The Road to 40 Day 348/365: Playoff Watching

It’s rest day from running, so I got a bit of rest for myself while enjoying some NBA games.

Honestly, I haven’t been following the NBA as much as I used to, which is weird because I have the time to actually watch it now. I had fantasy teams and a wealth of knowledge of up to the 12th man of an NBA roster, and now, I can’t even name the first five of maybe half the league.

I did an annual playoff preview for years on my personal blog, and for a couple of years, they were published on Basketball TV and Solar Sports.

However, over the past couple of seasons, my interest has dwindled down on the NBA. I guess being too busy to watch it made me not really follow it as much. It didn’t help that when I did watch the games, I got frustrated seeing them hoist three after three and bricking all those shots only to run to the other end and do the same.

They run up the scores because nobody cares about defense anymore, and everyone travels and carries the ball all the time.

When the stakes are high, though, it sometimes gets good.

The play-in tournament was excellent, and we were treated to at least four excellent games before the teams that weren’t going to make it showed why they weren’t going to make it.

This morning, I got to catch a Portland and Lakers upset. I say “upset” because a complete Houston team with Kevin Durant was supposed to dominate the Luka and Reeves-less Lakers, and the young Portland team was supposed to be a cakewalk for the surging San Antonio Spurs.

It’s nice to see, though, as a spectator and not a gambler. I’ve been making picks for so many years, but now I’m back to just enjoying basketball as a sport and not a potential source of income.

Che was still working from home, so I figured I should cook something soupy for her for lunch. I got some kimchi and some of the ingredients I used for the doenjang jiggae yesterday to make kimchi jiggae this time around.

I always say that kimchi jiggae depends greatly on what kimchi I use. Obviously, I don’t make my own, so I rely on store-bought kimchi. When we went to Korea, I tried to taste some when we had the chance to order it to maybe see what I can improve in my recipe.

A couple of key things I got were adding a little bit of rice vinegar and that magic instant beef dashi that I saw in some tutorial videos. Those two, combined with all the other ingredients I usually use, gave me a taste that I was looking for.

After watching the dishes, I picked up Vino from school and proceeded to prepare dinner. I had pork belly strips that I wanted to make into a barbecue, but I didn’t have ketchup, so I decided against it. Instead, I tried to do my crispy pork recipe on the thin strips.

I boiled it together with garlic, onions, salt, pepper, and bay leaves to soften them, then air-dried it before deep frying. Unfortunately, it made a mess in the kitchen, so I decided to cook the rest in the air fryer.

For veggies, I made a three-ingredient stir-fried okra. I cooked the okra in oil, then added minced garlic and salt. Che asked for a bit of sauce, so I put a little bit of light soy sauce and water. She also requested for a side of salted eggs and tomatos.

I’m cutting down on meat and rice, so I mostly ate the okra. I did finish Vino’s leftovers. While I need to cut down on meat to try to bring my cholesterol down, at least I’m not banned from eating it entirely.

In limited quantities, I think I’ll be alright. Though I need to make sure to sweat it all out tomorrow on run day.