Exploratory Trip

Just finished Day 3 of our exploratory trip in Hong Kong...and we are exhausted!!  Our schedule thus far has been packed with school tours and apartment hunting. Every morning we start the day between 8:30-9:00 and go school hopping.. We have a total of 10 school appointments within this week.  We are looking for 2 types of schools - one that is kinda like a daycare center where Sarah can begin in Aug 2012 at 2 years old, and one that is a preschool / primary school where Sarah can go to when she turns 3 and continue on until 10 years old.  The school situation in Hong Kong is not good.  There are more demand than supply...and because we are expats, we can only go to International schools and not the local schools. There are wait lists and wait lists with no guarantees.  

House (or Apartment) hunting is quite interesting.  We are here not looking for individual apartments per se. Since we're not really moving until late July, the vacant apartments we see today will probably not be the same ones that will be available then. So right now, we are just looking at the neighborhoods and/or the apartment complexes that interest us.  We are primarily looking for space (which is tight in HKG), near schools, convenience to public transportation and proximity to restaurants, grocery stores and work.  And of course, all of this have to fit into our budget!  The past 3 days we traveled on the HKG island only.  It's quite interesting that although we don't know which area we like, it is clear that there are areas we don't like. haha. So far we like Happy Valley, Kennedy Town, Pofuklam and Sheung Wan areas.  It offers the best selection of the above things we are looking for. 

2 more days to go - more school tours and we will be going over to the Kowloon side to do more apartment hunting.  We are so physically tired and mentally drained!  If you think we are here on vacation, then you think wrong.  This is a lot of work. Tiring work!  Can't wait to get home to my mao-mao.

I miss her dearly.  :-(    

Airplane movies

The only time I catch up on my movies is on my flights.  I usually can't sleep much on the plane, so I watch movie after movie. Here are the movies I watched on my 2 flights to and from Paris:

• Bridesmaids - Raunchy in the beginning, but kinda funny some parts
• Hangover 2 - bad, bad, bad!  Same formula doesn't work twice
• Midnight in Paris
• 2 days in Paris
• Ratouille (watched this before)
• Ant Z
• Bad Teacher

I got into the "Paris" mood and watched 3 movies that were filmed or based in Paris.  I must say that Air France didn't really have a good selection of movies.  I had a hard time trying to find a movie that  I like.  I usually enjoy watching Comedy / Romantic comedies because I just like "light" movies....nothing too intense.  I rarely watch Action films because I find them so violent. I have enough stress in my life that I don't need additional stress when watching a movie.  

Cooking Class in Paris

Bonjour! Greetings from Paris! I am here in Paris for business a total of 7 days, 6 nights: 4 days of meetings, and 2 weekend days.  I couldn't believe that the last time I was in Paris was 2 years ago, back in 2009.  I usually come to Paris 2x a year for business, once in June and once in October.  This past June, I opted to go to Hong Kong instead and bypassed the Paris trip.  So here I am, in Paris in October!  I've been to Paris 3x before this trip, so I've been to the most of the famous sites - Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Louvre, and the many museums. I even took a trip out to Versailles. This time around, I was looking for something else to do while in Paris, so my coworker suggested a French cooking class called Cook'n with Class.  She has done it before and highly recommended it. In fact, this class is the #1 on the list of "things to do" on Trip Advisor.  So I asked another colleague of mine to take the class with me and that's how we spent our Friday night!

We met the instructor at the Jules Joffrin station in Montmarte at 5pm.  There were a total of 6 of us (which is the maximum number of students per class): my coworker and I,  a family that comprised of a mother, daughter, and a son-in-law from Toronto, and a guy from Vancouver.  From the station, the instructor asked us about our food likes and dislikes so she can tailor the menu somewhat.  After that, she took us to the market!

First stop: Cheese Boutique

2nd stop: Meat Market

4th stop: Seafood market

Last stop: Bakery shop to buy fresh  baked bread

After buying the ingredients, we are ready to head back to the Cooking school's classroom.  Here are some of the tricks I learned (sorry, it may sound basic to you, but they were a-ha moments for me!)

• When doing a 3 course menu, always start with the dessert.  Most desserts will require time to cool, so best to do it in advance.
• Cut off mushroom stems before washing.  Mushrooms are like sponges so cutting off the stems help reduce the amt of dirt the mushroom might absorb
• Double cook your mushrooms - once to remove excess water (which can be reused) and once to add flavor
• Blanche vegetables in salt water to maintain its vibrant green color
• Peel vegetables (i.e. carrots) towards you, and not away from you so you can see what you're doing! 
• Double cook your meats (sear it on a stove top to get the color and put it in the oven to actually cook it). 

We made a total of 3 dishes. They are all very delicious, even better than some of the restaurants we've been to. I loved all of the dishes!  The meal is fancy French cuisine, yet the taste brings you comfort like home-cooked dishes.  I think what makes it good is that all the ingredients are super fresh and in-season (which is really important). French people like to buy everything fresh - i.e. a bakery where the bread was made, the butcher shops where they can see the meats being prepared, etc.  They don't really have "supermarkets" here like we do in the States where the food is packaged and frozen with tons of perspectives. No wonder most French people are skinny!       

Our meal: 

Appetizer: Fresh sea scallops over Chanterelle and White mushrooms

Entree: Veal with Vegetable medley and meat sauce

Cheese Platter - a sampling from the 5 families of cheeses

Dessert: Creme Brulee with fresh peaches

The class is not cheap but worth it!!  Well, considering that you get a 3-course meal with cheese & wine + the cooking experience, it's not too bad at all. I would highly recommend this course to anyone going to Paris and wanting to do something more than just visiting museums all day!

Columbia River Gorge Day 7 (7/23)

Last day of the trip before heading back to SF.  We checked out of the hotel early and decided to go to the Columbia River Gorge before driving back to Seattle to fly out.  According to Wikipedia, "the Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to 4,000 feet (1,200 m) deep, the canyon stretches for over 80 miles (130 km) as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range forming the boundary between the State of Washington to the north and Oregon to the south." Besides this description, I wouldn't know how to best describe it. 

We took the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Byway and saw some of the most amazing area of open air.  So refreshing! Although I must say that the pollen here was out of control. Even for someone like me who doesn't normally have allergies, I had a sore throat and runny nose.

Time flies when you're having fun and it was time for us to head back to Seattle for our flight back.  As we drove along the I-205 back to I-5, the view of Mount Hood with the beautiful blue sky as the backdrop still remain so vividly in my mind today. Absolutely incredible.  

I had a lot of fun on this trip.  It turned out a lot better than what I had expected and hoped mainly because Sarah did great.  I was very worried about all the logistics - her food, her naps, her schedule, etc.  But she adapted very well to our schedule & everything turned out just fine.  I am so proud of her! I know this sounds silly, but one thing that I am especially happy/proud of is Sarah's bowel movement schedule! Every morning before we go out for the day, we put her on the toilet (we brought her kiddie seat), she does her business...and then we are poop-free for the entire day!!  It surely made the diaper changes in the middle of the day sooo easy!! Just love it!!  thank you mao-mao, you are the BEST baby in town!!    

Oregon Coast Day 6 (7/22)

On Friday, we drove 1.5 hours west of Portland to hit the town of Astoria, WA.  Astoria is a small, Northwest coastal town at the mouth of the Columbia River to begin our drive down the Oregon coast.  It is famous for their Maritime Museum, which unfortunately, we didn't have time to visit.  Right across from the museum, we ate the most incredible-tasting Fish and Chips.  I am not usually a Fish & Chip person, but these were so delicious because it was made with Albacore Tuna.  Yums... still thinking about it!!   

Sarah's 1st time on the sand and not liking it! 

The drive down south along the coast brought us through beautiful beaches and spectacular scenery.   We stopped by a few viewpoints along the way.  

Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach, OR

View from Ecola State Park, OR

We made the trip down to Tillamook, famous for their Tillamook Cheese Factory.  There, we toured the facility and even sampled 3 of their 38 ice cream flavors!  By nightfall, we headed back to Portland for our final night. 

Portland Day 5 (7/21)

 

After the long drive yesterday, we wanted to spend a low-key day today in Portland.  No agenda - just mope around the city.  We went to a Brunch place called Bijou Cafe.  As we were walking there, we noticed a long line of people outside a store.  We later found out that it was Voodoo Doughnuts - and apparently, it is wildly popular with both locals and tourists.  So even after a big brunch at Bijou, we decided to try out this place to see what the fuss is about.  I don't remember how long we waited but I would say at least 1/2 hour. I picked up 3 doughnuts: (1) Mango Tango, (2) Maple Bacon Bar, and (3) Voodoo Doll.  Verdict:  All Gimmick.... maybe except for the Maple Bacon Bar, which actually tastes weird but good.  The Mango Tango is too sweet for my taste and the Voodoo Doll is definitely a gimmick.  It is shaped like a voodoo doll, with a pretzel stick at the heart & raspberry filling (as blood I guess).    

Maple Bacon Bar from Voodoo Doughnuts

Portland's so-called Chinatown is a huge disappointment. There was nothing there other than a handful of Chinese shops. Streets were empty... they don't even attempt to make this place touristy.  We spent 10 minutes there and dashed. 

 

 

Portland's Chinatown Gate

After cruising in the car around town for a little bit, we ended up at Portland's Washington Park - Portland's version of the Golden Gate Park.  Inside Washington Park, there are bike trails, museums, the zoo, and the International Rose Test Garden.  The rose garden here puts GGP's rose garden to shame.  This place is sooooo big!  There are over 550 different species of roses here - categorized by tea roses, hybrid roses, fragrant roses, climbing roses, etc. I find joy in looking for the names of the roses...some are really cute.  The roses were of course spectacular to look at... This place was also FREE, which made it even nicer.  SQ decided to take a nap on the bench in the shade. I must say that it is one of the best places in the world to take an afternoon nap.  

 

International Rose Test Garden

Seattle Day 3 (7/19) & Mount Rainier Day 4 (7/20)

We spent Tuesday on a boat tour on Puget Sound. As you can tell from the picture, the weather was a bit cloudy, but at least it didn't rain; so we were grateful.  This is Sarah's first boat ride.  We were a bit worried about how she would take it but since we were on a big ship and SQ carried her on the Ergo, she probably didn't feel anything different. She is a lot stronger than we think she is. :-)

An unobstructed view of the Space Needle from the water

  

 

 

  

The next day, we checked out of the hotel and began our journey down South (destination: Portland). But on the way down, we wanted to stop by Mount Rainier National Park.  Mt Rainier is about a 2.5 hr drive from Seattle and according to some geological report, it is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. We took our chance and got to see some of the most incredible scenery as a result!  Mt Rainier National Park has 4 entrances (one on each corner). We took the most popular Southwest entrance at Paradise.   

Along the drive route, we stopped by many, many scenic points and passed by beautiful waterfalls.  This is my favorite, the Narada Falls - the waterfall drops in 2 tiers.

Narada Falls

 

As we continued our drive up the side of the mountain, we began to see snow on the ground. I guess that because of the heavy rainfall this region had in the last few months, the snow hasn't all melted yet.  We came across a family of 3 deer roaming around.  It was awesome to see wildlife in their natural habitat. We also saw a fox along the way.  

We originally intended to only spend 2.5 hrs at the park, but ended up taking over 4 hours because everywhere we looked, the scenery was so spectacular and breath-taking!  As we exited through the Southeast side of the Park, we finally Mt Rainier after the clearing of the clouds. So surreal! 

 

 

Mt Rainier after clearing of the clouds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finally left the park and continued our journey to Portland.  Today was also SQ's 40th birthday.  Because we didn't leave Mt Rainier until 5pm, we ended up celebrating SQ's birthday with a dinner at Red Lobster in Kelso, Oregon....a very random place in a very random town.  SQ said his favorite part of this entire trip was the day spent at Mt Rainier. I'm glad that he got to spend his birthday in such a beautiful, memorable place.   

Seattle Day 1 & 2 (7/17 and 7/18)

This past week, we experienced our "whole lot of firsts."  We took our first vacation with Sarah to the Northwest Pacific region.  Before this trip, we have never spent more than 1 night from home.  So you can imagine, travelling with a baby for a week long trip was somewhat scary for us...we had no clue what to expect.  We decided to bring Sarah's car seat and stroller with us, which fortunately we were able to check them in as baggage for no charge.  Sarah took her first flight on Virgin America from San Francisco to Seattle.  The flight was early at 8:45a. We woke her up early and left the house by 7a.  She did great on the plane!!  She took turns sitting on our laps.  She spent some time pressing buttons, playing with her boxes (we brought those with us), and eating a small snack.  She also napped for a good 40 minutes.  By the time she woke up, we were about to land. Perfect timing. She did not whimper one single sound throughout the whole flight; our neighbors wouldn't have even known we had a baby with us.

We landed in Sea-Tac Airport around 11a and it was raining.  Of course it was raining -- this is Seattle afterall!! Luckily, we decided to spend the extra money to rent from a car rental company inside the airport, which was the way to go, especially with a baby in toll.  We left the airport and went straight to our hotel at the Sheraton Bellevue.  Bellevue is a suburb 20 minutes away from Seattle.  We went out for lunch first and then moped around the neighborhoods before returning to our hotel.  The first day was quite uneventful and not much to rave about.  We drove along some neighborhoods and I was truly amazed at the beauty of the houses in Bellevue and Medina (right along Lake Washington). Actually, shame on me for using the word "house," these were mansions!! estates!!  Each building was masterfully crafted and has a private driveway with perfectly manicured landscapes...(yes, much better than St. Francis Woods or Sea Cliff houses). I heard that one of those mansions belongs to Bill Gates, but didn't know which one.  All of them were so grandiose!

Sarah had her own crib and we all slept well on our first night in Seattle.   

We left the hotel around 10a and drove to Seattle's Space Needle. Yes, yes, we did all the touristy stuff since it was my first time to Seattle.  We took the elevator up to the observation deck to view the city.  Thank goodness it was a clear and sunny day so we were able to see a lot of the surrounding areas.  Did you know that the Space Needle was built for the World's Fair in 1962 and it will celebrate its 100 years birthday next year?!

After the Space Needle, we took the Monorail to Downtown Seattle and walked to Pike Place Public Market.  I really like this place, but it was really crowded, even on a Monday.  We stopped by Pike Place Chowder, which served one of the best clam chowder I've had.  We visited the original Starbucks there too.  By 2pm, we met up with our tour guide.  We signed up for a 2.5 hour walking tour in the Seattle neighborhoods.  This was quite an ambitious feat since the walking tour involved some walking on uneven pavement, stairs, escalators, hills, etc so they didn't recommend us to bring a stroller (they told this to us beforehand).  So for the next 2.5 hours, I carried the 23 lb Sarah on the Ergo.  ** I am 200% endorsing Ergo as the BEST baby carrier out there.  At the end of the day, my feet were sore from walking, but my shoulders and my back were absolutely fine! I was really amazed because I was expecting to be sore, but I wasn't at all!!    

The walk took us through Pike Place Public Market, the bubble gum wall, the Convention center, the Public library, Pioneer Square and various Downtown parks. We ended up at the Waterfront as our last stop, at the Olympic Sculpture Park, which is famous for the Alexander Calder sculptures.  I especially love the Sculpture Park, because it's very spacious and peaceful here.  It's the waterfront with tons of green grass to sit, relax, and soak in the sun. 

People playing life-size chess in Downtown Seattle

Seattle Public Library

Crochet poles at Occidental Park

Olympic Sculpture Park at the Waterfront

Hong Kong

Greetings from Hong Kong! Ironically, today is my last day in Hong Kong. I've been here a week already. I left San Francisco last Saturday and flew on Cathay Pacific this time.  The business class seats are configured quite interestingly because I got my own 'pod.'  The pods angle diagonally across the aisle, and are a bit narrow.  There are people to the left and right of you, but because of the partitions, I don't see my neighbors. No talking and no need to climb over anyone to use the bathroom. Yay!  Watched 3 movies:  The King's Speech, Little Frockers, and The Blind Side.

The week is finally over.  It felt long probably because (a) I miss home and family, and (b) I woke up almost everyday at 3am (due to jet lag) and didn't sleep until 10pm+.  I attended a lot of meetings and did some store visits throughout the week.  All of them are physically and mentally draining.  That's why I'm never thrilled about going on business trips.  They're tiring.  The good thing is that I did get to see some of my old colleagues who relocated from SF to HKG last year.  It was nice to catch up on each other's lives.

I had 1/2 day today so I went power shopping. I was disappointed that I didn't buy anything.  Most clothing stores have just launched their Spring collections so no sales.  At full price, the clothes are quite expensive (not any cheaper than the U.S.).  Plus, the clothes are all short-sleeved and not fit for SF's cold weather.  So I didn't buy anything. :-(

I did, however, enjoyed a couple of delicious meals here in HKG.  The "fancy" lunches/dinners that I ate during the week couldn't compete to the ones I ate by myself locally!  One night I went to Din Tai Fung for their yummy Shanghai dumplings.  Another day, I went to Crystal Jade for yet another dose of Shanghai dumpling goodness. Today for lunch, I went to this dim sum place called House of Jasmine in Harbour City Center. OMG it was delicious! I just ordered the basic stuff, like Har Gow, Siu Mai, and Rice roll.  The dessert I had was so die for! It was Egg White and Almond Soup.  Soooo good!!!  Love! Speaking of dessert, this Hong Kong stay would not be complete without going to Hui Lau Shan.  In fact I went there twice to enjoy their Mango Sago. The one in SF simply can not compare!  I also went to this hole in the wall place called Star Cafe in TST by recommendation on Open Rice.com (HK's version of Yelp).  It is literally a hole in wall because I had to not only find the obscure building it was in, the restaurant was in some weird basement location. Their signature dish is Tomato Beef Noodles, which was indeed very good.  However, I don't think I can go there again... it's a bit too 'local' (i.e. dirty) for my comfort level.  Planning to go to the Australia Dairy Co. tomorrow before heading out to the airport. I hope they're open at 10am!    

I can't wait to go home to see Sarah's bubbly smile and hug her!!  

Restaurants in Hawaii

Despite hating the long work days and being away from my family, there are great perks when it comes to business travel.  One of them is fine dining.  Because our meals can be expensed, we have the option to go to nicer restaurants that we would not have gone to if the cost came out of our own pockets.  I'm a budget-conscious person by nature, so I  am usually fine with good food, expensive or not.  However, some of my co-workers are a little finicky, so they opted for the coolest restaurants on island.  I tagged along (because I hate dining by myself), and here are a few of the restaurants we tried throughout the week that are really worth mentioning!

(1) Blu Water Grill - my friend brought me here because it was in Hawaii-kai and away from Waikiki. Their food was very good.  I especially liked the Kulua Pork Quesadilla, although the Mango-Guava glazed baby back ribs were also very yummy.  This is a local Hawaiian hang out, a great place for classic dishes.

(2) Merchanko-Tei - This is a sushi restaurant that gives you HUGE portions. I know, Huge portions and sushi usually don't go together, but it is possible, at this place!  The nirigis all have a generous cut of fresh raw fish. I would totally go back here again, even on my own dime.

(2) Morimoto - This restaurant is inside the trendy Edition Hotel on Ala Moana.  As you know, this restaurant is owned by Chef Masaharu Morimoto, one of the Iron Chefs. We went there with a hope that the food will wow us, but I was seriously underwhelmed by the dishes. We ordered a lot of appetizers and a main entree.  Of all the things we ordered, I only enjoyed the wagyu carpaccio and the braised cod.  The others were just "ok." Great presentation, but some of them were simply not that special.

(3) Nobu Waikiki  - I saved this for last because it IS the BEST restaurant of all.  Every dish is an OMG-delicious, and I am not joking!   The taste, texture, and presentation are superb.  Everything was delicious.  Dishes don't come cheap here, but I think it's worth just to try it and experience it. Your taste buds and tummy will be on Cloud 9!

Aloha from Hawai'i

I have been quiet on blogger these past 2 weeks because I'm currently on a business trip in Hawaii (Oahu).  I arrived last Wed, Mar 9 and I leave on Friday, Mar 18.  I've been to Hawaii many times before and it is always bitter sweet to come here for work.  It is nice because Hawaii is so beautiful and gorgeous; there is really nothing not to love.  But when you come here to work, the attitude changes.  Every day I wake up early, get on email, attend meetings all day long, go to dinner, come back to the hotel room and then still have to do my regular office work.  The work day becomes super long, and I have no time to enjoy the beautiful scenery around me.  

This trip was especially hard because it is my first work trip being away from Sarah. I miss her dearly, especially during the weekend when I think about what she's doing.  I have Skype on my laptop so I get to see what she is doing on live video streaming, which is the best thing ever.  Sarah can hear my voice and still smiles and laughs when I call out her name.  Seeing her on Skype brings so much joy to my day!!  Today, I saw her take a bath, drink her last milk, and fall asleep in daddy's arms.  Such sweet moments.  

One more day, and I shall be flying back home. I can't wait to pick her up from daycare and seeing her excitement!     

Sunset Cruise

SQ is a fan of Groupon ("Group Coupon"). How Groupon works is that a company will offer a deal (usually 50% off from regular price) to the general public. There is usually a minimum number of purchases required in order for the deal to go through. There is also a time limit and an expiration date/time. So if enough people purchase the item, the deal will go through and be valid. It's a great way for businesses to market themselves and draw the crowd in. It's great for customers to try out the business without having to pay full price. It's a win-win for both parties.

SQ ran across a deal on Groupon recently that sold Bay cruises for 50% off. Original price is $54 per person but we were able to go for $26 each. It was on the Red and White Fleet. We got the Sunset Cruise, which boards at 6pm on Pier 43-1/2, in Fishermen's Wharf. These boats are pretty huge so we only had to call in 1-day in advance to reserve a space (no assigned seats or anything). This gave us flexibility on our schedule as well as the weather! We went on Friday, April 9 and it couldn't have been a better day to go! It was amazingly sunny and warm! The cruise traveled from Fishermen's Wharf to the Pier 27 area and then loops to Alcatraz, then to Angel Island, along the Tiburon/Sausalito area, under the Golden Gate Bridge and then back, passing by Ghiradelli. The cruise provides some light snacks (little finger sandwiches, potato salad, veggie dip, etc.) and a beverage (including beer, wine or soda). The food wasn't anything to rave about, but the scenery was!

Here are some pics we took:

San Francisco skyline / Bay Bridge

Alcatraz / Golden Gate Bridge in the faint background

Tiburon

Golden Gate Bridge

We had a great time. At first I was a bit scared that the boat would be too rough for me but it was fine. I was able to move about the boat from the lower to the middle and upper decks just fine. One of the few things that was best done without a baby in tow!

** SQ have 2 more sets of tickets he bought from Groupon (4 tickets). $52 for a pair. Please let me know if you're interested in buying!

Marin Headlands

I am ashamed to admit that even though I consider myself a San Francisco native, I've never been to the Marin Headlands. I guess because we take for granted that we live so close and that we will "eventually" get there, we end up never going there. There are still so many places in the City or nearby that I have never been.

Yesterday was such a gorgeous day so we decided to take a short trip there - and here are some pictures we took of the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge & San Francisco:

Restaurants along the Coast

I need a place to jot down all the restaurants we went to during our Pacific Coast road trip before I forget them all. The best place I thought would be this blog since I can always retrieve it. Maybe someone down the road will ask me any good restaurant recommendations, and I hope to be able to give them some of these:

(***** maximum star ratings) Note: I'm a pretty hard grader. I rarely give any 5-star rating. A 5-star rating means not only the restaurant has to be perfect in food, service, and price -- it has to be consistent (through multiple visits).

Old Fisherman's Grotto (seafood)
39 Fishermans Wharf
Monterey, CA 93940
must try: clam chowder
(**)

Dametra Cafe (mediterranean)
South east corner of Ocean and Lincoln
Carmel, CA 93921
must try: hummus
(***1/2)

Robin's (american)
4095 Burton Drive
Cambria, CA 93428
must try: vegetarian open faced sandwich
(**1/2)

Gosh-i Japanese Restaurant (japanese)
570 Higuera St, Suite 20
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
must try: the $17 bento box!
(***)

Pinkberry (yogurt)
742 State St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
must try: everything on the menu
(****)

Soowon Galbi Korean BBQ (korean)
856 S Vermont Ave, Suite C
Los Angeles, CA 90005
must try: signature Galbi and bulgogi
(****1/2)

Din Tai Fung Dumpling House (taiwanese, northern chinese)
1108 S Baldwin ave
Arcadia, CA 91007
must try: Shanghai soup dumpling, skip everything else
(***)

Banh Mi & Che Cali (vietnamese)
647 W Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91803
must try: Banh Cuon
(***)

Elite Restaurant (dim sum/cantonese cuisine)
700 S Atlantic Blvd
Monterey Park, CA 91754
must try: stuffed chinese donut on a rice roll
(***)

Baby Blues BBQ (southern bbq)
444 Lincoln Blvd
Venice, CA
must try: mac & cheese, memphis ribs or baby back ribs
(****)

Pink's (hot dogs)
709 N La Brea Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038
must try: chili dog (if you can bare the 1 hr wait)
(**)

Sprinkles (cupcakes)
9635 S Santa Monica Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
must try: red velvet / Black & White cupcakes
(***)

Fosselman's Ice Cream Co.
1824 W Main St
Alhambra, CA 91801
must try: your favorite flavor
(***)

Phoenix Inn Chinese Cuisine
208 E Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91801
must try: good for late night siu yeh - decent food
(**1/2)

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.