Din Tai Fung

So I went to the renowned dumpling house called Din Tai Fung.  Originally in Asia, there are a few locations here in the States.  I went to the one in Arcadia, CA.  Upon walking into the restaurant, I have to admit, I had pretty high expectations.  I ventured with two other friends, one who hasn’t had it before, and one who was very surprised that neither of us has had this before.  The restaurant itself is very bright with modern decor and looked very clean; which I think is uncommon for good Asian food.  We order off a piece of paper indicating how many of each we want and then it begins!  The first set of dumplings that came out were the pork dumplings, their famous dumplings.  There are instructions on how to eat these delectable bites on the chopstick wrapper and I followed every detail of it to maximize my Din Tai Fung experience (along with the instructions from my veteran friend).  Place your dumpling on the spoon and dip a little of the sauce; bite a hole in the dumpling skin and let the juices flow into the spoon and mix with the dipping sauce; drink up the broth; eat the dumpling.  THEY WERE AMAZING!!!  We ordered: pork dumplings, fish dumplings, sticky rice dumplings, shrimp and pork dumplings, and black sesame buns.  My favorites were the pork dumplings and the shrimp and pork dumplings.  SO TASTY!!!  I love black sesame buns, especially the ones my grandma makes.  These ones weren’t up to par with the ones I grew up with.  But, I guess you can never buy grandma’s homecooked goodness.

pork dumpling

fish dumpling

sticky rice dumpling

shrimp and pork dumpling

black sesame bun

Our other significant others

@ Time Warner Center, NYC

Sanrio 50th Anniversary Expo

When I was kid I loved Sanrio but then kind of grew out of it during my middle school / high school years because I thought it was too childish.  I was too cool for that.  Now I’m back into it!  I went to the Sanrio 50th Anni Expo in Santa Monica a few weeks ago.  Here are some pictures.  Enjoy  :]

Pochacco was my favorite growing up. I actually have that cup on the right! And I think I have the large plush too, or at least some sort of variation (not sure if he’s wearing the same outfit).

This was my favorite piece of art.

Apparently Beard Papa’s is pretty popular. I never heard of it until I saw this awesome bag

The boy & I

Grand Central Station Shoe Shine

Here’s a pic from when I went to NYC back in August.  I’ve been really lazy on updating pictures.  I typically don’t edit photos this way – to make them look old, vintage-y.  I usually go for the more vibrant, bright color editing route.  But for this photo, I saw it suitable.  I can totally see this exact same shoe shine decades earlier.  I love cities with culture and history, old architecture, and stories to tell.  I want to travel more and see more of the country, especially the east coast.  I think it’s amazing how they have buildings and monuments that were built centuries ago.  Visiting Europe would be awesome also!  Those cities are even more ancient!

The OC Fair 2010

So I’ve been super lazy and also busy.  Took a 4 day, 4 hrs a day summer school class for 8 weeks.  I’m going to try to shoot/edit/post more.

Here are some pics from the 2010 Orange County Fair.  Apparently, this might be the last year because I heard someone (the city??) bought the fairgrounds to build more houses.

• ferris wheel…. I don’t really like riding these things
• hot dog… This is the first thing I ate right when I got there
• fried klondike bar… This is all I wanted to try!!!!
• other edibles

San Diego, CA — Land of Fat Food

So I’ve been going to San Diego every other weekend for the past month and a half.  Every time I go there, it’s an eating fest!  I see the repercussions of it all  Don’t get me wrong, the food is bomb but the scale is getting heavier.  The portions are just soooooooooo big!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are some pictures

• La Playita —  camaron
• La Playita — shrimp tacos
• Phil’s BBQ
• Phil’s BBQ — beef ribs
• Hash House — hot chocolate w marshmallows
• Hash House — apple cinnamon flap jack
• Hash House — look they put actual apple slices in it!
• Hash House — corned beef hash

Progressive Dinner for the College Seniors

Super late post but I want to upload the pictures on here.  Abundant Life Ministries hosted a progressive dinner for the graduating HOC college seniors.  I helped out with the appetizers location so I’m not sure how the other food looks.  But here is how our food looked Our theme for our location was airport VIP lounge.  We dressed up as stewardesses and set up the living room like an airport lounge and served them.  It was fun

• innovative fruit bowl
• uncooked pigs in a blanket
• jesse glazing them
• tomato soup with avocado
• beverage decor
• final presentation fruit bowl
• bacon wrapped tomato // coked pigs in a blanket

Jon’s Bday Ride & Apple Pan

For Jon’s quarter century birthday, he wanted to ride bikes in LA and eat Apple Pan. We were going to hop on trains, the seven of us, but the train didn’t fit that many bikes so off we drove to Union Station.  We rode our bikes primarily down Pico Blvd, up and down its hills until we finally reached Apple Pan 12.5 miles later.  It felt so good to reach our destination because most of us hadn’t eaten anything prior to the ride.  Ate delicious burgers and rode back to Union Station.  It was such a fun day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JON!

• joe’s new ride
• band of fixed gears
• apple pan!
• apple pan’s menus
• hickory burger
• fries
• drinks
• bday boy
• pie

I LOVE KBBQ

bean sprouts
oil/salt/pepper
tofu
salad + chop chae
m34t
family styled eating
brisket
ALL YOU CAN EAT ice cream

Aquarium

Went the the Aquarium of the Pacific last week. I’m so slow on editing and posting photos. I need to be more efficient. Enjoy

This boy was trying to CATCH the pigeon! That’s so nasty!
Jellyfish
Octopus
I found Nemo and Dory