Pasadena/eagle rock/Glendale

Pasadena is where I first decided to live in L.A. It was pretty and I enjoyed the drive on the 110, the country's first modern freeway. Eventually its prettiness bored me. But I think it was a good transition place. Otherwise L.A. would have been way too harsh for me.

Points of interests

Huntington Library

Very picturesque. A collection of themed gardens and art exhibits. There was a Japanese Garden, a Chinese one, a rose garden, an Australian one.. I pretty much felt like I traveled the world in a span of a few hours. They do tea parties too. There is an entrance through of about $20.

Food

Drive to eagle rock for Oinkster for burgers and pastrami. Menu is by a Filipino chef who grew up in New York so he has pastrami recipe down! He also served Ube shakes and has a good beer selection! 

If you crazy about seafood head to Newport Seafood in the San Gabriel Valley for Vietnamese style crab and lobster! Lobster cooked with basil and jalapenos.  Another good place in the valley is DinTai Fung for dimsum or Golden Deli for Vietnamese food. 

Shopping

Stroll around Old town Pasadena. Or drive over to the Americana in Glendale for outdoor shopping. 

Coffee

Intelligentsia or bird pick for tea

Boba
Half and half tea house is the clear winner here. But you must call in your order about an hour before! Yeah. It gets that crazy. Ozero takes 2nd place, order your tea "fluffy." It's almost magical. 

Dessert

Papa rich, for fluffy buns of sweet bread with a slight coffee taste and salty butter! 

Drinks

There's a lot of decent options in old town for drinks, walking around won't be too hard. You can start of a red, white, and bluezz for wine and cheese. Cocktails at the Blind Donkie. End your night at a sports bar  such as  Freddie35er.

Late night food

Doghaus for awesome hotdogs. They even have a very believable vegan dog. They have toppings such as Guac, salsa, cheese... Etc! They also have sweet potato tater tots! Cool space and beer too! 

Hike

Hermit falls

An easy 2 mile down hill and you end up at pools. People like to jump off the 60 foot rock. I rather not. Saw someone get really hurt, but for the adrenaline junkie, it's a good pick. I just relax and jump off the small rock.

Place to stay

Westin: next to old town
feeling fancy? do the Langham

Did I ever tell you I like music..

I know that's a "duh" but let me try sharing what I like. Here is Sean Hayes. I've seen him 2x. He's a local artist. Like super bay area. I've seen him at outside lands and at a small show in Oakland.

Best thing seeing him live in Oakland was realizing he was the vocals to "dream machine by mark farina" and then discovering "fucked me right up"'or maybe it's called "goodbye" as his finale and singing it along a room full of broken hearts. It was the first time I've heard that song too but I was able to sing along. But "powerful stuff" and "when we fall"  is a good place is start. Here is his you tube playlist. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbu7pJWvEeY&list=RDHCFCE1TvzHX_Y

Painting the town red

Rockridge

My little town. I loved it when I first visited and I still do too, plus it's accessible by Bart. Neighborhood is definitely gentrified as my boss described it as a a really scary place to be in the 90s. I like it for it's neighborhood feeling. I would not mind living in one of the old craftsmen homes that line the streets.  

Since I've been getting off a little earlier now, I've able to stop by a few local joints. Here are a few recommendations for libations and food in the area. 

Trappist provisions 

This is an offshoot of thier original bar in downtown Oaklamd. This place is for the beer lover. They have a few beers on tap that is always changing and also a refrigerator to pick bottles from. Bartender is very informative. They also have interesting snacks to match your beer such as pickles, nuts, and cheese. I love the simple design of the space too. 

Photo of on tap beer at the bar. 

Drinks from their refrigerator:

Toast

While many come for breakfast. Toast has a pretty good bar area 

See look bar. Plus they have a happy hr.

Bourbon and beef

I've ended up countless of times. The good service brings me back. And there are always specials. Be it happy hr, bottomless mimosas or a living social deal. This drink is called "warm winter." Food is good too. A lot of Latin influenced cuisine and one of the best French onion soups I've had.

Osmanthus

Which I have mentioned before. But they have good cocktails too. I love the interior decor of this place. Feels like China circa 1930s. Did I just discribe a hipster Asian place? I think I just did. 

Do you like tiki bars? I mean who doesn't. There is this super tiny place that is easy to miss called Conga Lounge. This is a stumbling islander: 

A coté

A cute French place. So expect good cheese plates and other French classics. We were crazy here and ordered fries with garlic aoili after dessert. Needed salt after our sweet! 

Box and Bells

Box and Bells I will have to return to try cocktails and food. Because all I got was a dessert plus beer. But the dessert was really good. It had a malty taste to it. Which i love. 

Oakland Oakland!

I live in Oakland. And Iove it so far. I live in the Temescal/Rockridge area. I feel like I live in a bubble sometimes, because I've barely explored outside my town.  

Also such funny thing to realize that carefree weekends and free evenings are a new concept for me. I've never had evenings available because I've worked evenings for the past how many years I've been working in retail or in a kitchen or in a production facility. And weekends are newish too since I have always been in school and usually have had to manage weekends with fun time and homework. 

So what I'm saying is I'm just starting to get a chance to explore a little bit. 

Few weekends ago, I met up with a new friend and explored Oakland a little bit. We started off at Jack London Square for the craft fair they have every 3rd Saturday. 

I enjoyed it. I didn't buy anything (yes!) but saw things I would definitely consider investing in, mostly handmade jewelry and leather goods. 

There were a few food trucks park there including a Filipino one. So I kinda had to try it. I got the tocinolog. Which is pork marinated in basically sugar. And egg. Egg in Tagalog is itlog. So tocinolog combines the 2 words. Cute huh? Except it's really supposed to be "tocilog"! I was glad that they made it from scratch but dish did not look pretty. Just chopped pork, rice, and egg. It was still nice to enjoy this food by the water. 

Next we walked around a few art galleries, mostly around 24th st. I'm fascinated by people who create art. 

Then we met up for dinner with a few coworkers at  Mua. Supposedly you are suppose to say it like the sound of kiss. "Muah!" But I turn into a rebel and just say Moo-ah. I loved the space. It's in an old building with high ceilings, exposed beams, brick walls, and   fun art. Food is contemporary American. Menu is large with a lot of small plates. I ordered pate on toast and polenta in a tomato sauce. Both were good and probably around $7-$9 each. They have happy hr on Saturday! Cool. 

We ended the night with a movie at the New Parkway Theatre, which is this cool theatre where you can drink beer or wine and order pizza and burgers while enjoying your movie and it can be brought to you. Plus it's cheap! $8 for a movie! Wow! Yes please!

Kbbq night + fentons

I planned a kbbq night recently. I must have been missing LA Huh? Everyone warned me, "it's not as good as LA up here". I did my research and ended up with a reservation at Koryo BBQ. I was expecting bad service. And that's what we got!  The manager runs the show all by himself on a Saturday night. Aiy! That's crazy because you  want food to keep coming for kbbq.  The meat was good though. A good number of banchan was offered but wish they offered the good stuff such as egg caserole or soup. Place has been revamped recently so space is nice. My guest were not happy with having only 1 grill in the middle though. Also the outside of thier restaurant says "charcoal" grill. We had gas grills. I knew all this before I picked the the place but still chose it for ambiance and thier offering of all you can eat. Plus the owner was nice, just that there needs to be 2 more of him. 

We got to end the night with a good note at fentons creamery. First time I've dined in and I enjoyed it. Expect to be transported to the 1950s so a lot of classic American flavors such as rocky road and chocolate.  Ice cream is light and smooth. Servings are humongous! They also offer classic diner foods such as fries and burgers. Sweet and salty. Yah!

We got a slice of blueberry pie with a scoop of almond ice cream! Thumbs up! Crust is flaky. The almond flavor of the ice cream was different and refreshing.

Hollywood

Me: Dec 2009, trying to pose like a tourist

Ok! So probably the first place a guest will ask to visit. They are usually underwhelmed. It's a little grimmy, but the trick is so know what to do! I say, do visit the Gruman's Chinese Theatre but I recommend you actually watch a movie there or across the street at the Disney El Capitan Theatre. These 2 majestic movie theatres built during Hollywood's heyday. Ornate details and velvet curtains that actually open before the movie. This is me

Me: Jun 2011 in the lobby of Roosevelt Hotel

Walk to the next block to the Roosevelt hotel and have drink by the pool if you feel like it. but the best bar in town is hiding in it's lobby. Look for the little window on the side, and inside will by the tiny library bar. On the bar you will see ingredients at straight from the farmers market, that will be used for your cocktail. Your bartender will gladly make suggestions based on what you like and pick something seasonal for you.I just love to stare at the old Art Deco Moroccan themed design while I am here.

You can walk up to or drive to nearby Yamashiros  just for view (even when they are closed). This is another old Hollywood haunt. During the summer they have a Wednesday farmers market up there. You can stop in for drinks and food too but I've never done that.

Are you in Hollywood on a Sunday? Stop by the farmers market off Ivar. 

Food!

Go to Cleo's! Modern middle eastern food. Small bites and good cocktails. Please make a reservation. Otherwise you can wait for a seat at the bar and eat there too! These are in the city's list for best brussel sprouts. The chef knows what's up. There's even longanisa (Filipino pork sweet vinegar sausage) on the menu.

Dessert

Mashti Malone for the most refreshing Persian ice cream. They will have your usual flavors like chocolate and vanilla but they also other fragrant flavors such as ginger, lavender, rose, saffron ice cream. 

Bars

I suggest La Descarga. You are required to make a reservation on a weekend. Why? It's another speakeasy bar. I don't want to give it away. It's fun actually surprising friends with it, because you get lead into a room, and the hosts opens the coats in the coat closet.. And viola! You are lead downstairs to a bar. Salsa themed. Bar is small so.. So.. Hard to stay the whole night.. So I highly recommend...

Harvard and stone as your next stop with the same owners. This place has a more edgy Hollywood trying to be rockstar but not making it yet feeling. Heh. Hah. You know? No you don't. Just go! 

You can also head to Cahuenga Blvd. It's an area of Hollywood with bars right next to each other. I liked starting  out somewhere quiet such as Hotel Cafe that always have live bands playing, and then end up somewhere nearby with thumping music blasting. You pick.

View at Yamashiro's:

Korea town

Korean town! How I love thee! All you can eat BBQ and sometimes 24 hrs! Plus other Korean food! Not just BBQ! Not just soon dobu soup. Korean food goes beyond that!

Kbbq

There are a lot of great kbbq places but hae jang chon has been our favorite for the price. Good flavor and good quality of meat,  plus all the good fixins such as rice pasta paper squares to make kbbq tacos with, good sides such as Korean miso soup and egg casserole,  and a good stay of banchan including a really good kimchee that they put on the grill for you! Also they have a great kimchee fried rice. You have to pick if you want white wife with your meal or wait until the end for them to use the little meat you have left burnt on their cast iron girl mixed with rice and kimchee until almost crunchy! believe it was a mere 16.99 for ayce. If you make a reservation, don't be late or you will be sad. The is actually always a long wait here, sometimes over an hr. The next place I would recommend for kbbq would be road to Seoul, which I enjoyed because they use real wood chips and they offer ribeye. 

Soup!

Go to myong dung kyoja for fresh noodles, soup, and dumplings. It's open 24 hrs! Best soon dobu tofu soup goes to Beverly tofu. It's not 24 hrs though. So bcd tofu house which is opn 24 hrs is pretty good and reliable too and even thier BBQ  is pretty good. Plus I love the tiny whole fried fish that comes with your meal. For The best Korean short rib soup for to parks BBQ which is open until about 1:00 AM. I don't go there for BBQ I just got soup, but some people go for the BBQ. It's just not ayce. 

For truly authentic Korean food, 

Seoungbeukdong was another one of my favorite places. I always ordered their Korean miso (fermented soy) soup. (Quite smelly actually but very soothing) 

Drinks

Head to lobby bar of the line hotel called "pot bar" park on the st. Unless you want to pay $$$ valet. Great bartenders, drinks, good crowd, and modern finishes. 

Korean spa! --Wilshire spa

You pay about $15 to get in and you sit in differing themes and temperatures. Just very relaxing. You get a big tshirt and shorts. And sauna areas are coed! So it's fun forcing your dude pals to go.  The food is pretty good too. They really want you to stay it seems. Bathing areA is open so don't let that shock ya! But there are hot tubs and steam saunas. You can get spa treatments too Including the infamous Korean back scrub!