31 January 2013

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.

30 January 2013

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.

29 January 2013

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.

28 January 2013

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.

27 January 2013

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.

25 January 2013

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!


17 January 2013

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.


07 January 2013

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.

05 January 2013

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!