I'm Back!!!!

Hi everyone! Hope you missed me hehe. If not, that's ok ... I forgive you lol!

Anyway, yes I am back from my awesome trip (I've been back for over a week or so) and I wanted to put something up to let you all know that I was still alive. I'll be doing a post about the different type of food I ate on my trip, but I haven't had time.

Please stay tuned everyone ... THANKS!

PILGRIMAGE TO POLAND, ISRAEL, EGYPT, & JORDAN!!!

Hi all.

I know it's been a while since my last post. The past month has literally come and gone in a blink of an eye!

Tomorrow (well today, seeing as it's almost 3am), I am flying out with my aunt on a pilgrimage to places in the title of this blog entry. We have been planning this for a year, and NOW it's finally come to fruition... WHICH IS NUTS!!! xP

It's the reason why I'm still awake right now. I'm too excited! I guess I'll sleep on the plane haha!

Anyway, I just wanted to put something up here to let everybody know my plans for the trip.

Other than obviously trying to get closer spiritually, I also am going to try and document the various cuisines I encounter in each country I stay at. Of course cuisines vary from country to country, and I am willing to partake in ALL OF IT.

I'll be writing things down, taking pictures, and hopefully if all goes well I'll put it all together when I get back.

So stay tuned my loyal readers (all 1 of you ... maybe hehe), and be patient for my updates.


"I'm leavin' on a jet plane ... don't know when I'll be back again ..."
That's a lie ... I'm back in the US on Oct. 22 hehe

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Keep on eating y'all! ^__^;;

Free food for $5 at the Cerritos Performing Arts Center? YES PLEASE!

So I went to the Taste of the Region Expo with a few friends of mine tonight, and it was awesome!

I took a few photos (not many because I was either talking or eating hahaha), and I posted them in my Facebook ... check them out!

TASTE OF THE REGION - CERRITOS

It was really fun, and I wish I was able to actually fill my stomach (and bag) more ... but it's ok. There's always next year. The most surprising thing to me was that there were a few gourmet food trucks there that were participating in the tasting! That was cool.

All in all it was an awesome experience, and I would suggest EVERYONE to go next year! :)

Keep on eating y'all! ^__^

Taste of the Region - Cerritos, CA

This event happens every year at the Cerritos Performing Arts Center.

I have missed it in prior years due to work/school/etc.

This year I'm off on the day it's happening (Thursday, September 16, 2010) ... so I'm making an effort to visit.

It's free to enter, but if you wanna try any of the food, it's $5 for a wristband, which isn't too bad.

I was able to get all this info from Yelp because the actual Cerritos Chamber of Commerce site hasn't been updated hehe.

If you're in the area, and you wanna check out what Cerritos has to offer, come on down and check out my neck of the woods haha! :)

I'll probably do another post after the event. Hopefully I take pictures so you all can see what's going on over there.

Cerritos Taste of the Region & Business Expo
September 16, 2010
4:30pm-7:30pm

Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts
12700 Center Court Drive South
Cerritos, CA 90703

Keep on eating y'all! ^__^

Surf City Nights, and a couple of links ...

So yesterday I had the pleasure of spending the day at jury duty.

... oh yeah ... "pleasure." >.<

Thankfully it ended on a high note, since after about 2 hours, I was released from captivity onto the streets of Bellflower, CA. xP

An old high school friend called me up and told me about this "thingy" happening in Huntington Beach that normally happens on Tuesday nights. I was intrigued, so I decided to go with her.

She picked me up from my humble abode, and we headed to the HB ... downtown ... right by the beach hehe.

Apparently they started having this little event on Tuesday nights called Surf City Nights: Huntington Beach Street Fair.



It's every Tuesday evening from 5-9pm. They close off a main area of road in downtown HB (right where Fred's & Huntington Surf Shop are), and they have street vendors selling trinkets, crafts, produce (farmer's market style), along with regular food fare (Chinese, Greek, Mexican, etc.).

There were also some companies out there promoting their products and giving away free samples to everybody (we got some free Pringles and some free Venom energy drinks).

It's an awesome time for the whole family, since they also have street performers there either singing, juggling, or dancing for everyone's entertainment.

Of course there are also the options of the regular stores & restaurant along the street too. At one of the info booths in the fair, they had a whole stack of coupons from the local shops, stores, and restaurants on that street, and around the local area.

While my friend and I were wandering, we found a coupon to this relatively new place in the area called The Scoop on Cookies. I'm calling it a Diddy Riese for Orange County. :) But they don't just sell delicious cookies, and awesome ice cream! They also sell a lot of vintage candies and sodas that aren't readily available to most people. (I GOTZ ME A SKY BAR BIATCH!!!)



Anyway, the coupon we found was basically this: buy an ice cream sand"wish", and get another cookie FREE. We could not resist this offer. Who says no to a free cookie? :)

DEEE-LISH-US. :)

All in all it was a great time, plus we were able to find some awesome deals on some fruit (papaya melon FTW), and dessert.

Visit this spot when you can, k? Oh and of course, there's that whole beachfront area ... ya know the pier and the ocean. Meh. LOL! xP

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I know I've talked in the past on this blog about being able to customize certain foods and then order them online. Well I got 2 more for you. Thanks to the folks at Tasting Table, I was introduced to these 2 unlikely friends: beef jerky and chocolate.

JERKY!

At Slant Shack Jerky, you pick the size of how much beef you want, what kind (regular or grass fed), the type of marinade, the type of rub, & whether or not you want glaze on the product. Prices start at $10, which is about a 1/4 lb.

I think this is interesting, since a lot of jerky out there is all the same. But that's a bit pricey for 4 oz. of dried meat. I guess if you're a jerky aficionado, then go for it haha! :)


CHOCOLATE!

Chocri Chocolates are quality in a bar. Already recognized by ABC7, NBC, and even the New York Times, it's popularity is rising. You start off by choosing 1 of 4 delicious Belgian chocolate bases: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and STRAWBERRY chocolate (WTF?) ... wow. From there, you can pick from a plethora of different ingredients (fruits, nuts, spices, etc.), each with prices ranging from $0.30 to $1.40 per ingredient.

You can also add decorations, especially if this chocolate bar is for a special occasion. Gold/silver pearls, candy flowers, and phrases written out on the bar itself can be added to accentuate the personalized candy bar.

You can add up to 5 items to customize the bar.

It seems really cool, since you can try out different combos and see what you like. Or you can pick familiar flavors, but personalize them to add your little touch.

I think a lot of people will have fun being able to make their own little snacks.

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That's it from me right now. Keep on eating y'all! ^_^

Interesting spot for dinner ...

Tonight (well yesterday) was the last Saturday of freedom for many of my friends, since Monday starts the new Fall semester.

So they all decided to have some sort of big hangout/gathering/shindig/thingy-mah-bobber to celebrate their last hours of summer vay-kay.

For dinner, we all headed to this place called Cocary Shabu Shabu & BBQ in City of Industry. This was literally down the street from where majority of where my friends were hanging out: Arcade Infinity.

What got my attention right off the bat was the name of the location ... Cocary Shabu Shabu & BBQ ... did this mean I had a choice between the two or something? Very intriguing to say the least.

There's a lot of hustle and bustle in the restaurant, which was good to me. It meant that it was a relatively popular spot to eat, and it meant the food was going to be fresh.

We all sat down at a table with 2 large burners, and on top of the burners were these interesting contraptions. From above they looked like flowers, but it was really a flower shaped flat grill, with the center being a large cast iron pot. Each petal would be used to grill food, while the pot in the center boiled away with broth.

NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY IT'S SHABU SHABU AND BBQ!!!

... although this seemed more like a Mongolian Hot Pot, rather than Japanese shabu shabu ... but I digress. xP

Here's what it looked like:



All in all it was a fun experience being able to grill the food, and have the soup. But it didn't fill me up. Sure, I did most of the cooking on my end of the grill, I guess I just ended up forgetting to eat as much as I should have.

What I did end up eating was very tasty. The pork, beef, and chicken were all marinated, and the broth of the soup was divine! I loved the fact that you could get PADS OF BUTTER to season the grill with (and to occasionally add into the soup broth like I did). Plus I did a pseudo fried rice on the fly with the leftover FREE RICE I had, and some butter and a little salt.

The ambiance was fun, and the company was great ... but next time I go, I'll have someone else cook. xP

Cocary Shabu Shabu & BBQ
18217 E Gale Avenue, #A
City of Industry, CA 91748
(626) 839-7938

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To all my loyal readers: I know this wasn't my typical restaurant review. Let's just say this was more of an experience, rather than a review. I think if I go there again, I'll be more prepared to actually rate the place hehe.

Keep on eating y'all! ^_^;;

An alternative to popcorn ... & something related to waffles ...

I apologize to those that actually somewhat kept up with this blog. Life happens, as many people say, and the time to update this has been rather scarce.

But nonetheless I come today with TWO different items of interest (or at least I hope it's interesting to you). :)

First off is popped sorghum. I know that doesn't sound appealing AT ALL, but from what the site says, it is delicious, and of course, nutritious.

Sorghum is a type of grain, that usually is plentiful in various African nations, and is the 5th most produced grain in the world, following corn, rice, wheat, and barley.

At Popghum, they say that their product is like popcorn, but better. They offer flavors as simple as plain, to as fancy as Caribbean Adobo and Ethiopian Berbere!

I will probably buy some in the future (when money is not a major object), because it looks very interesting hehe. :)

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WAFFLES. They're delicious, correct? Of course they are! But what if you could do a little more with them. Like eat them fresh from a place that specializes in them? OH YEAH.

Shaky Alibi is a little place in Los Angeles that specializes in waffles. A wafflerie to be specific. They have the good ol sweet breakfast waffles, but they also utilize their waffles in sandwich form, where they are sliced in half, and one has the option of adding certain meats and cheeses in it for a customized sandwich.

It's like the Monte Cristo but better. :)

I will eventually visit this place in the future.

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If anyone out there tries the Popghum, or goes to Shaky Alibi, let me know how it all is ok? Thanks everyone!

Keep on eating y'all! ^__^

HOLY MOLEY WHERE'D THE YEAR GO?!?!?!?!?!

To anyone that actually DID read this blog, I apologize.

I have neglected to update this and I'm extremely sorry about that.

I will do my best to keep up with this blog and to basically post as often as I can with relevant subject material.

Thanks for your support & keep eating y'all! ^__^