, and spent a lot of time together. I drifted apart at one point, and almost missed the most important day of their lives: their wedding.

Well, now I’m back in their lives and vice versa. I spend the majority of my time with them and our small group of friends, and I’m very satisfied with the support that I’ve been given by them in my life.

So with that said, here’s an update on what I’ve done this past weekend.

Thursday: After work, I ended up on in Walnut at Kaizen Motorsports, Ernie’s shop where he builds race and drift cars, and I had a late lunch with Ernie while he worked on cars. I started up his website, and came up with a bunch of conceptual ideas to what it is going to look like when finished.

Friday: Fireworks Fireworks Fireworks! Well, we picked up a car first, so that Cas could drive it the next day. We picked up the car, cleaned it, prepped it, and loaded it up on the trailer. Then my friend Whiteboy Chris and I went to go buy a bunch of fireworks for the kids (friends’ nieces and nephews). Came back to my second home (Cas & Ernie’s), had some Korean BBQ with friends and fam, jumped in the pool and let off some fireworks. Oh, and got drunk. Can’t forget that part. I don’t remember falling asleep.

Saturday: Drift! This was Casidi’s reintroduction to drifting after nearly 4 years. We drove out to Camarillo Airport (at 5AM!), unloaded the car, and watch Casidi do donuts. haha. She got the technique down, and was definitely the best female drifter out there that day. Came home, ate at a fusion Shabu Shabu restaurant, came home, passed out.

Sunday: Swimming. Eating. Swimming. I’m currently working on Ernie’s bio… Later this week, I will be releasing some extremely good news. But for now, I’m going to go back and work on his wikipedia entry and bio. Then I’m going to eat again, and jump in the pool again before I drive home to start off the work week.

With all that said, I haven’t worked once. And it feels great. This weekend was definitely a mini vacation, and much needed. We’re still short a couple designers at work, so it can be stressful at times.

So I encourage everyone to take a break sometimes. It did wonders for me this past few weeks, and I’ve actually found a new outcome on life because of it.

That’s it,

Joe

Teet.net is a website where prizes can be won in multiple ways. The service is absolutely free, and there is also a chat room integrated into the service. The main objective of a user on teet.net is to guess when they think a timer will stop. The timer counts backwards from a set number, and the person that guesses the closest time wins points. After each timer is stopped, a Dice Roll happens. You only have a matter of a few seconds that will allow you to roll the dice, and the highest roller wins the previous prize.

The chat is a great way to keep entertained with many people who have the same interest as you, and the site can become addicting fast. If you’re looking for quick results, this site is definitely not for you. But if you have some patience throughout the day and can afford a few minutes to watch the timer/dice roll, then you’ll have fun here.

There are many prizes throughout the week, but as of late, there have been more prizes of points and teets, the proprietary currency of teet.net.

So after long ado, I finally committed to creating, designing and launching my website. For the longest time – for several years, to be exact – I have had “this site is currently down for maintenance” as my default home page when visiting jo3design.com. I found this to be unfair for my stalkers, as this left no room for them to learn much about me, although I put myself out there on the internet in many many ways.

So dear stalkers, this website is for you. If you look to the bottom right, I have given you so many opportunities to follow me across the huge internetiverse, so feel free to do so.

To all others, this will be a place for me to update you with anything and everything related to myself. From projects to photography to rants to reviews; it’s all going to be here, and I hope you’ll bear with me as I find the time to update this site on a constant basis. So thank you for stopping by, and at this point, please know that my site is currently a work-in-progress. You will see a lot of error pages, I’m sure, but don’t worry; I’ve made the error page a fun one to look at!

Of course I’m always open to ideas on what content to put on my site, so feel free to let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see.

Thanks, and enjoy my life,

Joe

Today is Earth Day. This is a tree that was being given out for adoption in order to plant. Many vendors came by the MySpace Courtyard in celebration and to bring awareness to Earth Day.

This rasterbated image uses 25 sheets of paper printed off a Xerox Laser Printer, and has been the root of many controversies between the landlord of our building, the Facilities and Operations team, and our Creative Services Department. What once used to overlook the entire building courtyard is now laid to rest next to Chuck’s picket fence.

As an added bonus, how many Vills can you spot in this picture?

For some backstory on this, visit the Villisms set, found at: www.flickr.com/photos/jo3design/sets/72157600063634790/