chego! chinatown.

chego! has become a regular spot for us since it opened early this summer in chinatown. after having tried several options on the menu, we've both settled with the heavenly chubby pork belly bowl. anytime i order anything else, i think wow, this is really tasty. but i wish i'd gotten the pork belly.

dodger stadium revamped / opening week.

the season is over, and it was a good run getting to the playoffs and national league championships (world series next year, maybe? please, baseball gods?), but here are some pictures i took opening week.

chicago in a weekend.

the whole fam met up in chicago mid-april (yea yea, that's how behind i am) to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday. that's all four of us sibs as well as all our respective spouses and children. it was a whirlwind weekend (arrive 5am saturday, depart 8pm sunday) but it was definitely fun to see everyone, explore bits of the city, catch a cubs game and of course, hang out with my adorable nieces and nephews. here are some of my favorite photos:

stormcloud at sciarc40

we checked out stormcloud, by our friends at oyler wu collaborative, at the sciarc 40th anniversary party. it was pretty awesome.

mumford and sons in san bernardino.

we went to see mumford & sons play in san bernardino a couple weekends ago! we stopped in arcadia on our way and had a very tasty late lunch at din tai fung first, of course. for the rest of the evening we packed a cooler of PB&J's, homemade omusubis, water, gummy bears, and bananas. what else could one need?

coffee at home; recently.

we've started making coffee at home via frenchpress a lot lately, and only buying coffee in the mornings once a week. we're saving a lot of money. and getting more exposure to some really tasty coffees as well!

easter dinner in dc @ blue duck tavern

another one of those posts where i am so behind i'm going to say very little about it, and just post some (hopefully) pretty pictures. as previously mentioned, we were DC for easter weekend, and our easter sunday dinner was at blue duck tavern. the food was incredibly fresh and delicious. it was particularly great to be able to have some foie gras, which has been banned in california for about a year now. almost a reason to move..

udon at marugame monzo.

for those who know me, they know i am a noodle-lover. obsessed with noodles. i even had the noodle dream once. one of my favorite kinds, and probably my favorite japanese noodle, is udon. and how lucky am i that marugame monzo has opened in little tokyo and hand makes their udon fresh in house? i absolutely had to go!

graffiato in DC.

i'm so behind on posts! so forgive me, i may start posting more pictures and less words.. we took a trip to washington DC during the last weekend of march. i'll explain why in a later post, but one of the places we went to eat was graffiato, which served conceptual italian small plates in DC's chinatown. the food was absolutely amazing. i won't say more, but i did manage to bring my camera for this one and get photos of everything we ate.

celebrating atwater at canele.

so, we bought a house! and in atwater village - one of our favorite LA neighborhoods. well, technically, we're atwater adjacent, but minor details aren't important here! to celebrate after officially moving in, we went to dinner at a gem in the 'hood, canele. this was my third time there, but james's first. and we brought the bottle of veuve cliquot our real estate agents gave us when we closed on the house.

biscuit-y brunch at the parish.

we had the croods friends and family screening downtown a few weeks ago and we invited our friends monica and peter to come with. if you haven't seen it yet, do! it's come a long way from when i saw it last and it was really great and even had me kind of silently bawling behind my 3D glasses towards the end. anyway, monica lives in downtown and knows it well, so after the screening she walked us over to the parish for brunch. it's a pretty limited menu, really just biscuit sandwiches, but boy are those biscuit sandwiches delicious.

dinah's chicken is freaking awesome.

we went to dinah's chicken on sort of a whim late one night when i was too lazy to cook. we'd driven past it many, many times and were always curious, but really didn't know anything about it. we are so glad we did, because the food is amazing there. very much southern comfort food. in fact, the only thing they didn't have that would have made james basically cry with happiness was sweet tea.

dinner at the morrison.

first off, forgive me for how dark the photos in this post turned out. my phone camera is good, but it's not that good (and as usual, i'm too lazy to do any photo editing).

anyway! we met our good friend and coworker david for dinner at the relatively new scottish gastropub in atwater village, the morrison. i really wasn't expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised by both their drinks and their food.

jam and brunch at SQIRL.

SQIRL and G+B in silverlake has become one of my favorite places since i first visited. i love the coffee, i love the food, i basically love the everyone that works there or goes there. and i've run into lots of friends there too. it's just a good, delicious vibe all around.

brunch at the sycamore kitchen.

we met our friends justin and sarah, and their adorable little one ella, at the sycamore kitchen for brunch recently. it was a cool but sunny day, perfect for brunch!

tsujita LA in little osaka.

there have been so many great reviews of the ramen at tsujita, but they only serve the noodles at lunch. so it took us awhile to make it out here, but one of these sundays after james went to church, we rendezvous'ed over on sawtelle for some of their famous tsukemen and tonkotsu ramen.

lunar new year's eve at water grill.

my parents asked me to pick a place for our lunar new year's even dinner. our family has a love of seafood that far outweighs our love for just about anything else, so i thought it would be a good time to try the famous water grill in downtown.

the croods, displayed.

it's almost movie release time! this giant poster for our next movie, the croods, went up at work this week. i didn't work on it, but what i have seen of it has been beautiful, so i can't wait to see it in its entirety. look for it in theatres march 22!

tacos guisados.

THIS. PLACE. IS. AMAZING. i have been dreaming about these tacos since i had them last week, and want to go back every day. maybe this week i will be successful. i couldn't decide what to order so i had the taco sampler (above) which features their two steak (steak picado, bistek en salsa rojo), two chicken (mole poblano, tinga de pollo) and two pork (chicharron, cochinita pibil) tacos. they are all amazing. the tortillas are made in-house - i love that they make the mini ones for the sampler - and really, very good. i don't usually like corn tortillas as they get mushy and don't hold up well, but these are perfect. the chicharron was kind of a revelation. it was so good, i went back and ordered a whole taco of it on its own, and i was not disappointed. i could eat that taco all day long.

cliff's edge hideaway.

we went to cliff's edge in silverlake for the first time for brunch a several weekends ago. it's kind of hidden away, despite being right on sunset, and i've driven past it a bunch of times over the past two to three years without ever realizing it was there.

cerveteca and venice beach wines on rose.

we recently explored a bit more of the growing rose avenue area in venice. first, there was superba snack bar the end of last year, then we met mike and some of his friends at cerveteca, just a couple storefronts down.

paperman.

someone shared this super sweet short from disney called paperman yesterday. this is old news kind of, as it played in front of wreck it ralph, which i never got around to seeing in theatres, so i completely missed it.

southern locally @ the hart and the hunter.

on a happier note, let's talk about food! southern food. in los angeles. and it's delicious! several weeks back, we ventured over to the palihotel to enjoy a meal at the hart and the hunter. it was very dark in the dining room itself, so i apologize now for some how dark some of the food photos turned out (plus, i was far too lazy to do any editing).

a dose of reality and low morale.

news was released yesterday that the movie i've been working on, Me and My Shadow, no longer has a release date. and now there is this from the hollywood reporter:

DreamWorks Animation will lay off staff in the wake of the weaker-than-expected performance of the studio's Rise of the Guardians and its announcement Tuesday that it will release two films in 2013 rather than three, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.

The layoffs, which have been rumored for weeks, are expected to hit the Glendale-based animation studio's production, technology and overhead functions. Sources say no single film project in development will be targeted, though DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said in a statement Tuesday that the Kate Hudson-Josh Gad-voiced Me and My Shadow, which had been slated for release by Fox in March 2014, is being taken off the schedule indefinitely. Mr. Peabody and Sherman, which was set for a Nov. 1 release, will now shift to the March 7, 2014 slot.

needless to say, morale is down and people are concerned. i can't share more than that, but how the next few weeks and months play out will certainly be interesting.

in search of pappy.

we can't find anyone who still has bottles of pappy van winkle, much less the pappy van winkle 20 year. however, we did discover, at the recommendation of a good friend of ours, cap'n'cork in los feliz - only a very short walk from our apartment! - that has a really amazing wall of liquor. apparently, pappy only releases twice a year. most places, if they get any at all, only get a bottle or two of each "year". and people wait for this, so.. yea - the changes of us getting a bottle of this stuff is not very likely at all. instead though, james did buy the above bottle of colonel e.h. taylor - which is uncut and unfiltered straight kentucky bourbon and 134.5 proof! he's very excited, but we haven't had a chance to try it yet.

pet portraits from yellow brick home.

how amazing are these pet portraits from the pet shop division of yellow brick home? absolutely adorable, in my opinion - i'm totally in love! now i just need to figure out what size, and how many, i should get of sanford.

quick family vacay to big bear.

my oldest brother john and his family of five came to los angeles to visit for a week. just weeks prior, they had gone skiing in new hampshire with the kids, who had so much fun, they really wanted to go skiing again while in california, so he rented a cabin up in big bear over MLK weekend and we drove up to meet them. on our one full day there, we skiied snow summit, and it was our first time on the mountain this season for both james and me.

superba snack bar

so we went to superba snack bar in venice in early december of 2012, and i uploaded the photos to flickr and everything, but completely forgot to blog about it (yes, this is a repeating theme of the last few posts, but i had a hectic fall!). it was an absolutely amazing meal. we couldn't decide what we wanted, so we went with the chef's tasting menu (omakase, if you will) and were pleasantly surprised by what came out.

rejuvenation : lighting and hardware.

we stopped in the rejuvenation store in culver city this past weekend, and my goodness is it pretty and filled with pretty things.

ji rong in the SGV.

wow, so this post is from months and months ago, i didn't realize i never posted it. these photos are from ji rong restaurant in rosemead. we've been a few times over the past few months with my parents. the food is good and fresh. my favorite dish is the one above, which is steamed wood ear mushrooms, A choy and tripe sitting in a spicy vinegary sauce that you mix altogether once it gets to the table. everything else is pretty solid, but not particularly oh-my-goodness-worthy; though i do also really like their cold marinated chicken and the spicy sauce that comes with it to dip in.

the many faces of #sanfordthefrenchie.

some recent images of sanford; enjoy!

i call this first one weird inexplicable sanford.

burgers and a taco at the farmers market.

after sleeping in on saturday morning (it was glorious!!) we made our way to the la brea / grove area to try out short order. their shakes are custard-based, and the chocolate shake was so good without being very sweet. the burgers were pretty amazing too. james had nancy's backyard burger (dry-aged beef blend, applewood bacon, avocado, tomato, red onion, iceberg lettuce, comte, spicy  mayo) and i had ida's old school burger (grass-fed beef, house-made pickles, tomato, grilled onion, iceberg lettuce, aged cheddar, secret sauce). the dry-aged beef in james's burger was awesome and just so flavorful, and my burger was like an in'n'out animal style cheeseburger taken to a whole new level; and their homemade pickles are SO. GOOD. only thing i took issue with was that my bun didn't really hold up, but then again, i tend to be a bit of a messy eater, so it could have been my fault.

recent home-cooked meals.

we're trying to save money right now, so we've been eating at home a lot. here are some of the meals i've cooked in the past month or so..

now on instagram.

i'm on instagram! well, i have been for a little over a month now, but i've already posted almost 200 photos. totally digging be able to so easily document my life in photos. i know, i know, i'm way behind to the game.

silverlake ramen: a great local alternative.

it's hard to get good ramen in east LA. the nearest is daikokuya in downtown, but there is often at least an hour wait, even just for two people. other places i love are shinsengumi in the SGV, yamadaya in culver city, santouka in venice or ramen jinya in san fernando valley. so it's rather exciting that at sunset and silverlike blvd, there is now a ramen place. i really didn't know what to expect, that i was pleasantly surprised when i went. i ordered the black garlic paste tonkotsu special. the soup was nice and thick and savory. we also got their karaage chicken to share. it's actually quite good, but not quite as good as the chicken at yamadaya. james got the spicy tonkotsu ramen with a bowl of spicy tuna over rice as a combo.

delightful burgers, and some pappy, at plan check.

michael and his wife very recently moved back to west LA, and on our first visit to see them and their new place, we decided to go to plan check. i've wanted to go for quite some time, but like so many things lately, it kept getting put off due to time and money-saving purposes. however, i am so glad we went because the food was absolutely delicious. above, is the bleuprint burger (smoked blue cheese, pig candy, fried onions, roasted garlic steak sauce, peppercress) with cheese on the side.

brunch/dinner @ bottega louie.

a few weeks back we finally ventured to bottega louie downtown for a late brunch. unfortunately, it was so late and they were so busy that when we finally sat down, they were doing last call for the brunch menu. so we quickly ordered the beignets and the farmers market breakfast.

a new croissant to try.

well now, according to chef ludo, the best croissant he's had in LA is at chaumont bakery in beverly hills. guess i'll have to go check it out!

taiwan : the eats.

it's finally here. the massive taiwan food post.

first stop: breakfast. this place had the best taiwanese breakfast. their ho bing (thick bread) was made like naan stuck to the interior walls of fire-burning ovens. awesome savory soy milk. youtiao (chinese donut) to die for.

a quick day trip to joshua tree.

we hopped in the car and took a day trip out to joshua tree on one of the days we had off. we only hit a few "stops", namely cap rock, keys view and the lost horse loop trail and mine. here are some of my favorite pictures from the day.

christmas and new year's in LA.

we both stayed in LA over the holidays, which meant we went back to my parents's house for a lot of it. for christmas dinner, we decided to bring back an old family "tradition" and bought a lobster for everyone at thuan phat supermarket in el monte.

LA's best croissant? maison giraud : part two - success!

back in july, i finally made it out to maison giraud to try the croissant - and they were out. not this time!  five months later (a couple of weeks ago), i managed to drag my butt out to the palisades early on a sunday morning (where i was pleasantly surprised by the farmers market as well!) and ordered myself a cappuccino and croissant. flaky, buttery and light with a nice crunch on the outside. it's just like i remember from anisette! it was a delicious success.

taipei 2012 : the sights.

wow, so these are way overdue - we went to taiwan two months ago!
i even thought i'd have some time / be less lazy over the holidays, but that didn't happen either.

it was james's first time to taiwan, so we tried to see as much as possible, but focused on taipei and surrounding areas while there. the public transportation system is really great, so we never even took taxis, and there were even buses for all the day trips we wanted to take.

anyway, i'm still feeling pretty lazy, so i won't say anything about the photos below really, but they were taken throughout the city, both in the main parts as well as some of the outer suburbs like maokong and danshui, plus some day trips to places like yehliu geopark and jiufen. food post coming soon!