hi.

i say this every time but…its been awhile.

nice seeing you around here though. glad you stopped by.

i’d say we should hang out more often however i think you know how that might go.

how are you? be honest. i hope you’ve been being nice to yourself. 

life has been much for a lot of people and i am not someone who was spared from immeasurable personal pain.

i’m still here. i’m still trying to find the happy in each day even when the day seems impossible. 

i forgot how much I missed putting my body in a space that was not my usual. sure, it might not have been my top choice on my first post-demic escape. if 2020 taught me anything, we are making lemonade out of some god damn lemons and adding vodka when necessary.

what i really want to know is, do you want to see what i ate when i spent 48 hrs in LA?

lets goooooo!

first up, little tokyo. 

this roll blew my mind. ahi tuna + avocado + cilantro (yes! FKN cilantro) + more tuna + crispy garlic pieces.

they just don’t make seafood udon like they do in CA. please if someone knows a legit spot in vegas drop. a. comment. 

also yes, i am one of those people that can eat a giant bowl of noodles and hot broth in summer and outside nonetheless. granted LA is like 20º - 30º cooler than vegas so it was a breeze and delight to consume this.

a stop into little tokyo isn’t complete without a japanese market shopping spree for snacks.

if you like takoyaki and cheetos these are that. i think i like takoyaki more than cheetos but these babies are addictive.

couldn’t not try the matcha ones.

my sister’s favorite. these round sponge cakes will forever remind me of her.

childhood throw back. 

crunchy. cheesy. yes.

what the boba.

gummy bears but make ‘em lychee.

these babies looked magical..like the beginning of a movie.

egg tart lover for life. i’m a sucker for them.

but just pastries make me incredibly happy. ya know?

welcome, to the grand central market!

this place was a god damn delight. it was my brother’s choice and it couldn’t have been more fitting for our sibling reunion tour. an indoor (yet also out door at the same time?) cluster of different eateries and a handful of shops that have THE goods.

we ran around this concrete food bazar snatching up at least one dish from a few different countries. 

sharing is caring, plus you get to try way more tasty bites if you don’t have to commit to an entire meal.

we divided. we conquered.

the results:

a currywurst from berlin. (i miss adventuring around berlin)

jewish soul food. wexler’s deli macarthur park sandwich - pastrami, cole slaw, swiss cheese, russian dressing on rye.

this one reminded me of my dad.

khao soi from thailand. 

this was actually my first time trying this dish. i have seen khao soi a bunch in the foodtube videos i watch and have been dying to try. what interested me most about this northern thai curry dish is that it uses egg noodles (in 2 types of ways!) which is not a noodle i typically associate with their cuisine. when i think thai food, i think rice noodles. 

crunchy egg noodles + egg noodles + hard boiled egg +pickled mustard greens + green & red onion all in a slightly sweet chicken coconut curry soup (don’t forget a few good squeezes of lime) 

sissig fried rice from the philippines. (this one was the FAV!) 

i don’t know if our roots made us unknowingly biased but if lunch was a competition, this fried rice won. 

vinegary, spicy pieces of perfectly cooked pork fried with rice and topped with a beautiful fried egg + green onions + lime (if we were in the philippines it would come with kalamansi instead)

buko pie.

this, wow i am still dreaming of this insanely delicious filipino masterpiece of a pie.

they were so friendly and gracious at this spot. me and my siblings are proud to be half filipino and sari sari felt like a hug. we also happened to be by when they were baking off pie shells for their buko goodness. i was lucky enough to be provided the low down on this sweet treat. i got a complete walk through and now the back of my brain hasn’t stopped itching. there is no way i could come close to duplicating the recipe but it does provide awesome inspiration for a future baking ideas. maybe the pies at thanksgiving this year will be a little less traditional. 

wouldn’t be a proper food outing without a doughnut for the road. 

tiger tail in hand! this guy was huge.

we don’t have H Marts in vegas, FOR SHAME because i fkn loved this grocery store. I actually ended up going to two different ones in the same day and it made for an excellent hotel dinner.

fresh lychees + spicy tuna onigiri + fried seaweed rolls + shrimp tempura + korean fried chicken wings + tuna sashimi + tteokbokki 

they had a million other items that i wish i could stock my pantry with but for now i will hope that my local korean grocer will start selling some nifty things they carry here. frozen korean corn dogs - uh, yes please.

last stop before heading back home, milk jar cookies. 

had to bring home something sweet for the mr (and tiny mr) and they are big fans of cookies.

salted butterscotch.

birthday cookie.

white chocolate macadamia nut.

chocolate pecan caramel.

oatmeal chocolate chip.

banana split.

snickerdoodle.

lemon blueberry. (my fav!)

and last but not least, rocky road.

quick trip with an important purpose but eating delicious foods will always be the highlight. now that my siblings and i are adults we hardly ever have the opportunity to spend quality time together so this was a special couple of days. it felt like before when we would travel with the parentals to rando foreign countries but now its just us a three and i couldn’t be more grateful to have them by my side. 

happy eating!

rita