One of the biggest highlights of our vacation was spending time with Tawn’s relatives.  Some time ago, I wrote about the complicated relationship I have with Tawn’s father.  While he has acknowledged that I exist and we met on two occasions before I moved to Thailand, he doesn’t want to confront that aspect of who Tawn is.  This is, broadly speaking, a typical “Asian father” sort of mindset. 

Because of that, we have had no interaction in the nearly six years that I’ve lived here.  Tawn’s mother is very welcoming but around here, the man rules the roost, so I only rarely manage to see Tawn’s mother or any other relative.  This has left me feeling a sense of disconnection from Tawn’s side of the family, a stark contrast to the very close relationship Tawn has with my family.

Tawn’s cousin and his family, me and Tawn, and my sister and her family.  When considered as a whole, I would call it “my family”.

One big exception to the gulf that keeps me away from my in-laws is Tawn’s aunt and uncle in Los Angeles.  Tawn’s aunt is his father’s older sister.  She and her husband moved to LA more than four decades ago and raised a family there, three boys who are around our ages, and now five grandchildren.  Since first visiting them almost a decade back, they have been very accepting, supporting us, welcoming us into their family, and advocating on our behalf.

Two of their three sons still live in Los Angeles.  I hadn’t seen them since that first visit but we stay in touch regularly through Facebook.  This vacation presented the perfect opportunity not only to see them and meet their children, but also to introduce their family to my family and bridge that disconnect I feel.

We were able to meet with one cousin, Pete, and his wife and two girls Saturday afternoon at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.  (A mighty fine aquarium, I’ll add.)  The girls are roughly the same ages as my nieces (although Emily is a head taller than Jessie), so it provided them some new friends to meet and made it easier to break the ice.

Both Jessie and Sydney are very cute and outgoing.  After about a half-hour of walking through exhibits, Sydey tugged on my pants leg and asked if she could hold my hand.  Later on, Jessie stopped me and said, “Can I tell you something?  You’re really nice.”  I’m not sure what she expected, but am glad I made a good impression.

Lots of interactive exhibits kept Sydney, Jessie, Ava, and Emily entertained and engaged.

After spending several hours together, we met up for dinner with the other cousin, Don, his wife and three children, and Tawn’s aunt and uncle.  Spread across a very large table – we ended up being 17 people! – I got to know Tawn’s cousins better, seemed to be the center of attention for their children, and for a few hours felt less disconnected to Tawn’s side of the family.

Unfortunately we didn’t take a picture as I’d love to show you that lovely group.  But picture or no, it was still a wonderful opportunity to get together and, for me, helped a bit to bridge the gap that I feel.  I know many married couples don’t have close relationships with their in-laws.  Ultimately, though, I’d like to have as close a relationship with Tawn’s family as he has with mine.

For our vacation with my sister, brother-in-law, and nieces, we opted to rent a three-bedroom house in Hermosa Beach, just two blocks from the Pacific Ocean.  Not only did this work out quite reasonably financially – roughly $400 a night – but it gave us a lot more room than a hotel would have, plus the ability to easily cook our own food and do our own laundry.

Tawn leads a junior yoga class, which was surprisingly effective at helping the girls calm down, focus, and not get into squabbles with each other.  Maybe we should sign them up for daily classes?

Actually, we didn’t rent one house, but two.  The initial house was booked for our final three nights but the property manager had another similar house just three blocks away, so we moved into that one.  I have to really credit this lady, she was super friendly and very helpful.  If you are ever looking to rent a vacation home in Los Angeles, I’d be happy to recommend either of her two properties.  (This is the first house, a 3br/3 ba and this is the second house, a 3 br/1ba.)

We did a little less cooking at home than I had anticipated, but we did eat at least breakfast at home each day, allowing for some cost savings.  As soon as we moved in I made a big (2 pound) batch of pizza dough and kept it in the refrigerator for use in a couple of meals.  Who doesn’t like pizza?  Here’s the girls shape their own pizzas.

And there’s the finished but not-yet-cooked product, ready to go into the oven.  Their dough ended up kind of triangle shaped, huh?

And of course there was room for everybody to pitch in with cleaning up and loading the dishwasher.

Once you do that, we can bundle up (it was chilly by the beach in the evenings) and head to Pinkberry for some dessert.

The second house we were in had TVs in each room, something I wouldn’t approve of at home but certainly fine for a vacation home.  That provided everyone with the opportunity to lounge in bed in the morning and watch cartoons.  As you can tell from this picture, we had already gone to Disneyland and everybody (including Tawn) had their stuffed animal.

A view of Tawn walking along the Strand, the 22-mile class 1 paved pedestrian/skater/bicycle path that stretches along pretty much all of Los Angeles County’s western coast from Pacific Palisades to Torrance.  This grey overcast was a fixture of our vacation, at least when we were near the beach.

Late Sunday morning, Tawn and I returned home from two weeks in the United States.  While I still have a bit more to share about the trip, and will continue to blog about it in the coming days – including about some other restaurants we ate at! – I wanted to let you know that we were back in Bangkok so that you don’t get confused about what would otherwise seem to be a month-long vacation!

Here’s a short video I shot on the taxi ride in from the airport, where I discovered some helpful and slightly shocking tourist materials.

The main objective for our vacation in Los Angeles was to take my nieces, ages eight and five, to Disneyland.  They have never been to California, nor to any of the Disney parks, and the last time my sister went was at least two dozen years ago, so it seemed like the right time.

At their California location, Disney now has two theme parks: the original Disneyland and California Adventure, which is more geared to the Pixar characters than the classic Disney ones.  Since there were two parks, we decided to get a two-day park-hopper pass.  One thing we learned was that you do not have to use the passes for consecutive days.  This is helpful because going to an amusement park can wear you out.  Doing it two days in a row with young children can be overwhelming.  As I observed while walking around the park, Disneyland may be the “Happiest Place on Earth” but it is also the most tearful!

We arrived a few minutes before opening time the first day, a Thursday, tickets already purchased online and printed out at home.  Thankfully, the typical Southern California weather pattern known as the “June gloom” lasted most of the day, giving us cool temperatures (around 70 F) and an overcast sky that made walking around the park a pleasant experience.

Crowds were not too heavy and we used the FastPass system to secure tickets to the most popular rides – the recently reopened Star Tours, for example – so that we did not have to wait in line for a long time.  One thing we learned is that when the park opens, most people head to their right into Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, and not to their left into Frontierland, Adventureland, and New Orleans Square.  If you want to beat the crowds, head to the left and do those rides first.

I was shocked to discover a sign leading into Mickey’s Toon Town that has a spelling mistake!  Do these things really happen in the Disney organization?

For lunch we ate at Cafe Orleans in New Orleans Square.  For amusement park food, it was pretty decent eating.  I may write a post with the pictures of the food later on.  For now, I will share a picture of the Mickey Mouse shaped beignets.

Among my niece’s many objectives was collecting autographs from the various characters, including the princesses.  At the back of Fantasyland is a Princess Pavilion, which offers various princess-themed activities as well as the opportunity to meet princesses from the different Disney films throughout the day.  Ava and Emily met Belle, Cinderella, and Mulan (pictured above), to name just a few.  I’ll give credit to the young ladies who play the princesses: they do an amazing job of being tirelessly friendly, gracious, and engaging for their young guests.

Something fun to do at Disneyland is to look for the hidden Mickeys.  These are representations of the Mickey Mouse silhouette that are intentionally, but subtly, placed throughout the park.  Can you spot the hidden Mickey in the above picture of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad?

Our first day at the park went very well.  We were there about twelve hours – from opening to closing – and except for one minor bit of lunchtime moodiness by niece number one, everyone was in good spirits the whole day.  Above, the section of the It’s A Small World ride that is themed after Thailand.

The following Monday we headed back to Anaheim, this time to spend most of our day at Disney’s California Adventure.  This newer park is themed around various areas of California, including Hollywood, the aviation industry of Southern California, the beach boardwalks and amusement piers found along the coast, etc.  As you can see from the above picture, it was a sunnier day.  While the temperature was only about five degrees higher (75 F), the intense sunlight made it a much tougher day for everyone.

There is an area of the park called A Bug’s Land, themed around the Pixar animated film, A Bug’s Life.  It offered a number of fun rides that were perhaps just a little too juvenile for our nieces.  The above ride is called Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train, named after the caterpillar in the film with an insatiable appetite.

On the Hollywood Studios Backlot, the girls pretended to talk to each other on a variety of different phone booths ostensibly used in different movie sets.  With the hot sun shining on us and a greater amount of open space reflecting that heat, we experienced some after-lunch defections.  Tawn left the park and went to the next door Downtown Disney shopping and entertainment district to seek out some air conditioned comfort in a movie theatre and my brother-in-law and older niece went back to the Disneyland park, which has a bit more shade.

My sister, younger niece, and I persevered, though, and took a ride on the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.  This drop tower thrill ride is a lot of fun and my adventurous five-year old niece (who is only an inch taller than the minimum height requirement), announced upon exiting from the ride, “Let’s go again!”  

We concluded our visit to the Disneyland parks by stumbling into Mickey Mouse back on Main Street USA, letting the girls collect their most prized autograph of all.  Hindsight being 20-20, I think we could have stuck with just a single day of Disney, visiting Disneyland and not the California Adventure park.  But it was a fun visit nonetheless and was probably the highlight of the trip.

As my last few days of work came to an end, it was time to head to LAX and pick up my sister, her husband, and my two nieces for our week of vacation together.  They arrived on an early evening flight, just as the sun was setting over the iconic Theme Building and the newer, although still modern, control tower.

Our first lunch in LA was at the Southern California icon, In-N-Out Burger.  The chain, which dates from 1948, introduced the idea of a drive-through hamburger restaurant.  While this may seem like an incredibly pedestrian idea today (pun intended), back in the 40s, carhops served food to customers in their cars.  The idea of driving through the restaurant was a perfect fit for the budding car culture that helped define Los Angeles.

While we can debate who has the best hamburgers, something that is a matter of personal taste as much as anything else, In-N-Out provides very high quality burgers and all the ingredients are fresh, never frozen.  The company makes their own hamburger patties in-house and potatoes are cut into fries throughout the day at each location.

Nearly every In-N-Out has the same basic layout and cleanliness prevails.  This is the only restaurant at which I’ve ever seen employees cleaning the underside of tables.

The kitchen is open, so you can look on as your burger is made.  It is organized chaos, a system that is impressive to watch.  From what I’ve heard, employees are treated quite well.  Minimum wage is $10 an hour and various benefits are offered, unusual for a fast food employer.  Service is always friendly and helpful.

Here’s the food itself – a Double Double (two patties, two slices of cheese) with freshly-leafed lettuce, grilled onions, and a slice of tomato.  The fries are very different from fries at most restaurants.  This is because they have never been frozen and aren’t pre-treated with sugar sprays or anything else like that.  Just fresh potatoes, sliced by hand, then plunged into the fryer.

We took the girls to the In-N-Out that is located just off the end of runway 24R at LAX, the perfect place to sit, sip a shake, eat a burger, and watch the jets come roaring in on final approach.  An excellent introduction to Los Angeles for first-time visitors!

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I’m fortunate that I have a very good working relationship with my boss and colleagues and enjoy my job and the company at which I work.  Because of the twists of circumstance surrounding my move to Thailand more than five years ago, my current manager was my subordinate’s subordinate before I moved.  For my trip to Los Angeles, she and another of my colleagues traveled out to meet me for two and a half days of meetings.  One evening we dined at an Italian restaurant in Hermosa Beach called Buona Vita.

Buona Vita is on Pier Avenue, the main thoroughfare in Hermosa Beach.  I first went here back in 1995-6, when I lived in LA for my second time.  A colleague, who was of Italian heritage, loved going here because the food reminded her of her grandmother’s cooking.

There are actually two dining rooms, located about four doors apart.  One is the trattoria, pictured above, and the other is the pizzeria.  My recollection, though, is that you can order the same menu items at both restaurants.

We started by sharing the Insalate di Pollo e Formaggio di Capra, mixed greens served with chicken, tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, basil, and goat cheese.  I remember this salad from my visits more than a decade ago and it is every bit as good today.  In fact, with a little bread, two people could share this salad and have a perfectly healthy meal.

Our main courses looked a little more “American Italian”.  I had Polenta Bolognese – grilled polenta (a cornmeal cake) with meat sauce and melted mozzarella.

My manager enjoyed Lasagna Di Carne – a meat lasagna with Bolognese sauce and ricotta and mozzarella cheeses.  Both these dishes were very good but even before digging in we cut the portions, placing about two-thirds in a two-go box and eating only a third.  Portion sizes were too large.

My colleague had Spaghettini Alla Checca – thin spaghetti noodles, fresh tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, dressed in basil and olive oil.  Portion size was more reasonable and it was overall lighter in composition. 

For dessert we tried two things.  The first was the tiramisu.  This seems very different at each restaurant.  I like that this version was less gloppy.  The espresso and liquer mixture was much lighter and the dessert didn’t taste boozy.

I had the cheesecake which was fine but uninspiring.  The whipped topping doesn’t taste like cream.  I might be wrong, but it tasted more like whipped “topping” rather than whipped cream.

And here is my colleague and my manager.  All in all, the meal was very enjoyable and food and service were good.  The pasta dishes are a bit heavy and portion size is large, but the salad was certainly a hit.

Sunday morning (last Sunday, a week ago), Tawn and I concluded our visit with high school friends, enjoying a tasty brunch in the home of Aaron, Lalima, and their family.  A simple meal of Indian style scrambled eggs, chicken sausage and gravy, and buttermilk biscuits.  We really enjoyed the opportunity to visit our friends and appreciate that three of them made the flight down from the Bay Area so we could spend this time together.

In the afternoon, we headed to Venice Beach and met Gary and W for a spot of tea at Jin Patisserie.  This cute place is on Abbot Kinney Boulevard and is a regular stop for us when we’re in Los Angeles.  We also made a brief stop at Three Square Bakery, located across the street from Jin, to pick up some pretzels and whole grain bread.

The cake of the day was, if I recall correctly, a sponge cake with mango mousse and strawberries.  Or something like that.  Clearly, I should have taken notes.

Gary had a chocolate cake that was very pretty.  I didn’t try it, though.  He didn’t leave any crumbs, though, so it must have been tasty!

As Sunday came to an end the first “vacation” portion of my trip came to an end, too, as I returned to work all day Monday and Tuesday and the first half of Wednesday.  My manager and another colleague flew into town for meetings with me, and then my manager’s manager and her manager came into town, too, resulting in an impromptu multi-level meeting.  While I generally would not want to interrupt vacation with work, I enjoy my job and am close to my colleagues so it was nice to be able to see them and have the sort of strategic meetings that are difficult to do via teleconference. 

So busy running around LA visiting friends and family that I’m a week behind in reading subscriptions and responding to comments – but I want to keep the posts uninterrupted so here’s another!

Polish restaurants fall into a category of dining experiences that rarely hit my radar screen.  I’ve been to them perhaps twice before in my life, enjoying both times but not feeling so compelled that I rushed back.  Plus, given my circle of friends and where I live, it is much more likely that I’ll end out at a restaurant serving Asian food rather than Polish.  They say vacation is an opportunity to gather new experiences and perspectives, so it was fitting when one of my high school friends suggested we go to Warszwa, a Polish restaurant in downtown Santa Monica.

Warszwa relocated from Berkeley, where it was a neighbor to a recently-opened Chez Panisse, to the LA area in 1979.  For the past 25 years it has occupied a former house on Lincoln Boulevard in Santa Monica.  As you walk through the different small dining rooms, you get this sense of being in your Polish great grandmother’s home rather than being in a restaurant.  Service is friendly and efficient, making for an enjoyable dining experience.

I started out with the borscht, a beet-based soup that is a staple of Polish and Russian cuisine.  Because it is summer (or, at least, is supposed to be summer), they were serving a chilled borscht, which has buttermilk, sour cream, and cucumbers and is rich, tangy, and very refreshing.  I’ve experimented with borscht and would like to try making this chilled version.

The six of us shared two appetizers – the first was crispy fried potato pancakes (similar, but more refined, than most latkes I’ve had) served with cinnamon apples and dried plum compote and a dollop of sour cream and chives.  Very tasty starter.  

Handmade pierogi – Polish raviolis – with three fillings: white cheese, potato puree, and caramelized onions; wild mushrooms with shredded cabbage; and chicken breast with herbs, served with sorrel sauce (on the right).  All were very enjoyable and different than I expected. 

The main courses mostly had a similar look and feel, as most were accompanied by the same side dishes.

Lamb dumplings served with a Dijon sauce, which the menu claims is an Eastern Polish specialty.  These were tasty.

Tawn had a variation of the dumplings filled with salmon, served with a basil sauce.  Also tasty, although as we were sharing these two dumpling dishes, we filled up quickly!

One friend had cabbage leaves stuffed with beef, jasmine rice, and sauteed onions, baked in a tomato and paprika broth.  Now, my mother made stuffed peppers a lot when I was a child and I think this stuffed cabbage calls forth certain pleasant childhood memories.

Schnitzel – either pork or chicken, I don’t remember – which is a fillet that is pounded thin, breaded, and fried.  Kind of a Polish katsu, if you will.  The meat was tasty, although it is hard to describe it as anything other than fried meat.  Not much nuance.

The specialty of the evening was a fish dish, served in a cream sauce.  Tasty, too!

Our group after a delightful, if slightly filling, meal – Tawn, Anita, Lilian, Samantha, Lalima, and me.  If you are craving something different and find yourself on the west side of Los Angeles, a visit to Warszawa may be just what the doctor ordered!

(Entries are bouncing around a bit chronologically but I’m still in LA on vacation.)

One treat I’ve indulged in several times while in LA is Pinkberry, the premium frozen yogurt chain started here in 2005 by Shelly Hwang and Young Lee.  Reviving the craze of the 1980s, when there was a frozen yogurt store in every corner strip mall, Hwang and Lee have expanded from their first store in Los Angeles to more than 100 locations across the US and even internationally.

Tawn, Anita, Samantha, Lily, and Lalima enjoy their Pinkberry in Culver City.

I’m not about to claim that this is some incredible food that you must rush out and try, but it is pretty good.  I like that the quality seems high, they use only fresh fruits (not frozen or canned) as toppings, and if you choose carefully, a Pinkberry frozen yogurt can be a pretty healthful dessert or snack.  One morning when I was at the Southwest Airlines terminal at LAX perusing my breakfast options, I realized that a Pinkberry yogurt with fresh berries and some low fat granola on top would be the best option among the breakfast pizzas, Croissanwhiches, and breakfast burritos on offer.

My sister and her family are in town now staying with Tawn and me at a beach house

.  We went to Pinkberry last night.  While they have frozen yogurt places in Kansas City, they are nothing like Pinkberry.  There it is self-serve yogurt with flavors that underwhelm with their artificiality.  Here it is pure, tangy goodness with lots of fresh toppings.

Even though it was a chilly evening by the beach, we bundled up for some Pinkberry!

After visiting the Farmers Market on Saturday morning and being denied the opportunity to pick cherries, thanks to the unseasonably cool weather that had held their ripening at bay, we decided to visit the Huntington Library.  The Huntington is an educational and research institution that includes art collections, extensive libraries, and several specialty gardens including a Japanese garden (currently closed for renovation), a rose garden, and a cactus garden.

The Huntington sits on over 120 beautifully cared for acres on the San Marino estate of former railroad magnate Henry E. Huntington.  It is such a large space that I don’t think you could reasonably expect to cover even a fraction of it on a single day!

The sun shining through a skylight made this interesting pattern on the granite floor as we passed through the buildings on the Huntington’s grounds.

Stopping in the Conservatory, we saw a collection of plants from different growing climates, including tropical.  When we walked into the mist-filled section, we felt right at home!

The primary part of our afternoon was spent in the recently opened Chinese Garden.  It is very beautiful, although you can tell there are many areas in which room has been left to expand.

A sculpted window frame in the garden.

A beautiful red maple.

The gardens, looking roughly west.

A caterpillar that was walking along a ledge along the water.

View from the other end of the garden, looking back roughly east.

Three of our four high school friends with whom we spent time during the weekend.  Samantha, Lalima, and Anita.

Gorgeous trees, a covered walkway, and the beautiful blue sky.

In the Chinese Garden there is a restaurant and tea house that serves surprisingly decent food.  Tawn had a lemon chicken, which I realize doesn’t sound terribly authentic, but at least it was tasty and pretty fresh.

I had a bowl of soba noodles with a sauce of beef and pork.  Also pretty tasty.

The food was so filling that the son of one of our friends just had to lay down for a nap.

Finally, we walked through the Rose Garden, where Tawn snapped lots of pictures of flowers that inspired him.

And that was our trip to the Huntington, a site I’d suggest to anyone who visits Los Angeles.

Saturday morning we headed with our high school friends (who came down for the weekend to visit us) to the LA Farmers Market.  The market, located at Third and Fairfax near the CBS studios, dates to 1934.  This was my first visit and I was impressed with the range of different food stalls.  I didn’t look around the entire market, but my impression is that there aren’t really that many farmers offering their wares.  Here is a look at some of the food we tried.

There are lots of seating areas, mostly in the shade.  You can order from different vendors and still sit at the same tables, which give you a lot of flexibility.  We were there by 10:00 Saturday morning and it wasn’t very busy, although by the time we left things were notably busier.

Hard to tell the breakfast from the desserts!  Crepe with chocolate, strawberries, and bananas.

Belgian waffle with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.  Someone’s husband didn’t wait until I took the pictures to begin

Ran into a place called Moishe’s Village, which serves Middle Eastern food.  My attention was caught by the borekas, a flat bread with toppings cooked in a brick oven.  Basically, oblong pizzas without tomato sauce.

Wide selection of borekas.

I chose the sausage and egg and asked the lady to cut it into pieces.  She scolded me, saying that I should have ordered scrambled eggs so it would have cut more prettily.

Another popular spot is Bob’s Coffee and Doughnuts.

Yeast donuts.  Very tasty, although I’m not a huge fan of donuts.

Tawn in his market gear.

Loads of fresh fruits, especially the peaches, apricots, and nectarines.  Stone fruits are my favorite reason to come back to the US during the summer.

Close up on the beautiful artichokes.

Afterwards, one of my friends insisted that we must try Littlejohn’s English toffee. 

The picture doesn’t do justice to the toffee, but it was pretty good.  Not as hard as a lot of toffee, so much easier on the teeth to eat.  Well, except for all the sugar.

We were going to go cherry picking afterwards but when we called ahead to the farm, we learned that thanks to the cool weather, cherries are coming in a few weeks late.  Sadly, no cherry picking this trip.

Almost two years ago, Gary took me to Orris, Chef Hideo Yamashiro’s west Los Angeles Japanese inspired small plates restaurant.  (Entry here)  On Friday evening, our visit to LA overlapped with a business trip by Tawn’s boss and her counterpart from Kuala Lumpur, both of whom I’ve met several times.  We had time enough to pick them up from their Century City hotel and take them to dinner at Orris before ferrying them to the airport for their return flights.

Here is what we had to eat:

 Thinly sliced beets with Basque cheese and balsamic soy.

Sauté of seasonal mixed mushrooms

 Free range fried chicken with sweet and spicy yuzu sauce

Basil marinated black cod with basil mashed potato

Grilled Japanese eggplant with burrata and parmesan cheeses

Lightly pan fried mixed seafood atop spring greens with lemon zest

 Seared ahi tuna sashimi with sweet onion soy and avocado

 Asparagus salad with tarragon dressing, pecans, and tomato

The dishes were all nicely prepared and enjoyable, although Tawn’s boss does not eat cheese so had to work around a few dishes.  I described this as a “Japanese inspired” small plates restaurant, and initially it can be hard to see what is meant by that.  As Tawn’s boss observed when the first dish (the beets) arrived, it doesn’t look very Japanese on the surface.

The inspiration comes more than anything from the principle that is common in Japanese food to keep preparations simple and the number of ingredients to a minimum, so that the freshness and quality of the main ingredients can shine through.  Using the beets as an example, you have really four ingredients – beets, cheese, a balsamic-soy dressing, and a little olive oil.  They go so well together and all serve to highlight the sweet richness of the beets.

Of all the dishes, I think the black cod may have been my favorite.  The fish was fully cooked but very moist and tender.  The marinade had highlighted the meatiness of the fish without overwhelming it.  The basil-tomato salsa on top echoed the marinade and the small serving of basil mashed potatoes underneath provide a pleasing starch to accompany the protein. 

As for desserts, there were four on the menu so we ordered the lot and shared.

 Apple tart with Tahitian vanilla gelato and caramel sauce

Fresh seasonal fruit with crème brûlée.  Unlike most crème brûlées the cream sauce was still soft and was not set to a firm texture.  Almost like crème Anglaise poured on top of fruit and briefly torched.

Flourless Valrhona chocolate soufflé cake with coffee gelato.  Cake isn’t my favorite and this struck me as just another one, nice but not surprising.

The location on Sawtelle just north of Olympic is convenient and there is inexpensive parking behind the building.  Metered street parking is also available.  Reservations not accepted.

For our first three nights in Los Angeles, we stayed near our friends’ house at the Travelodge Culver City.  While I would normally worry about a Travelodge (especially one in a big city) being a bit sketchy, the one in Culver City received really good reviews – lots and lots of “10′s” – on TripAdvisor.com.  Sure enough, for about $100 a night, they offered these very large rooms with two king beds (and room for at least one more if they wanted to add it).  A recent remodel had included a lot of thoughtful touches such as ample cabinets, granite countertops and tiling, and even the shower curtain rod that bows out from the tub so the curtain doesn’t cling to you.  A surprising find for what is normally considered a two-star hotel.

An even bigger find is the Metro Cafe, a coffee shop that is located in the front part of the hotel.  Guests of the hotel get a coupon good for $5 off at the metro and the Serbian owned restaurant received just as many good reviews as the hotel itself.  It is every bit the kitsch cafe of the 1950s without trying too hard to be that.  In fact, with the solid ceramic coffee mugs, sturdy chairs, and laminate tables, it may just be the real article, still extant.

We had breakfast our first morning there and had we not made arrangement with friends to dine elsewhere during our stay, we would have been very happy to have eaten all our breakfasts there.  The lunch menu looked good and everything I read – and heard first-hand from friends who have eaten at the Metro Cafe – indicates that the dinner is very nice including many Serbian specialties.

After a full night’s sleep and a cup of joe, Tawn looks ready to tackle LA.

One item that caught my attention was the French Toast.  Thick slices of fresh brioche were lightly battered and fried on a well-seasoned grill.  Fresh strawberries and bananas were accompanied by a homemade raspberry sauce.  This was one of the most enjoyable French Toasts I’ve ever had.

Tawn had the eggs benedict, which was unpretentious and expertly executed.  The potatoes were well-seasoned with crisp edges.  Just a really satisfying start to the day.  We’re here for another 10 days or so.  I think we really need to come back!

After breakfast we set out to run some errands.  For the two days I will be at work, Tawn will have the car and be on his own, so he wanted to get back behind the wheel in the US, the first time in the more than six years since he moved back.  The car, a Dodge Charger, was a bit more powerful than what he drives at home, but he did a good job getting reacquainted with driving on the right side of the road.  And also scaling back that Bangkok style aggressiveness behind the wheel!

In the afternoon we did some browsing in West Hollywood, sharing a veggie burger and fries at a shop on Santa Monica Boulevard.  The patty was tasty but had no cohesion as a burger, falling apart as we tried to eat it.  The fries were tasty but I prefer the fries at in-n-out burger.  The bun was nice, though.

Tawn and I flew from Bangkok to Los Angeles yesterday, a journey that was about 18 hours gate-to-gate and went pretty smoothly, thanks to the good service of EVA Airways of Taiwan and an upgrade on the transpacific segment to business class. 

In the EVA Airways lounge in Bangkok we had a bite to eat, including this passable pad thai.  Not bad for something that was prepared in advance and was sitting, covered, under the heat lamps.

And ice cream!  Passion fruit and cookies and cream.  That was a nice treat.

Nice view at the gate area at Bangkok Airport in the mid-afternoon sun.

Our flight out of Bangkok was in the premium economy class, which offers about 6 more inches of legroom than regular economy and one fewer seat across the width of the cabin.  Only a little bit more expensive than economy class – and actually similar in price to what US carriers charge for their economy class – and a lot more comfortable.  The food is nicer, too.  This was the dinner served out of B angkok.

Close up of my chicken and rice dish, which was very nice.

Tawn’s seafood and noodles wasn’t very pretty, although it did taste okay.

In Taipei we visited the EVA Airways lounge, which is available to even their “silver” tier fliers, which is a relatively low bar to achieve.  Two flights from Bangkok to the US is pretty much enough to keep that status.  While in the lounge, Tawn tried some of their congee (rice porridge) which he pronounced was quite tasty.

For the Taipei to Los Angeles segment we cashed in some miles to upgrade to business class, which is a nice way to fly.  Considering I’m not at a point in my life where I would ever consider paying for business class, using miles is about the only chance I have!

Appetizer of smoked duck breast, pate served in a plum, and shrimp.

One of the benefits of being in business class on EVA is that you can pre-order dishes from a special menu available online.  That way you know exactly what you will have to eat.  I ordered lamb chops served with mint sauce, gratineed potatoes and mixed veggies.  Tasty.

Tawn’s dish, which he pre-ordered.  A Chinese style sea perch with three types of sticky rice and steamed veggies.  The sauce is made of fermented soybeans.  Tasty.

Fruit plate

Some sort of a cake, served with chopped pistachios.

During the flight, the window shades were closed, lights were dimmed, and in the business class cabin, there are LED “stars” in the ceiling and a cool blue glow.  The idea is that the ceiling lates can gradually change colors to simulate sunset and then sunrise in order to help you adjust your circadian rythm.  However, they change a bit too quickly for that to happen.

Before landing, Tawn enjoyed congee (“jok” or rice porridge) with a variety of condiments.  Compared favorably with the one served in the lounge before the flight.

Made to order latte with a crystal sugar stir stick.  Very nice.

Special ordered “breakfast” shortly before our descent into LA: chicken noodle soup with pickles and side dishes, made by Din Tai Fung restaurant in Taipei.

Coming in over the central coast area of California as the sun’s rays grow long on the hills, about 7:40 pm.

Coming in over west Los Angeles, about ten minutes before landing.  We were a few minutes ahead of schedule but, even then, it still took about two hours to get through immigration and customs.  In any case, we’re here now!

This dining experience happened nearly a month ago and I’m just now getting around to writing about it.  Since returning from Hawai’i, I feel like there’s been a certain amount of delayed reality to my entries, probably due (at least in part) to a very heavy work schedule.  That said, I’m trying to get caught up.

A few weeks back another Singaporean friend invited me to join him for lunch at Santawa, a classic Thai restaurant located on a soi, or alley, back behind the Bangkok Bank headquarters on Silom Road.  We set a date for a holiday so the streets were very quiet as I walked in the blazing sun to the restaurant. 

The restaurant itself is quite well-hidden, despite being right on the street.  There is no English-language sign (and I was working from the English spelling of the name, not the Thai spelling) and even with the sign it is still sort of nondescript.  In fact, I almost walked past it and Kelvin saw me and ran out to catch me before I wandered away.

Santawa has been a fixture of the Silom / Narawathiwat area for decades.  Its primary lunch crowd is local housewives and the proprietress usually ran the show from a designated table near the front of the shop.  Lately, it seems, her health is declined and she is no longer coming in regularly.  Everything else, though, seems to continue unchanged.

Goong gra beuang – Crispy fried multilayered pancake with fresh shrimp and a sweet chili dipping sauce.  Not the highlight of the meal, actually.

Tom kar gai – a coconut-milk based soup that is usually quite mild and bland.  In fact, it is often used as an early food for children.  As you might imagine, it is quite popular with foreigners.  However, I was pleasantly surprised that the broth had a very complex flavor and it was really, really good. 

Kelvin initially thought that Tawn would be joining, making four of us including his Thai friend.  However, Tawn was unable to make it.  When I arrived, Kelvin and and San had already ordered so we had massive quantities of food.  Rice, anyone?

Yam makeua yao – Grilled eggplant served in a sour sauce with ground pork on top.  This is one of those dishes that is a mainstay here in Thailand but is regrettably uncommon in Thai restaurants overseas.  Soulfood Mahanakorn does a neat version of this dish that uses bacon instead of ground pork.  Santawa’s original, bacon-less version was still very nice.

Panang curry with pork and heaps of basil leaves.  Panang is one of my favorite types of curry and it, along with Massaman curry, is generally a more accessible type of curry for those not accustomed to Thai-style curries.

Stir fried greens with a salted fish sauce.  Clean, simple, and satisfying with lots of umami.  Salted and fermented fish and shrimp are common ingredients in Thai cooking, not to mention the near-ubiquitous fish sauce, which adds a certain something-somthing to the dishes that, if not added, taste a little flat.

The final dish, one I have never had before, is a duck breast, pounded, breaded and fried, served on deep-fried kale leaves with a mayonnaise like sauce.  It doesn’t look as good as it tasted, so you may just have to take my word for it. 

All in all, the restaurant was a pleasure, one of those bits of old Bangkok that have somehow been caught in a time warp and (thankfully) fail to keep up with the times.

When David and Chor Pharn visited from Singapore a few weeks back, they brought some interesting Japanese-made paperclips as a gift.  They were in transportation-themed shapes and made for some fun photographing.  Go macro lens, go!

Train

Bike

Plane

Car

And a box of small airplane paperclips, which looked nice in black and white.

Very thoughtful and fun gift.

I’m more of a morning person and Tawn is more of a night owl.  Last night, as I was lying in bed starting to doze off, he came in and wanted to talk to me about Something Important.  Of course, I ended up being awake, unable to fall back asleep. 

After an hour or more of lying there awake, I got up again and decided to do something productive with my time.  Several hours later, pushing 3 am, I decided I had better take a sleeping pill so I could get some rest.

Unfortunately, I forgot that I had asked my sister to call me in the morning so we could discuss an upcoming vacation.  So at 7:30 my phone rang and I answered it and started my day.

Despite running for 45 minutes in the morning, hoping to get my circulation going, I’m still dragging.  It is 4 in the afternoon and my head aches and my body is tired and I just want to sleep, but I don’t want to mess up my sleep cycle this evening so I’m going to try and avoid napping.

Rats.  Usually I’m such a good sleeper, too.  Let’s hope this doesn’t cause me to get sick before we leave for the US on Thursday.

Not that long ago we were having lunch with a couple we know from California.  They’re a straight couple, the husband is a pilot (which is a relatively macho profession, I guess), and they really enjoy the TV show Glee.  The husband was mentioning how much guff he gets from fellow pilots - the vast majority of whom are male – about this.  Of course, the running conceit of the show is that the glee club students keep getting bullied because being in show choir is “so gay”.  That got me to wondering, when did the idea of being in glee club become gay?

Consider examples of men singing through the ages: Think of the cowboys who had a guitar or harmonica, singing by the campfire.  Think of the family gatherings a century or more ago where different members of the family would play instruments or sing in the family parlour after dinner to entertain each other.  Think of the famous opera singers with their rich voices.  Think of the bad boys of rock and roll, hip hop, and punk.  Think of Bruce Springsteen, for goodness’ sakes. 

None of these strike me as particularly effeminate.  Sure, I can make the jokes about Brokeback Mountain (“wasn’t just the harmonica he was blowing…”) and there are the occasional Freddie Mercuries and Frankie Goes to Hollywoods as counterexamples.  But for the most part, being a singer was a sure way to get the girls.  So when did glee club in school get this negative association?

The good news is that, in an age when the arts budgets are the first on the chopping block in local school districts, it seems that the TV show Glee has sparked some new interest in show choirs at high schools across the US.  Both my mother and her father were music educators and I’m sure they’re happy for anything that renews interest in music at the school level.

Tucked behind the Nai Lert Hotel, alongside the San Saeb canal and underneath an ancient ficus tree, lies a shrine dedicated to the goddess Tubtim.  Originally a spirit house, the place where the spirit of the land (who was disrupted by your building on it) would reside, the shrine evolved over time into an unintentional fertility shrine as more and more worshipers brought offerings of phalluses.  Ranging from the symbolic to the highly realistic, the collection fills the area around the shrine.

While my friend David and Chor Pharn were visiting from Singapore, we stopped by for a look.  Here’s a short video to give you a sense of the setting.

A healthy selection of phallus-shaped offerings left around the largest ficus tree at the shrine.  The irony is, sex toys are illegal in Thailand so if you were to try to bring a legitimate dildo into the country, you would be stopped.  By highly realistic phalluses for the purpose of spirit worship?  That’s okay.

Some of these phalluses are quite detailed.  And at least one has studs in it, perhaps representing the Folsom Street Fair community?

Normally, spirit houses have some small sculptural figures meant to represent both the spirits as well as those who are there to entertain and serve them.  So many figures have been added that they are arranged on two adjacent shelves.  You can see the San Saeb canal in the background.

The figures include representation of parents as well as a host of animals.

Also, there are more than 100 traditional Thai dancers to keep the spirits entertained.

And, inexplicably, a pair of male dolls.  Barbie’s gay brother Eric and his lover Stephen?  The women on the upper shelf are all ladies in waiting.

Who’s living in the spirit house?  I spy a kitten!

This one seems to have a fungal infection.  Experiencing any itching or burning sensation?

On a tangential note, I thought I’d share this picture of the jasmine garlands that are sold by local flower vendors.  These are the types of garlands that Tawn and Chor Pharn were trying to make in this entry.

Recently, I was invited to attend a dinner sponsored by WORLDFOODS, a Malaysian based maker of high quality Asian-inspired sauces, marinades, chutneys, and pastes.  I walked away with a bag of several of their 51 different products and a challenge: come up with and blog about new and creative ways to cook with their products. 

The first product I used was their Malaysian Chilli Coconut Marinade.  It was a weeknight and I needed to prepare a quick meal.  One chicken breast and thirty minutes later, I had a tasty protein ready to cook and add to a salad.  There were two things that caught my attention about the marinade:

First, one reason I cook a lot is that I want to know what I’m putting in my body.  Looking at the ingredient list, I was pleased to see familiar, pronounceable words.  No artificial colors, preservatives, flavorings, MSG, or gluten.

Second, the flavor was remarkably good and remarkably authentic.  Unlike a lot of “Asian” products that are watered down versions of popular sauces, the WORLDFOODS products have the same ingredients (and the same amount of chilies!) that you find when eating these foods in their home country.  While available worldwide, you won’t find any “Americanization” of the flavors.

Wanting to find ways to use the marinade differently than its traditional use, I put the right side of my brain to work.  The idea I settled on was to do roasted root vegetables, something I associate more with olive oil and rosemary, and use the Chilli Coconut Marinade as a glaze.

I decided on a combination of yams and beets (about 1.5 pounds or 750 grams total), with two yellow onions and a handful of garlic cloves.  These were scrubbed and, except for the yams, peeled.  Then I sliced them into approximately 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces.

When I cut open the yams I was surprised to discover that they did not have the orange-colored interiors I am familiar with.  Instead, they are purple.  In the end, the flavor wasn’t that different, although it did lead to a slightly more monochromatic dish than I had anticipated.

Once the root vegetables, onion, and garlic were combined, I coated them with about 1 cup (200 ml) of WORLDFOODS Malaysian Chilli Coconut Marinade and 1/2 cup (100 ml) of chicken broth.  You can substitute water or vegetable broth, if you wish to keep the dish vegetarian.

The vegetables were poured in an ovenproof dish and then placed in a preheated 350 F (180 C) oven for about 25 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes to keep the vegetables coated with marinade.  There is enough marinade that it forms a bit of a pool at the bottom of the dish, helping cook the vegetables by steam as well as direct heat.

Once the yams and beets were getting soft but not yet fully cooked through, I stirred in about 4 cups (90 dl) of kale, washed and cut into wide strips.  The dish returned to the oven for about ten more minutes, enough time to finish cooking the root vegetables while still leaving the kale a little crunchy.  You can cook the dish for longer if you prefer your vegetables softer.

Uncommitted to the idea of this being a fully vegetarian meal, I also pan fried a plate of Northeastern Thai style sausage called Sai Oua, sliced it, and served it on the side.

The end result was very nice.  The marinade had thickened into a nice glaze, coating the vegetables with a sweet, tangy, and spicy sauce which countered the natural sugars in the yams and beets.  The kale provided a fresh contrast that made for a very satisfying meal.

All in all, I’m very pleased with the WORLDFOODS Malaysian Chilli Coconut Marinade and look forward to trying it in other dishes, as well as to trying their other products.

While WORLDFOODS is based in Malaysia, its products are available in major countries across the world including Australia, the UK, the United States, and Canada, as well as most Southeast Asian countries.  To locate a store which carriers their products near you, use this store locator.  In the United States, you can also order WORLDFOODS products for home delivery through MyBrands.com. 

Full disclosure: While I am not being paid or otherwise compensated to write this entry, I did receive the products for free and dinner that night was paid for by WORLDFOODS.  It’s important to me that you know that the opinions expressed in this blog are my own and are not bought or paid for by others.