final LA thoughts

i had a moment not long before i left LA where everything was perfect.

i was at huntington beach, at night, with some friends, sitting against the lifeguard station, staring out into the black ocean, with the full moon behind me and the sound of ocean waves crashing against the sand around me.

everything in that scene was perfect and epitomized everything i thought about LA.

it's weird to think that four years ago when i first landed in LA, i didn't want to stay. everything was too southern california, where there is only one season, where people are so healthy and only eat organic, and where you can't get anywhere by bus or subway.

flash forward four years and everything has changed. i love this city. there are lots of flaws about it (public transportation could get better, things could be cheaper) but it's become my adopted home and i love all the different neighbourhoods. now that i don't really know where i'm going and where i'm headed, i know i'm going to miss my adopted city, the city that helped me overcome my canada withdrawal.

i think my move to LA really shows the three steps of acclimation to a new environment:
1) excitement - i was beyond excited to move to southern california
2) shock - why did i move here?! i don't like LA!
3) acceptance and assimilation - alright, since i'm so savvy with the bus and subway, let's go to monterey park by bus and eat at this awesome vietnamese restaurant, maybe later we can go to the tar pits and get in for free with our student IDs, then we can get some awesome dessert in koreatown and catch karaoke in little tokyo...

i know when i first left, everyone back home said i would just become a socal girl and not want to go back home and i scoffed at them. and while i love home, there is a part of me now that's in LA.

i'm starting my new life as a vagabond now and i'm excited for it! but i'll still call LA my "american home", just like how toronto is my "canadian home".

so here are some final tips about living in LA:
1) a car is great but you don't need it all the time - take the bus or subway, it'll surprise you how convenient it can be sometimes
2) the coolest stuff isn't where you think it is - beverly hills and hollywood can be great...but it's exploring places like downtown where you can find some of LA's gems
3) there are more free things than you think - free movie screenings at the grove/century city/universal citywalk, free tapings of jimmy kimmel/price is right/conan o'brien, free visits to museums, free performances of shakespeare plays...
4) JUST EAT! food is honestly the gateway to this city and without further ado, here are my final food suggestions:

- square one dining - for french toast
- spitz - for kebobs and gyros
- haus - for light korean desserts and cakes
- fat fish - for cheap sushi after 9 pm (only $2/plate! mind you, i never said it was quality sushi)
- lucky boys - for breakfast burrito
- banh mi che cali - for BOGO vietnamese food (BOGO - buy one get one)
- the griddle cafe - for decadent pancakes and gorgeous omelettes
- fritto misto - for authentic italian pasta

i have a lot more but i just can't think of all of them right now. for all those food lovers out there, i hope this helps! and if you don't love food that much, give one of these a try, i hope they provoke more gastronomical desires.

a carnivore's dream come true

the first ever korean bbq festival took place last week in los angeles. i almost cried when i saw posters for the event because i love korean bbq. but a whole festival just for korean bbq? i had to calm myself down and take deep breaths before i could speak again. i love korean bbq that much.

when i arrived, the first thing i saw was all the smoke. i could SEE the smoke a block away. it was a column of smoke with the wonderful sweet and crisp korean bbq smell intertwined within the smoke.


there were about 10 booths of korean bbq restaurants just grilling away and there were tons of people packed into that small LA city block (i had to include that it was an LA city block because LA city blocks are about one third of the size of a normal city block). lines for each korean bbq restaurant snaked around and beside each other. when i got into line, i was praying that it was the correct line for the restaurant i wanted to try since the lines were so intertwined, i couldn't tell one from the other.


then it was the waiting game. i waited for ONE HOUR for a plate of korean bbq. mind you, it was awesome when i got it but i almost didn't get it! after waiting for an hour, when i got to the front of the line and the ordering table, the woman behind the table said their barbecues were out of gas! i almost had a heart attack...but thankfully there was just enough meat on their grill for three plates and mine was the last plate.



i should have felt bad for the people behind me, but i really didn't. i was too hungry and so desperately craving for korean bbq to feel bad about having a plate of the most delicious food. the bbq was exactly what i hoped it would be - sweet, tender and delectably delectable. though it was hot, the line was long, and i almost didn't get a plate of food, the korean bbq festival was worth it. i'll definitely be back next year (if i'm in LA that is).

welcome to the fair

i had never been to a fair before (we don't really have fairs in canada) so this summer i went to the orange county fair. as soon as i walked in, i had a couple of thoughts:

1) there was so much stuff! there was an overflowing amount of food, cute little farm animals to look at, games to play and prizes to win, exhibits, a 3D exhibit, dance shows, a hypnotist performance etc etc...


2) everything was fried

fairs are great because they are excuses to eat unhealthy food and to eat lots of it. huge turkey legs the size of my face, foot long hot dogs, fried avocado strips, chocolate covered bacon...now i'm not going to say what i ate and what i didn't...but let's just say going to the fair really pushed me into physical activity after a summer of without physical activity.


while i was chowing down on food, i took in the sights of the fair. there were huge trailers supporting roller coasters and other rides (i questioned their safety). there were enormous booths for carnival games like throwing rings over bottles and throwing balls through wooden panels with a small hole in the middle (i questioned whether the games were rigged). there were cute farm animals such as little pigs and then gigantic farm animals like the cow the size of a small car (i questioned their hygiene, particularly when a pie eating competition was held inside the pig petting area).


the fair was a feast for my stomach as well as a feast for my eyes. i took it all in because it was my first american fair! i spent more money than i would have liked as i tried lots of different food but in the end, the fair is a great place to hang out with friends and watch people become hypnotized, watch as your friend gets her face shoved into a bosenberry pie, watch two pianists play almost every song requested (except for journey - don't stop believin'), watch a 3D weird al yankovich talk about the brain...

you never know what you're going to get at the fair. that's why we ended up staying there for over 8 hours. and even though we do know what will be there next year, we'll be back...you couldn't keep us away from all that fried stuff even if you tried.

a day of shakespeare

shakespeare was a pretty cool dude. he wrote great plays with complex plots, witty and sarcastically hilarious characters...and he did it with a frilly collar! no i'm kidding, he was a great writer who could use a multitude of characters to bring out the nuances of his handful of major characters (mercutio, paris, the capulets and montageus in romeo and juliet; ganymede/rosalind, touchstone, phebe, silvius in as you like it).

so what better way to spend a day then to spend it with shakespeare? i got the chance last weekend to watch the american ballet theatre's presentation of "romeo and juliet" at the dorothy chandler pavillion. i'm not a dancer (though i wish i was) and i don't really know much about ballet, but it was amazing for lack of a more amazing word. watching the girl playing juliet dance was like watching a cloud flutter around the stage. with the beautiful costumes and the ornate sets, watching a ballet presentation of romeo and juliet was like watching the emotions of the characters fly out of the dancers and fully understanding everything that is going on.


afterward, i watched an outdoor presentation of "as you like it" in front of the cathedral of our lady of the angels. it was such a contrast in performances. whereas "romeo and juliet" was filled with lavish costumes and glamorous sets, "as you like it" just had a stage and at max, five props. it was like watching a shakespeare play back in the time of shakespeare, when people didn't huge sets or props to understand a story, they just listened.
and it was so great to just listen to a story and watch the characters move with it. i really had to listen and to strain to listen because missing a line or two of dialogue could mean i miss the entire point of a scene, of the motive of a character, or the play completely. it sounds nerdy, but it was nice to just appreciate a play and appreciate good acting from actors who really filled out the shoes of their characters.

wow, i feel like i'm singing the praises of shakespeare but i guess i just had a good day spending time with the guy. me thinks i should do it more often.

the next food network star

the first picture is a seafood white-cream sauce pasta. the second picture is bruschetta. they look better in person. they also taste better in person.

i've been watching a lot of the food network this summer. i mean, A LOT. i'm down with the neelys, ready to throwdown bobby flay, cook everyday with giada and go barefoot with contessa (i mean, ina garten, whatever). it's getting to the point where i watch to learn new recipes as well as just to watch.

sometimes it's like subjecting myself to torture. here is delicious food but haha, you can't eat it! that's what inspired me this summer to cook and bake more. not only do i have the time, but i have so many random ingredients in my kitchen that i want/need to get rid of and i have the freedom and flexibility to cook whatever suits my fancy.

i think i cook for a couple different reasons. it's relaxing, one, to throw ingredients into a bowl (in a systemic order and way) and to get something out of it. it's fun, two, to make new things and to know that if i really had to, if it came to the point where a mob boss said i needed to cook him an authentic italian dinner or i would be done, that i could save myself and cook up an italian storm. and it's challenging, three, to make different types of things that i never thought i would be able to make, like tonkatsu (deep fried pork cutlets) and kimchi soup.

sometimes i wish i could go to culinary school and learn crazy new things about how to enhance flavours and work with spices and stuff. who knows, maybe in the future, after i become an award-winning journalist, i can settle into a quaint little town and open julia's bakery...julia's diner...julia's fancy, schmancy restaurant.

hmm, i'm going to work on names later...they all kinda sound the same...

santee alley

i went to the fashion district the other day. i had never been there though i heard a lot about it. and what i saw is not really what i expected. i don't really know what i expected but i was surprised that what i got was like a hong kong "mong kok", alleys and streets and rows upon rows of stalls selling everything from clothes to jewelery to shoes to accessories. and all at below average price.

there were tubes of cloth and barrels of ribbons, bulk supplies of dresses and trendy tops, boxes of purses and cartons of shoes. it was shopping...stripped of all the fancy, supermodel posters, pretty signs and nice locales with palm trees out front. it was real shopping.

i had to restrain myself from buying everything that looked cute or stylish. it was really hard because i knew the things that i would find here are cheaper than what i could find at the mall. so i only ended up buying one sundress. that's ok, that means i can go back to buy more later.

B3 - beach bonfire barbecue

sometimes three of the best things of los angeles can be summed up in words beginning with the letter B: beach, bonfire, barbecue.


ok fine, barbecues can be done anywhere i suppose...but isn't it much cooler to have a barbecue on the beach? with a bonfire? the correct answer is yes.

i wanted to have a cooler than normal barbecue on the beach, and thus the menu included steaks! and mashed potatoes! apple pie! guacamole! and much more, yum :) yes, i took forever to make (i will never forget how much butter we used, egads) but it was worth it when after splashing around, running around, fooling around on the guitar, we could all dig into mac and cheese, corn on the cob, and ribs!



the beach was surprising cold that day. the sky was overcast and it was windy until 2 pm! only in the afternoon did it actually start feeling like a nice summer day with the sun out and about and the water feeling warm and crisp against my skin. but the day also got broken up by the sound of airplanes taking off the ominous sight of airplanes disappearing into the clouds above our part of the beach.

i just realized that i didn't even take a picture of the bonfire...oh well...it was a good bonfire. very nice and orange and hot. it really kept us warm when the sun set and the cool ocean breezes finally hit us.

and i think that's when i realized (though i know and think it everyday): LA is awesome. it's a city of opposites. the rich (beverly hills) live with the poor (skid row). the artsy (the getty) live with the scientists (caltech). the young and hip (downtown LA) live with the old and wise (also downtown LA). the ocean hits the beach hits the city hits the mountains. i probably sound like a PSA for LA right now, but oh well. i live in one of the best cities in the world...cause i can have beach bonfire barbecues here.