26 May 2009

memorial weekend.

sunset over LAX.


i am way too lazy to anything but list the long weekend's happenings.

friday after work
_california roll factory with mike.
_the soloist - interesting story, but trying too hard to be artistic i thought.

saturday
_crispy polenta, braised chicken and two fried eggs with corn and tomatoes at huckleberry. also a banana muffin and baguette to go.
_played catch at the beach and got our feet wet in the ocean.
_made grilled crosscut short ribs, lemon zucchini & tomato mozz crostinis for dinner.


sunday
_tacos from king torta.
_dodgers v. angels - dodgers lost, breaking our undefeated-at-home-when-we-attend record. *sigh*
_lattitude thai delivery for dinner (pad thai and panang curry)
_angels&demons - pretty good i thought; much better than the da vinci code.

monday
_increased our usual to a 4 mile run - two miles up the coast and back. exhausting but rewarding. we are going to try and do one long run a week now.. and increase the distance every few weeks while still doing a couple 3 mile runs during the week.
_another homemade pizza night - delicious!
_night at the museum 2 - fun, and didn't try to be anything it wasn't. some of the stuff they brought to life was pretty freaking cool.

21 May 2009

baseball & another reason why i love my job.

mexican creature figurine.

so, i attended all three games of the dodgers-mets series that just happened. and guess what - the dodgers swept the mets! that means that the dodgers record of being undefeated at every regular season game i attend is still intact! it sounds silly, but i went to 9 last year and 5 so far this year. that's pretty damn good.

but as much as i love baseball and going to games, three days in a row can be exhausting. who knew? the final game of the series, last night, was also casey blake bobblehead night - and it's a damn good bobblehead too (i'll probably take and post some pictures once i get the camera back from my dad). i was an idiot though and left my blue dodgers hoodie in my seat when we left and when i realized it and went back it was already gone. i think its a sign that i should get the sweet brown dodgers jacket that i've been eyeing. or that i shouldn't buy expensive articles of clothing ever because i will eventually lose it. =/

anyway, we bought field level seats for the sunday game of the freeway series this weekend. just a few rows behind the dugout! can't wait.

ALSO, the KOGI came to DREAMWORKS TODAY!! the truck came and parked in the circle, and we each got a ticket that got us three free tacos of our choice! the line was long - but absolutely worth it as usual. i wish i could have kogi every day for lunch.. *sigh*

19 May 2009

shake-y quake-y.

chihuly glass sculpture detail.

sunday evening there was a 5.0 earthquake out by LAX. an hour or so ago there was a 4.1, again out by LAX. neither is as big as the 5.8 from last summer, but everyone is jokingly freaking out a little - it is a bit odd to have so many noticeable ones at once - but personally i like earthquakes. obviously not the ones that shatter buildings, move mountains, start fires, destroy homes and kill people but these relatively constant california quakes are something i grew up with so i kind of find them reassuring in a really weird way. watch me bite my words when "the big one" hits tomorrow or something.

17 May 2009

sausage and pizza and oysters, oh my!

"arlington west" at the santa monica pier.

dinnered at wurstkuche friday night after work with dan and mike. this time we tried the duck&bacon, rabbit/veal/pork, kielbasa and mango jalepeno. my personal favorite of all the ones we've tried so far is the mango jalepeno i think.. but everything has been really good so it's hard to decide. stopped in little tokyo for our mochi ice cream fix. ended the night watching bluetopia, the LA dodgers documentary that came out a month or so ago. did you know there is a tattoo parlor dedicated to and run by dodger fans? it's pretty bad ass if you ask me. (=

saturday started off with a 3-mile beach run then a couple hours walking up and down montana for the annual sidewalk sale. we bought pizza dough from patty's to make our own homemade pizzas and while searching for toppings/ingredients at the supermarket we stumbled across the encylopedia wines that i have been looking for forever. the store had four of the six available (pinot grigio, tempranillo, cabernet, riesling). i don't expect them to be great wines or anything, but if you know me you know i have a mini-obsession with bottles so i had to get them all. only 2 more to go!


ran again on sunday, then headed to 3rd street promenade's apple store to get my wonky macbook pro looked at. they couldn't fix it at the genius bar and it has been shipped off for repairs. i'm an idiot though and forgot to tell them about another old recurring problem, so when it comes back i'll probably have to take it back in again. *sigh* anyway, purchased a pair of TOMS shoes - which are uber comfy and for a good cause. we met up with mike and zai later in the afternoon at santa monica seafood's oyster bar. we ordered four dozen oysters - a dozen of each hama hama, fanny bay, kumamoto and totten virginica. it was so yummy - i haven't had oysters in so long.

12 May 2009

3x4=12

sunday morning mimosa.

i've done a 3 mile run every day for the past 4 days. that's 12 miles! i'm quite impressed with myself. it helps to run along ocean ave & the beach too because it's so pretty - one tends to forget how tiring it is when there's such a beautiful view. tonight for example: sunset over the malibu hills. gorgeous. i love this city.

move : run : eat : drink : warp

calla lily in the dreamworks lagoon.

eek, this post is a bit overdue. friday night after work we went and dinnered at the alibi room for some good echigo beer and, of course, kogi! the special that night was spicy pork mulitas - which were AMAZING, and we also tried their pressed torta for the first time. absolutely delcious, and as usual we each ate an order of their short rib tacos.

we did a 3 mile run saturday morning, then spent the rest of the day getting dan moved to his new apartment. it's a great little place, and only 6 blocks from the beach! we also caught star trek at the arclight in sherman oaks. as everyone else in the world has said, it's a really good movie regardless of the extent of one's previous star trek knowledge (ie, i have none). and man, the vfx were ridiculous - props to ILM.

sunday was quite uneventful for the most part. we made siphon coffee for the first time in forever, and croque madames and turkey bacon for breakfast. also found a great 3-mile loop run along ocean ave and the bike/ped path on the beach. for mother's day, i went to tom collichio's craft with the fam. the decor was clean, the food was delicious and the service was excellent (once we got a waiter who knew what he was doing). here's what we had:

starters
kusshi oysters
raw atlantic fluke with blood orange
peruvian octopus with greek yoghurt
braised short rib ravioli and hazelnut

main
whole roasted sea bream
moulard duck and roasted romaine
roasted berkshire pork loin, shoulder and belly

sides
roasted california asparagus
sauteed green beans

dessert
blood orange sorbet


it was a delightful dinner. in particular, the octopus was texturally unlike any octopus i'd ever had before. it must have been braised for hours because it was very soft and almost melt-in-your-mouth and not remotely chew-y (or 'Q' as we taiwanese say). and the duck was so freaking good! well, everything was, but those two are the highlights in my mind.

07 May 2009

mixed.

so sad.. directly from USAtoday:


Los Angeles Dodgers star outfielder Manny Ramirez tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and was suspended for 50 games, Major League Baseball announced Thursday.

Through a statement released through baseball's players' union, Ramirez said the positive test resulted from a medication prescribed by a doctor, and not from a steroid. Ramirez waived his right to challenge the suspension.


"Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue," Ramirez said in the statement. "He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was okay to give me. Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons."


Ramirez is the biggest star player to test positive for drugs since Rafael Palmeiro, who tested positive in 2005. Palmeiro blamed it on a B-12 shot administered by teammate Miguel Tejada, and is out of baseball, finishing with 569 homers and 3,020 hits.


Ramirez, who signed a two-year, $45 million contract, has helped lead the Dodgers to a major-league leading 21-8 record. He is batting .348 with six homers and 20 RBI.



devastating. absolutely devastating. what an interesting turn of events the day after the dodgers set the record for longest winning streak at home at the start of a season. we shall see i guess.

05 May 2009

tavern (brentwood)


dinnered at suzanne goin and caroline styne's latest venture in brentwood : tavern. we didn't make reservations so just ate at the bar. the place is quaint but spacious and the food is excellent (as expected). we had a bottle of wine, as well as the roasted asparagus with polenta, fried egg and parmesan, the niman ranch beef burger, the pork burger and the steak tartare (the latter 3 are from their dinner menu). i'm excited to go back and try the entreés.

spicy deliciousness.

moon by day.

so, post-work on monday, we opted to drive down to lincoln heights (i think that's what that area is called) to grab dinner at king torta - a little mexican joint that john introduced us to when he and cindy were in town a few weeks ago. last time i had the asada torta, but this time i felt a little more adventurous and ordered the lengua (tongue) torta. and my oh my it was amazing. their bread is just so good. we couldn't justify getting the amazing guacamole fries this time, but opted for guac and chips instead. and each torta is huge and only $5. yumm-o! best part is that it's a quick shot down the 5, and not too far from dodger stadium so it's a great option to bring to games instead of the ridiculously overpriced not-so-good food available at the stadium.

speaking of the dodgers, they are 11-0 at home so far this season! yayy! i need to go to a game.

04 May 2009

first may wknd part 2 + photoset!


gah, i forgot. we also headed to the brand spanking new CB2 that just opened in LA. it's rather small (especially compared to the one in san francisco) but still a nifty store that i'm glad we finally have. we purchased a few of these glasses for dan's new place.

03 May 2009

first may wknd.

lillies - my favorite.

too tired for a detailed post. grabbed breakfast with davidI (a coworker of ours from our nor cal office) at amandine saturday morning. watched xmen origins : wolverine later that afternoon - terrible visual fx like whoa but i liked it otherwise. woke up super early this morning for the santa monica classic, a 5/10K that dan decided to do rather spur of the moment. i didn't run, just took photos but part of me is thinking of doing the next one which takes place in brentwood. photoset coming soon.

02 May 2009

dtownLA night.

chihuly scorpion tails @ phoenix botanical gardens.

post-work on friday, we drove over to the arts district in downtownLA to try out wurstkuche, a self-proclaimed exotic sausage grill. and man oh man do they deliver. they have the classics (bratwurst, hot italian, kielbasa), gourmet sausages (mango jalapeno chicken&turkey, sun dried tomato & mozzarella smoked chicken) and their "exotics" with ingredients like buffalo, duck, rabbit, alligator, snake and rabbit. all sausages are grilled to order, and they have a pretty sweet selection of belgian and german beers on tap, the the place itself is awesome - all exposed brick and wood accents. and the clientele is super mixed. dan had the chipotle buffalo, beef & pork, i had the jalapeno rattlesnake & rabbit. both were delicious. then we split the alligator & pork andouille, which was also quite good and very hearty, but not as good as the other two i think. it's definitely one of our new favorite places and we'll be going back again soon for sure.

for dessert, we walked over to little tokyo and went to mikawaya mochi, the original creators of mochi ice cream! best of all, they had red bean mochi ice cream - only $1 each. delicious and refreshing!

anyway, the reason we headed to downtown in the first place was because of an event happening later that night called battle royale LA, which is a dance competition between 3 dance groups at UCLA hosted by one of their fraternities. it was held in a wing of union station, so the venue set up was pretty awesome. but it was filled with a whole sh*tload of obnoxious drunk college-aged asians. but the dancing itself was pretty awesome, and katee shean from last season of so you think you can dance - who i absolutely adored and should have won - was one of the judges (as were a couple other people from the first few seasons of america's best dance crew).

EDIT: i say stuff 'was pretty awesome' way too much. *sigh*

01 May 2009

AZvacay.

dried chili in old town scottsdale.


so, dan and i drove to phoenix/scottsdale early saturday morning to vacay with his parents and sister. upon arriving on saturday, we lunched at the resort in north scottsdale and spent a couple hours in the pool. visited the cosanti originals house , did some walking around old town scottsdale and dinnered at oregano's, a local family-style italian/pizza joint. delicious and filling.



at the top of camelback mountain.


sunday morning we hiked the echo canyon trail of camelback mountain. roundtrip it was only 2.4 miles or so, but we didn't realize how hard it was going to be, as most of it is very steep. it kicked our butts but finally getting to the top was an amazing feeling - gettin down was another story. we refueled on some dunkin donuts and spent some time recuperating in the pool, then headed to downtown phoenix to catch the afternoon game between the dbacks and the giants.



chase field, home of the arizona diamondbacks.


monday morning we were still dead from the camelback hike, so we decided to a different one over at pinnacle peak. it was a longer hike (~3.5 miles) but much less strenuous. again we got our dunkin and pool fix, did some shopping in scottsdale (including sprinkles cupcakes!), then went to another dbacks game, this time at night against the cubs. it was insane how many cubs fans there were, but they played horribly and lost to the dbacks. *sigh* after dropping their parents at the resort, dan laura and i went and grabbed some grub at sushi brokers - it was good, but so freaking spicy you couldn't actually taste the fish. hmm..



the grand canyon.

tuesday we didn't hike, did a day trip up to the grand canyon instead, and drove/photographed the southeast rim. it's gorgeous, but in the end it all kinds of blurs together. and i KNOW i've been there before, but i have no actual memories of it. strange.



chihuly sculpture at the desert botanical gardens in phoenix.

on our last day in arizona, we attempted camelback mountain again and did much better since we better paced ourselves, knew what to expect, and brought more water. after our last dunkin trip, and packing, we headed to the phoenix/tempe border where the desert botanical gardens are located. there is a temporary chihuly glass sculpture exhibit there right now (he's most famous for that crazy glass ceiling at the bellagio in vegas) and it was awesome - every photographer's dream come true. after that we grabbed a quick afternoon meal at dilly's deli and started the long drive back to LA.


all in all, it was an awesome little vacation. i really like phoenix/scottsdale, but i could never live there.