Coming home after 5 weeks abroad is a bit unsettling. I wouldn’t call it jet lag but rather brain lag, as in trouble remembering passwords. And how to drive. But give me 24 hours to sort through a box full of mail, lots of packages (!), and some of that famous LA sunshine and I’ll snap back to my life away from the road. But as it turns out, there’s been nothing but serious rain here–though the sun is peeking out today–and I’ve come home to one surly furkid on strike…
jury duty (which happens to be an attempted murder case and I’m both fortunately and unfortunately dismissed from the panel), and the stray who’s NOT on strike:
Does he look like he hasn’t grown all that much since I last blogged about him? I was going to take him to the animal shelter with the heavy rains and all, but then one day he showed up with 3 more cats in tow, all different breeds of various ages. I don’t think they were his posse or entourage since he was growling at them to defend his food. That same night an overfed raccoon made an appearance on my patio so now I can’t leave food outside for him anymore.
But where was I? So yes, back in LA, this weekend has been all about sports. We have two NBA teams here, the beloved Lakers and the stepchildren Clippers. It doesn’t really matter to me who’s playing for LA, though, because I’m all about the San Antonio Spurs. See number 20 on my back in today’s first pic? This is the real number 20:
And this is the court inside the Staples Center where the Clippers and the Lakers play:
But up there in the rafters, it’s all purple and gold, hence the stepchildren reference to the Clippers:
But I have to say, if the Clippers were another winning team it’d be much harder to score good seats at the very last minute to see my Spurs. And in these seats at the premier level–where you can opt to dine in the San Manuel Club (food is actually pretty good) or be served in-seat–
it’s the best way to get over that brain lag. The Lakers are hosting the Spurs tonight–will see if my Ginobilli jersey gets to go out again today.
On a last sports note, did anyone notice that the New Orleans Saints’ owner’s wife was wearing a CHANEL jacket from the 09P season? I know they were hoisting the Vince Lombardi trophy and all but I just wanted to see her jacket in high-def. Now that’s a Super Bowl moment for me!
Tags: Clippers, LA, Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, San Manuel Club, Staples Center, Super Bowl
OK so that was a bit misleading yesterday; you might even accuse me of false advertising or bait-and-switch. But I am taking you to Chinatown and Little Tokyo in today’s blog, and frankly, the food found in these neighborhoods in the middle of LA is just as satisfying as what I found in Hong Kong or Tokyo. Except here, your waiter or waittress might be able to respond in English, and the language barrier can sometimes make or break your culinary experience while traveling.
There are a million places to eat in Chinatown. You can even see the sign for phở in the picture above, but I’ve tried a few of these Chinese-Vietnamese joints and I’d say stick with Chinese food when in Chinatown. The best dim sum in the world is found at the Empress Pavilion (www.empresspavilion.com ); be prepared to get in line if you go there for Sunday brunch and arrive after 11:30am. I try to get seated by 11 because that’s the small window when the sweet tofu custard (đậu hủ đường or Tàu hủ) makes its appearance. My mouth is watering as I write this, but I digress.
If you are visiting LA, you should also wander over to the “newer” Chinatown in Alhambra in the San Gabriel Valley. Though this is somewhat of a misnomer to me; Alhambra is more a modern Chinese town than a traditional Chinatown. Tons of large shopping centers, restaurants, and supermarkets there. You won’t have to worry about things getting lost in the translation there either.
From Chinatown you can drive a few blocks across “international borders” to Little Tokyo:
I’m here to try out the much talked about Orochon Ramen shop (www.orochonramen.com ) which has a Wall of Bravery made up of photos of diners who survive the Orochon #2 challenge. To get your mug on the wall, you have to finish the bowl of ramen, down to the last drop, in 30 minutes. They don’t care if your head is on fire at that point.
Their soup intoxicates you with 13 secret ingredients, though I’m only able to identify 3, maybe 4…
but the twist is in the level of spiciness, ranging from 1 (“Extreme”) to 7 (“Non-spicy”). After some advice from the waiter who has a killer cherry blossoms tattoo on his arm, I opt for the Miso-based soup, number 5. But the 10-year-old kid sitting at the table next to mine says his is #4 so that’s what I end up ordering. I can’t be one-upped by a kid! But looking at the sweat pouring down his father’s face and neck I get a little nervous. False pride is going to be the death of my poor tastebuds. Luckily level 4 is just the perfect amount of kick I can handle. The dad meanwhile is struggling through the #2 challenge and fails; the second mug of cold beer can’t help him today.
I’m walking off my dinner with a quick jaunt around Little Tokyo:
Anyway, down the street from the visitor center…
I spy a bakery that I’m sure has mochi ( 餅), which is a soft glutinous rice cake with various sweet fillings:
It’s late in the day so there’s not much left:
But how spectacular is this?
My eyes think I should buy one of each but my very full belly settles on three…mochi, get into my belly!
This particular one is seasonal and has a decidedly different taste from the other two, mostly from the flavor of the leaf in which it’s wrapped, even though the filling is also a red bean paste:
This is what it looks like on the inside of the mochi:
And this is what it looks like after it’s inside my happy tummy (does anyone know what kind of leaf this is?):
Tags: Chinatown, Empress Pavilion, LA, Little Tokyo, mochi, Orochon Ramen
*This entry is dated for April 22 to commemorate Earth Day 2009 but the photos and trip recounted below were taken on Saturday, April 25.
There’s a very special exhibit (www.coolglobes.com) that just opened at Exposition Park in LA in honor of Earth Day.
It runs through July 23 and will continue on to Houston, Texas.
I’d seen some PR about it from an inflight magazine and have been pretty excited to see these globes in person. And let me tell you, it takes a lot to get me to enter enemy territory also known as SC country (where Exposition Park is) given the long, rich rivalry between UCLA and USC. USC is affectionately known as the University of Spoiled Children, and while they do have a better football program and marching band, we Bruins happen to know the truth: the kids who attend SC are the ones who could not get into UCLA, no matter how rich. OK, OK, that’s a bit harsh. I happen to have a lot of friends who are closet, struggling, or recovering Trojans. What can I say, we all have skeletons in our closets.
So other than wanting to poke my eyeballs out every time I run across someone wearing a cardinal and gold tshirt (and as luck would have it, today just happens to be their big Spring Scrimmage weekend so the Trojans are everywhere!), I am soaking in the lush park grounds that overlap the campus as I make my way toward the first batch of cool globes, located just in front of the Science Center:
The second and larger group of globes is found in the Rose Garden:
These globes, as discussed further in the video below, weigh about 300 pounds a piece with an 1800 pound base. Can you imagine moving these suckers around the country? A lot of artists, children, adults and companies have contrituted countless hours into each globe so I feel it’s only right that I post as many pictures of the 50 globes as possible in today’s blog entry, especially since some of you are not able to see them in person. But before we get to the photos, here’s a video of my first on-the-spot interview with Deborah Talley (please forgive me if I misspelled your name), a volunteer with the exhibit:
Here’s a blurry shot of what the interior of the globe above looks like:
Here’s another video of the globes:
Actually it was Deborah’s husband Ronald, a photographer, who gave me such a wonderful introduction to the globes that I asked him to do it on camera, but he asked his wife to do the honors instead. I love putting photographers in front of my lens:
Enjoy the cool globes (remember you can click on any of my photos to see a larger version of it)…and if you are within driving distance, come out to the park with your family and do a little globin’ in LA. And see which one(s) you love the most; I saved my three favorites for the very end:
In tomorrow’s blog I’ll show you the rest of my Saturday in LA.
Tags: Cool Globes, Earth Day, Exposition Park, LA, UCLA, USC
