Los Angeles - Day 2

Friday, 7/24 - we woke up, of course, trying to find a place to eat. Eating, as I mentioned is a very important part of our daily agenda. :)

It was about 10am at this time, kinda late for breakfast, and too early for lunch. Many of the places around the San Gabriel Valley were still closed. We drove along Valley St and then by chance passed by this Vietnamese restaurant called Banh Mi & Che Cali with tons of people inside. Well, that's a good sign. So we decided to give this restaurant a try. And I must say that it was a very good find! Not only did the food tasted good, it was dirt cheap!

A foot-long Vietnamese sandwich (Banh Mi) for only $2.25!

One of my favorite Vietnamese dishes, Banh Cuon, Pork Rice Roll, was only $3.75. I am sooo in love with this dish! :P

Vietnamese Curry with bread for $4.00. This was my least favorite of the 3 - probably because SQ squeezed too much lemon juice in it, making the curry more sour than it needs to be.

We also got Milk Tea for $1 each. Incredible. No wonder so many people are inside this restaurant. I would definitely recommend this place!

After the meal, we went to the Getty Center. This place is free admission but there is a $15 parking now (used to be $8 a few years ago - inflation). We came here last time, about 6-7 years ago, so don't remember much about the artwork or the place all that much. As we boarded the tram, we were advised by the volunteers there that there would be tours available. There are a multiple of tours, a garden tour, architectural tour, and various artwork gallery tours. Either these were not available last time we came, or we didn't know about them. But this time, we took advantage of these tours and it definitely made a difference!

Garden at the Getty Center

Architecture at the Getty Center

We also went inside the buildings to admire Getty's artwork collection. Maybe because I've already been to the Louvre or the Orsay Museum in Paris, Getty's collection of artwork seems so small in scale. He didn't have many of the more popular works, which I've seen in the bigger museums. So I was not impressed. I guess I'm just biased. But the Getty has much more to offer - it's a very impressive building/center just by itself. The tour guide said it took 1.2 Billion dollars to build and it took 14 years. That's crazy! Only an oil tycoon could afford such a lavish expense.

After 4 hrs at the Getty, we had a hard time leaving there. It was dead on rush hour traffic, on a Friday of course. We wanted to try out this Korean BBQ restaurant in Koreatown called Soowon Galbi Korean BBQ. 202 Yelp reviews with a 4.5 stars rating must be good. And it WAS GOOD! We got there early so no wait. We ordered their signature dish - the Soowon Galbi and Bulgogi. Both were divine. So tender and tasty! SQ liked the meats, but of course got irriated about the smell of the BBQ (like always). Apparently these BBQ charcoal smell sticks to his skin like glue.

We cruised around LA downtown again and were distracted by really loud music and a large crowd in a plaza near the music center. We decided to go check it out... so we parked. When we got to the plaza, we found out that they were offering free dance lessons and this was just one BIG dance party! An outdoor dance party - free admission! How cute! It was Disco night so they were teaching people how to dance the John Travolta dance. Then more music played and people just danced and danced. I couldn't help but to join! So fun! People there were throwing out moves that were so incredible and fun to watch. About an hour into it, they brought out another teacher to go through basic Merengue/Samba steps. I must stay that Samba is hard! I think they have these free dances every Friday. How cool was that?!?

We left around 9:30p or so and wanted to watch the new Harry Potter movie. We wanted to watch it in or near Pasadena so it would be a short ride back to the hotel after the movie. But we got disappointed that none of the nearby theaters were showing Harry Potter. We drove by Fosselman's Ice Cream parlor in Alhambra and got some ice cream. It was about 10pm at this point, but the place was packed. I was surprised to see how many people are out and about so late at night. The good thing was that the weather was so pleasant, in the low 70's... a perfect summer night. Aaaaah, sometimes I so miss those summer nights...

As we drove back to the hotel, I was so sad that our week-long vacation was soon coming to an end. What a great and fabulous vacation! We had such a wonderful time. There were so "bad" moments here and there, but overall, I really enjoyed it. When I said "bad" moments, I meant that there were times when I felt very uncomfortable not knowing where we would be staying for the night. I kept on worrying about that piece of unknown, constantly... but I guess I soon learned to accept that having a place to stay should be the least of our concern. SQ really brought out the spontaneity-fun part to the trip. We REALLY didn't have an agenda and there were lots of unknowns, but at the end of the day, it all worked out, probably for the better. We were able to do a lot of things on the fly. That is also one thing that I learned from the trip - in most of the activities, I, at first, was always hesitant to do or try something (like kayaking, etc), but ended up enjoying it after it was said and done. So I guess the lesson to learn is to have an open mind. Try it, you might like it. I did. This is one memorable trip I will never forget...well, if I ever do, I at least have this blog to remind me.

Los Angeles - Day 1

We decided to kinda roam around in LA today - no agenda, just go around. We started the day with dim sum at a place called Elite Restaurant in Monterey Park. We found this place via a recommendation from my co-worker. It's a decent dim sum place ~ taste-wise very comparable to the ones in SF - the choice menu was a bit tight, but I guess their most popular dish is this Rice roll Chinese donut. Their point of differentiation is this donut is stuffed with shrimp paste. It tastes rather good. Different.

LA is known for their traffic, and today's drive was no different. After being stuck in traffic for a good 10-15 minutes, we got to Hollywood's Chinese Theater. We walked around the Hollywood & Highlands stores, the Walk of Fame area - it was crowded and warm. We kinda wanted to join those tours that take you to the celebrity homes, but later decided to go against it. Ok, we're lame even to think about going...

We ended up doing the next touristy thing, which is to get a chili dog at Pink's. This place is advertised like crazy as one of "LA must-do's," kinda like visits to Hollywood & Disneyland. So we went... and... the line to Pink's snaked around the building.. No kidding!

We waited for 1 hour... yes, ONE long hour for our chili dogs! I was quite surprised that SQ was willing to wait because he doesn't believe in waits for any food. But we waited and finally got our chili dogs. SQ got his with sauerkraut. With a couple of root beers, we're good to go! Now, are these chili dogs good? Yes, absolutely. Are they 1-hr wait-long good? No, probably not.

After Pink's, we drove around the LA downtown area and then ended up at Beverly Hills/Rodeo Drive. I've been here before but don't remember much about it. When we drove along the street this time around, I recognize so many of the brand names there (working at a luxury retailer) obviously got me informed. Cartier, Hermes, Chophard, Bvlgari, Chanel...every designer brand name one can imagine. Wow. It's crazy.

In addition to Pinkberry, the other Southern CA hip thing is Sprinkles Cupcakes. Sprinkles still has a limited distribution right now - the closest one in the Bay Area is in Palo Alto. But they started at this Beverly Hills location serving cupcakes to the rich and well to do. They have different flavors each day of the week with a handful of flavors being baked everyday. We ordered the most popular flavors: Red Velvet & Black/White.

Have you noticed that our trip is mostly about eating? Well, because we both love eating! We gained like 5 lbs from this trip! No joke! Because we not only ate a lot, we also vegged a lot. After Sprinkles, we went to the Santa Monica Pier/Beach. SQ went for a swim and I sunbathe and people-watched.

After laying around for a couple of hours, we met up with my friend, EW, for dinner at Baby Blues BBQ. It is in Venice, only a few minutes away from Santa Monica. This place is a hole-in-the wall type of restaurant (literally, there are holes in the wall!) Very run-down, but serves a mean BBQ baby-back ribs. I ordered 1/2 rack A la carte (since I was still full from all the junk I ate throughout the whole day). The ribs were huge!! There must be like 6-7 rib bones in that 1/2 rack! They were so tender they literally can fall off the bone. The home-made BBQ sauce was also very yummy. We got engaged in our catch-up conversation, that I actually forgot to take pictures of the food and our gathering!! Good times...

Santa Barbara

Wed, 7/22, we drove further south to Santa Barbara. This time we wanted to stay a bit longer in 1 place...because we felt like we were constantly moving about. The drive from SLO to SB is about 1-1/2 hours (90+ miles or so). We got to SB about 11am or so, and decided to visit the UCSB campus. My sis and brother in law are alums there, but I've never visited them when they went to school there. I loved UCSB - it reminds me very much of Davis. The campus was filled with bikes, green grass and nice buildings. We, for some reason, ended up in the dorm area, which opened my eyes! The dorms were right by the ocean (though no beach access)...how can one study when you can stare out to the ocean all day? The dorm area had a beautiful courtyard, almost brand new buildings...just very nice and modern! I have to say that Ryerson Hall, Bixby, Gilmore, and the other "Segundo" dorms in UCD all look so dated compared to these here at UCSB. Judge for yourself!

After the UCSB visit, we grabbed a couple of sandwiches from South Coast Deli and drove to the Alice Peck Memorial Gardens, in the heart of Santa Barbara's downtown. I absolutely LOVED this park. There are beautiful lawns, blooming flowers, trees, butterflies, humming birds, a little pavilion over looking a lake filled with water lilies and turtles ... We even enjoyed a little impromptu picnic here! Just perfect!!

We headed to Stern's Wharf, which is the beachfront area in SB after driving through State Street, a street popular for hip stores and nice restaurants. We rented a couple of beach cruiser bikes and rode along the beach, onto the Pier, and around a nearby lake.

We biked around for about 1 hour - everything was going great until ... when we set our camera on self-timer to take a picture of both of us, our camera fell to the ground and broke! :( Our lens shutter broke, but luckily nothing else was damaged. We were still able to retrieve our pictures and able to take pictures. Our camera just looked "naked" without the lens shutter. We didn't let the camera incident dampen our spirits. We continued our bike ride for another hour.

Tired and sweaty, we wanted something cold to cool us off. We remembered passing by Pinkberry on State Street so went back to try their yogurt. Pinkberry started in Hollywood and is "supposedly" the originator of the whole yogurt concept. They are the first to make it hip and trendy. Copycats are ALL over the place now...of course. I ordered their original yogurt with unlimited toppings (my choice: mango, pineapple, and strawberry) for $3.50. I have to say that their yogurt is darn good!! It is not as tarte as the one they have at Quickly's. I really like it...Yum! Too bad they don't Pinkberry here in the Bay Area.

It was about 5pm already and time to leave Santa Barbara. :( The drive to LA is about 2 hrs away and we didn't want to drive in the winding Highway 1 after nightfall... so we must get on our way.

We got to LA around 7pm and immediately went to dinner at Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) in Arcadia. They are famous for their Shanghai soup dumplings. And yes, yes, yes ~~ their soup dumplings are to die for!!! Probably one of the best that I've had. Apparently, Din Tai Fung started in Taiwan and quickly expanded to many parts of Asia, and eventually to the US (only in the LA area). They are so addicting. We ordered 1 first, and then ended up with 2 orders of the soup dumplings. We also ordered some other items off the menu, but the dumplings were the best!

After dinner, we checked into the Sheraton Pasadena Hotel. After a few days of motels, I was ready to be comfortable in a nice hotel. I had booked this hotel using my Starwood points, so the next 3 nights were "free." When we checked in, they upgraded us to a Club room, which meant free breakfast in the morning and free evening hor'devours. We never made it to take advantage of the hor'devours though! Overall, a very comfortable stay... ahhhhh.... time to relax and chill out!

Hearst Castle, Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo

We continued our Pacific Coast Highway road trip down south and visited the Hearst Castle on Tue Jul 21. We got there around 10am and joined their "Experience Tour." Our guide was very knowledgeable and funny, making the tour very interesting. The mansion was built by Architect Julia Morgan (who is the 1st woman architect to graduate from famous Ecole des Beaux-Arts school in Paris) for newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. Hearst started and ran the San Francisco Examiner. The mansion, like many other mansions, was huge and elaborate. Tons of space, rooms, expensive materials, guests houses, etc. The most famous part of the Hearst Castle is the Neptune Pool. The pool itself was expanded 3 times to accommodate the growing size of the family.

The Hearst Foundation donated this mansion to the California State Parks. It's a pretty nice place to visit. Apparently, there are 3 other tours that one can take to see more parts of the mansion. One good method to keep the visitors returning and earning some $$. Yeah, CA definitely needs the extra dough.

After Hearst Castle, we stopped by Cambria for lunch. Cambria is a very small town - so small that Main Street is literally the main street. We ate a restaurant called Robin's - I had a good roasted veggie sandwich, though SQ's fish tacos weren't that impressive.

We travelled further south to Morro Bay. This was a fishing community (at least it used to be) but now, the waterfront is just a tourist attraction. Think a rundown, much smaller version of Fishermen's Wharf, filled with little shops and restaurants. The Morro Rock is connected to the wharf which is kinda interesting. We drove along a narrow street and then we ended up on Morro Rock itself. Morro Rock is a 176m high volanic plug. Everything was so beautiful here EXCEPT for those 3 ugly stacks (right of picture). It is part of a Power plant. Yes, an energy power plant. How disgusting to have a power plant right in the waterfront. Gross. All the beauty of the wharf, the Morro Bay, the surrounding beaches just got ruined! Sad.

After Morro Bay, the drive took us to San Luis Obispo. I never knew how small SLO is - it's quite like Davis, a small college town. We drove around Cal Poly to look at the buildings and the campus itself. I didn't feel like it was a big campus at all...kinda reminds me a bit of SFSU. SQ's faint memory has it that Pismo beach was nearby. So we drove and drove - little did we know that Pismo Beach was actually 12 miles away from SLO! But it was worth the visit ~ Pismo Beach is beautiful! White sand beaches and clear blue waters. What was especially nice was that they had a pier that took us all the way out to the waters. In this pic, we are staning on the pier - that explains why we have the beach on our left.

We enjoyed a nice Japanese bento box dinner at Gosh-i. The meal included a choice of meat (chicken, beef, or salmon), rice, tempura, miso soup, California roll, mixed green salad, a seaweed cucumber salad, fruit cocktail, AND watermelon. All for a grand total of $17!!! What a steal!! No wonder this place got so many good Yelp reviews!!

Monterey Bay, Carmel, Big Sur

SQ and I have been wanting to go on a drive down the CA coast since February. But the weekend we wanted to go, it was pouring rain in CA, left, right and center. We ended up abandoning the idea and went to LV instead. But this week, we went. Knowing us, we had very loose planning - in fact, we called each day to ask for lodging vacancies as we travelled along. We didn't know where we would end up and it was a good thing that we did that because by days end, we were "off" by 1 city destination. We ended up staying mostly in Days Inn or the equivalent, and most of them were fine.

We started our journey a bit late on Sunday 7/19...didn't get out of the house until 10am. We stopped by San Mateo for lunch, stopped by Santa Cruz, which was packed. We ended up in Monterey for a short stroll along the beach and saw these sea lions up close and personal.

The next morning, we went kayaking at Two Lover's Point in Monterey Bay. It was my first time kayaking and especially not being a swimmer, I was a bit afraid. But it was fine. The kayak was very stable and best yet, the water was very calm and there was hardly any wind at all. My biggest fear though, was that there were a lot of sea lions coming in and out of the water. They just come out all of the sudden and my weak heart can not take the surprises!! They were quite close and I was a bit afraid that one would knock over our kayak... but thank goodness that never happened.

We saw a couple of sea otter families, just lounging in the waters. They were so relaxed and so very cute. Sorry this picture are very far away because they are protected and we can not get too close to them. Can you see them? All those "brown" stuff in the water is kelp.

After kayaking, we did the 17-mile drive. I must say that it was somewhat disappointing. Maybe because the weather was a bit foggy or maybe because I expected it to be much more scenic. It was and it wasn't. The coastline was nice, but why do we have to pay to see that? It was basically the same coastline as we were driving along Monterey. SQ thinks the charge was to pay for the maintenance of those fancy golf courses along the way! But I did like the Lone Cypress on Pebble Beach.

The end of 17-mile drive took us to Carmel. There is just something about Carmel that is so charming. Don't know if it's just the small-town feel or just the way the local boutiques line up?? Either way, I love Carmel. I've only been here once I think, and I've always loved it. We ate a late lunch at a restaurant called Dametra that serves Mediterranean food. We got hummus, a chicken shawarma, and chicken and pesto pizza.

The owner is super nice and hospitable. It was someones birthday so he brought out his guitar and an older guy from the kitchen sang everyone a touching, romantic song. That was a nice treat. Then the owner also comped us with a Mediterranean dessert called Baklava. Yummm...

We continued our journey down south along the coast. We drove and made numerous stops to enjoy the Big Sur scenery. One word: WOW. Indescribable beauty..

These and many more. The photos probably don't even do these scenes justice. The real scenery was much more impressive!! We ended our drive at San Simeon. There are not much there in terms of touristy attractions other than the Hearst Castle, which we would visit tomorrow. But the sunset at San Simeon was probably an attraction by itself!

Cole Haan

I usually wear shoes with heels at work just because most of my dress pants are hemed a little bit longer to accommodate for the heels. I only wear these shoes at work, on carpet, and no where else. Because they are, afterall, not that comfortable for walking on hard concrete floors for more than a couple of blocks. But I just found THE most comfortable dress shoes EVER. It is a Cole Haan shoe. Yes, it's true that they are on the pricier side. But if you get them on sale, they are a deal! So I got a pair of sandals (similar to the one below, the one I got only had about 2-1/2" heels) and wore them today. I basically walked everywhere with it and my feet didn't feel sore at all! You may question why such a shoe can be comfortable - they sure don't "look" comfortable. The reason is the Cole Haan is famous for incorporating "NikeAir" technology into their shoes. Yes! you know those Nike Air gel cushions you get from Nike running shoes? These shoes come with an extra cushion where the balls of the foot are. That part usually take the biggest brunt of the body weight, especially when the shoe has a high heel. So clever! I love these shoes!! I love Cole Haan. They are so damn comfortable that I don't think I can buy any other brand besides Cole Haan from now on. I just need to be on the lookout for those sales!

Miette Cupcakes

I am not much of a cupcake eater - my friend Sylvia is a big cupcake fan. Quite frankly, the ones I've eaten so far are mostly those made from a Betty Crocker box. So I didn't know what a "real" cupcake tastes like...until I ate from Miette Cakes. OMG! Their cupcakes are divine! I got a chocolate one today with Vanilla buttercream frosting and it was really really really good!! It was great! The cake itself was moist and the frosting creamy. Not too sweet ~ perfect! There are a handful of other flavors like a raspberry frosting, which I shall try next time. There is a Miette Cakes in the Ferry Building...close to work ~ Dangerous!

Spoiled

When it comes to traveling, I must admit that I am spoiled. Having travelled mostly for work, I usually travel in luxury. To start things off, I have a dedicated travel agent who will book everything for me - down to details like airline seat and meal preferences to hotel non-smoking bed sizes. Only dates needed and everything is taken care of. And then I get to fly on business, take advantage of airport business lounges, stay in nice hotels, dine at fancy restaurants, call room service, take taxis everywhere and tip generously.

BUT then when I have to plan for my personal travel, I get soooo lazy. I dread having to plan where to go, where to stay, what to eat, and what to do. I am spoiled. I am spoiled rotten when it comes to travel planning. I wish someone can do it all for me....research for the best airline fares, the best hotel for the best price, everything. I guess I seriously need a butler, or like a personal assistant. Oh yeah right, what are the winning lotto numbers again this week?

Food-Filled day!

The Fourth is definitely a Food-Filled Day! SQ and I woke up late today, did some garden clean-up and went for a late lunch at the Outerlands. It is a nice, sweet little cafe in the Avenues (Judah and 45th). I always like to patronize our local eateries whenever we can. The Outerlands has an unique decor - their walls, tables, chairs, benches, and floor are all made from re-claimed wood. It not only has a very rustic feel to it, it is environmental-friendly. Since today is a holiday, the cafe served a limited menu selection. We shared a corn chowder, which was really really good. Not too heavy, filled with fresh sweet corn, potatoes and my favorite, roasted bell peppers. Yum! It was so good that the bowl was gone before I remembered to take a pic of it! We also ordered a Roasted turkey open-faced sandwich, complete with cheese and granny-smith apples. It was delicious! I would definitely come back to try some of their other dishes... Yelpers said that their Mac and Cheese is to die for!
As if we didn't already have enough food, we ended up going to Bi-Rite Creamery for their specialty ice cream. They have the best ice cream in town...yes, IMO, even better than Mitchell's. I got the Balsamic Strawberry and SQ got Toasted Coconut. Both flavors are first timers and keepers! Enjoyed the ice cream with a free show at Dolores Park.

Bi-Rite Creamery is also associated with the Bi-Rite Market on 18th & Guerrero. They are very well-known in the neighborhood, because they promote and sell only organic and locally and sustainably-raised meats, poultry and seafood. It is actually a very small market, but check out their cheese selection!

While in the neighborhood, we would be shot if we didn't stop by Tartine Bakery. It was close to 3:30pm by this time - and we were both very stuffed, but we still managed to chow down their famous bread pudding and a cup of latte. The peaches are in-season and extra-delicious! I am not a big fan of bread pudding but this is indeed quite good. SQ loved it!!! Next time we have to come back on an empty stomach.

I wonder if we will skip dinner tonight, having eaten more than we can possibly eat? Chances are, probably not! We love food too much!

Others go out of town on the 4th. Others BBQ. Others go watch the Fireworks. For SQ and me, we chow down on the 4th!!

Too close for comfort

It is very disturbing to me that things go missing and things appear in our front yard mysteriously. I think people are getting a little too close to our house… A few months ago, we were seeding some California poppies in 2 small plastic containers. The leaves have sprouted but there weren’t any flowers in bloom yet. We left the containers outside on our front yard planter for some sun. Then one day when we came home from work, the containers disappeared. Someone has taken them / “stole” them. They were just gone, without a trace…

The other day, we came home and noticed a suspicious plastic carton behind our trash shield. Inside the area where we keep all our trash/recycle bins, we saw this blue plastic square carton. Inside the carton was an empty Tide laundry detergent container, an empty apple juice container, and other miscellaneous recyclables. We had NO clue who left it there and why. They just appeared out of the blue. While it is no big deal for us to recycle these things, this is really too close for comfort … and to think about how close to our house this person got when we’re not there, and what else they could have left in front of our house?

So this morning, as I do every Saturday morning, I watered the flowers we have in our 2 planters outside. The flowers are growing quite nicely and we want to keep them alive. But today, I noticed that one of our lavender plants was missing. Yes, missing! The entire plant was gone, pulled out of the dirt. I could hardly believe it. How can a plant gone missing? Yesterday I vaguely remember it was still there. At first I thought the culprit was a gopher, who might have dug from underneath and pulled the entire plant downwards. But Sean said that the traces of dirt & mulch show that the plant was pulled from the top. Then I thought it was probably a dog. If it is really a dog, then the plant itself and the dirt would be messily scattered around the planter. But nope, we didn’t see any of that. Now we believe that a human had done it. Someone shoveled it out. I am sick to my stomach if this is true. Why would anyone do that??

These series of events are both disturbing and annoying. I don’t understand why we are being targeted. Since we are living in the middle of a residential area, and our street is not a main thoroughfare, we think the person(s) responsible are some of our neighbors. Maybe not the “immediate” neighbors but someone who lives closeby. We think we might have to set up cameras… we need to catch these people!