42nd and Water

What's at 42nd and 1st? A nice weekday walk on lunch!

And the UN building.

I call this little strip Pigeon Park – worst place to eat a peaceful lunch. The pigeons here are so used to random people feeding them scraps that they will literally walk up to you, look you in the eye, and peck at your shoes to rob you of your crumbs. Nasty little bird rodents!

Another gem that not many people know about is the Tudor City area park that lives in an elevated area above city streets. Lots of people buy lunches from the nearby delis and trot over to the pebble scattered park grounds for some sun. In fact, it is right across the street from Convivio – I went there for restaurant week over the summer with a coworker, a very business lunch cuisine type of atmosphere.



There aren't many indoor food courts anywhere that is only a block away from where I work, but the closest enclosed heated area that I like to sit around (especially in Winter) at is the Ford Foundation building. It looks like a private greenhouse from outside, but it's actually available for the public to walk through everyday from 8am-4pm. I'm not sure if you are allowed to eat lunch there per say, but it sure is a nice sit for a breath of fresh air and some peace of mind!


Inside views – I wish I had one of those glass corner offices! Must be a refreshing view. But with no privacy lol.


NYC – a real concrete jungle.

Mitsuwa Japan Day Fair

Went to check out Japan Day @ Mitsuwa Marketplace – super yummy in my tummy!

So many food plate varieties from all the outdoor booths – scallop sticks, beef bowls, riceballs, summer noodle salad, and okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake). I would've fit in a green tea shaved ice, but my stomach said no :(


Plastic character masks and prize fishing games


There were some people who were decked out and dressed up too. And thanks to good aim at the target, I won all these prizes of random things, junk food, candies and drinks from playing the shooting game!!

LES Tastes

Food tasting and drink specials at LES Tastes!

1st stop: Panade for a ham&cheese puff and a vanilla cream puff – they were my first and I was also their first!


2nd stop: Tiny's Giant Sandwich Shop for a spicy rizzak roll – it def was a bit spicy for me, yummy but bread was hard to chew into.


3rd Stop: Baohaus for a chairman bao pork bun – I've been here before and the store layout has changed to faster sit eat and get going place which I think is a good decision. Bun was not disappointing at ALL yet again. I remember their sesame fries were also really good the first time I went :)


4th Stop: Stuffed Artisan Cannolis for two coco loco and frangelico mini cannolis – I was actually getting a bit full from the snacking and heatwave, but this hit the spot for me, cool and yummy. Fun colors and floor decals inside.


5th stop: Yonah Schimmel Knishes for duh, a kasha knish – had no idea what the heck kasha was, maybe I should have took the owner's advice and went for the spinach instead. Store looks like it's been around for a long time though, so maybe it was just my luck!


6th stop: Tuck Shop for a mini bite of meat pie – tasted like a beef patty, very meaty and delish for the small bite they gave me.


Mission completed :) I like how the thumbs up became a thumbs down lol.

And last but not least, I walked by a Burmese Festival in the park.

Kittichai

Discovered the best brunch/lunch/dinner hotel restaurant ever! Kittichai is of decor that is simple, refreshing, and not too much at all. Awesome modern Thai. I would definitely come back for dinner and then check out the rooftop bar lounge of the Thompson Hotel someday.

I put in a request to be seated right next to the infinity pond with floating candle dishes. Fresh flowers were also dangling from the ceilings on threads, they looked so magical.

Berry something and lime something juices. This was ordered separate from the $20 lunch prefix:




Pork Tenderloin and Chicken something



And a very special Happy Birthday message on the honey banana plate :)

LA LA LAND

550+photos of my 5 day trip = Top 55 LA pics!

A lot of palm trees – the purple hue is so pretty at night. And speaking of colors, I had my first Virgin experience (ha) and flew in style to LA... maybe it was just me, but I didn't see what the big hype was about. I still like my JetBlue more. There were some cool brownie points tho – the touch screen ordering system, the fact that you can play doom and games, but many of the good tv shows and movies all needed a credit card to watch. On our flight back, the service was not well and I could only select from 5 channels of shows that reran themselves over and over. Entertainment FAIL. Foodwise, you have to shell out extra for small snacks – and get this – I brought my own cup noodles on board and the stewardess could not give me a simple fork to stir and eat it with because all the utensils only come prepackaged in their airline foodpacks. -_- that teaches me a lesson to bring my own everything next time. I feel like it was just too much technology for no reason to the point where it lost the personal human touch. I had a situation where I had to order two simple bottles of water through the screen even though the stewardess could have given it to me herself when I requested it in person. Too fancy, too much, way too many circles. I am done venting. Mood lighting was definitely a turn on though :) and the fact that you can play Doom.


Now our hotel stay at Ayres Hotel was actually really great. I gave it a thumbs up review on Expedia:

"Good Location People and Stay: Free breakfast buffet was no joke with the OJ guavaJ coffee frenchtoast eggs and honeydew/watermelon fruits! Super friendly and accomodating, even went out of way to find out answers for us and greeted with smiles. Fast and quick service. Room even came with microwave and fridge. only complaint is the windowshades can come with a clip so it’s not too bright in the morning – we couldn’t adjust it. Pool can be a bit cleaner with the hot tub too but it’s amazing to sit in the backyard all lit up at night and enjoy a bottle of wine. It’s open till late night. Carl’s Jr and McD’s CVS and a bunch of things were nearby. Right next to gas station and off the highway exit, convenient. We did Advantage car rental in Inglewood so returning the car was so easy. Also had free parking in the front too."





We were starving and crossed the street over to Carl's Jr. for some quick grub. How smart is it to have a divide line for your burger as an extra option??

Chili cheese fries definitely hit the spot. What else that I completely crave every time I think about it is the Banana shake!

Went by over to Hermosa/Manhattan Beach since it was 15 mins away from our hotel. It just so happened to be first Thursdays so there were a lot of shops and eateries there that stayed open a bit past their usual closing time, all with discounts, deals, and freebies to attract more shoppers.



We made a serendiptious drop in to Buzz Candy Shop and found out the owner was also from NY and actually lived near my neighborhood. Bought some souvenir junk food for my sis there. Speaking of weird sodas, I tried Squirt and a Cactus Cooler – I wished they have these in NY!

On to Venice – the Venice Canal was not as romantic as it sounds or looks haha it was kinda dirty.


Venice boardwalk reminds me of a bigger nicer Coney Island! Muscle beach was... interesting.






Very nice skull painting art – I like the skateboard picture frames too actually.

And I grabbed a bite of fried fish tacos, Hawaiian styled!

And then headed over to real dinner at Wabi Sabi in the Abbott Kinney area. It was sushi apps and cocktails happy hour. All the seafood in LA are fresh fresh fresh!


Ribs and yakitori sticks on veggies. And an amazing Chirashi bowl!


On the walk back to the rental – I love all the lushness of home gardens that spill out onto the sidewalks.

On another night over at Third Street Promenade shopping area, we got some Italian food over at Ravo's.

Salmon salad and seafood spaghetti while sitting outside to soak in the street performers' sounds and sights. I fell in love with the vocals and heart of Sammie Jay, you NEED to listen to a clip of her on youtube and shiver!


A short walk/hike over and we were at Santa Monica Piers, home of that famous wheel.

On to Hollywood – we hung around and about at the farmer's market and got some Bennett's ice cream, SO CREAMY~! We got choffee toffee and fancy nancy flavors.


Lamp/chime souvenir displays on the ceiling of a shop.

Here is a nice pic of us on the bridge at the Grove shopping area, which is right neighbored with the farmer's market.


How amazing are we? hahah can't leave LA without taking a pic of us jumping on a marble bed! Next to the Hollywood sign in the background :) wayyy background.


Gregory is my new favorite star.


There were weird looking promoters trying to put on a little dance to get people to buy tickets for their show, it was kind of fail because they were a little TOO weird. It confused everyone because we thought they were performers who were going to perform some stunts song or break out into dance.

Who wrote Be Free?

Beard Papa's cream puffs, yum. I have this weird habit/lesson that I can never ever learn. Because they dust the creampuff with lots of chocolate or whatever flavor powder before they serve it to you, I keep opening my mouth for a big bite, therefore inhaling and having the powder snort down my lungs. Not good!


I just liked that M sign. And this wall painting on the side of some building.

Then we wandered into this restaurant, totally forgot the name but it was really pretty inside. Definitely one of those crossover hybrid annoying modern Chinese cuisine spots that are only good for dates and loungey talk.


Calamari and Wonton nachos. I like that the cup for the sauce is the same cup I use when I drink tea at dimsum spots.

Now we travel downtown – right next to Olvera Street is Union Station.

And here we have Chinatown LA – I have been warned by a lot of friends to not even bother going there, but I was actually VERY glad I went! Their chinatown only spans a good 3-4 block/avenues or so, but if they had bothered parking the cars and getting out to explore around, they would have found the underground Saigon Plaza with a bunch of booths, vendors, and cheap clothes and accessories to match. Even buttpads, as seen below on the right.


It was like I died and went to fobby shoe heaven... with bootleg handbags in hell.


Drivers in LA are super friendly – we struck up a convo with this guy next to us :)

And my most grateful moment in LA was during morning rush hour for the carpool lane!