American Pie: Marie Callender's Restaurant and Bakery

I love it when I get to visit a new place. Dropping by Trader Joe's for the first time made me giddy for days. Everything that could be covered in chocolate was covered in chocolate! I was in heaven! But that's in another blog. Today, we'll talk about pies. Well, fine, pie. 

I'm not really a pie person as I prefer cake over pie. And I think the only pie I enjoy eating is egg pie from Goldilocks. My taste buds are easy to please. But I had no idea that my taste buds will be spoiled by a heavenly pie.

 

We were almost on our way home when Auntie asked that we pass by Marie Callender's. She wanted to check the pies as she saw a commercial saying that they have a pie sale. True enough, they do.

The place somehow reminded me of Porto's though this one has a more feminine touch to it. 

Hollywood Must-Have: Pink's Hotdog

Ever since 2011, I have been wanting to visit the popular hotdog stand named Pink's. I heard that it has been around for decades and the line is still crazy till today. It must be really good. Then last year, a friend of mine, known to be a picky eater, enjoyed Pink's. It made me crazy that I still wasn't able to try it! But thankfully, after two years, I finally got my chance. 

It was a chilly night after the League of Legends World Championship game. N and I decided that we find a place to eat and he suggested that we finally visit Pink's as he knows that I missed my chance last year.

When we arrived, there was still a line and it was past 12 midnight! There were even teenagers with their parents in line. We're assuming they also came from the championship.

It took us around 20 long cold minutes before we get to order. I decided to go for the Martha Stewart Dog ($6.95) while N went for the Ozzy Spicy Dog ($6.50) and fries ($2.65). We also ordered a Pastrami Burrito Dog ($6.25) for Auntie.

When our dishes arrived, we wondered how we will eat it. The toppings were just too much. I can hardly see the hot dogs!

Gamer 101: League of Legends World Championship Season 3

I hardly play computer games because if I do, I don't sleep. I get mesmerized and won't stop till I finish all levels or get the highest possible score. And yes, I do not sleep even with SIMS. That's how bad my relationship is with games. But N is a hardcore gamer. And he bought me a ticket to watch the League of Legends (LOL) World Championship Season 3 with him. I had no choice. The ticket has been paid for and it's not cheap at all.

We hurriedly drove towards Staple Center as N was worried that we might not be able to make it on time and that finding a parking slot will be a challenge. But we easily found one at a crazy price of $20! It's valet parking though so we thought it was a good deal until... a few steps away, there's a parking area that has valet too for just $5! Lesson #1: Be patient.

There's a line before you could get in and waiting outside wasn't so bad as I was busy taking pictures of the crowd and a handful of cosplayers.

Inside, we got our first loot bag filled with cheering gears and a shirt of the Championship. Mine's XL though. D:

And most can be found on ebay now.

We also got codes for new skin for Thresh and a Pulsefire Ezreal statue! It's pretty cool. (Oh no, am I transforming?)

Before heading to our seats, I bought a cinnamon pretzel from Wetzel's Pretzels. Still the fat showered with cinnamon fluffy pretzel I remember. And N enjoyed it too!

When we got to our seats, we still had to wait for almost an hour before the main show starts and it gave me ample time to blow my inflatable cheering sticks and decide on who to root for. I chose SK Telecom T1. 

Restaurant Love: Thai Original BBQ and Restaurant

A trip to L.A. is not complete without stopping by Thai Original BBQ restaurant. For the past two trips, I always make time to visit this place and order the chicken with shrimp rice meal. And last Sunday was the "day" for it.

After attending service at Dream Center, N and I decided to have lunch. At first, we were unsure on where to eat as we were not really craving for a specific cuisine or dish. Then it struck me, I want chicken from Thai Original BBQ. 

Photo taken last 2011.

Ordering was a breeze since I know what I want. One S-1 (Kai Yang Dinner or Chicken Barbeque, $8.75) please! N ordered S-2 (Barbeque Pork Spare Rib Dinner, $9.65). 

The service was really fast! It took them less than 5 minutes to serve our food. I guess the dishes are ready and just needed to be plated. 

Oh how I miss this big serving of chicken! The meat is well cooked and the rice is to die for. The shrimps were fresh too! Plus that special sauce is deeelicious!

Shopping Destination: Marukai Market

I have expressed my love for anything Japanese in several blogs entries. The word sashimi alone makes me smile for hours! So just imagine my thrill when I stepped inside a Japanese supermarket. I was beyond ecstatic! 

The first thing I saw inside the market are some clothes for older women. It shows, I guess, the target market of the shop. There are signature bags as well though I'm not really sure if those are popular brands. Being a person who cares more about what to eat, I went straight to the kitchenware and I had a blast!

Ceramic knives!!!

Plates everywhere! 

 

There are a lot of sushi and sashimi plates though I find it a tad pricey at $1.25 and higher. 

There are a lot of cute figurines too and those kimono dolls. 

I also saw the Aquazinger thermos bottle my colleague T brings to work. 

My First Bite: The Boiling Crab

I was planning to have dinner at The Boiling Crab last year but we ended up at The Shack due to the long line and grumpy tummies. Fortunately, my trip this year finally was able to fit in eating at this famous seafood place. 

There's still a line! I guess it cannot be avoided if the establishment is popular. It took us around 20 minutes to get a table. While waiting, we roamed around Little Vietnam. (It's so cool here as every country seems to have their own little neighborhood.) 

It's interesting that we cannot be seated until the server sees the whole party. I reserved a table for 4 and since we were all having fun looking at the different stuff available in Little Vietnam, we lost track of time. But luck was with us as we were able to keep our table.

Packed. 

The place was filled with people wearing bibs (which is probably one of the few places where adults wearing bibs are perfectly acceptable). 

Restaurant Discovery: Yellow House Café

I just love visiting Koreatown in Los Angeles. There are a lot of cute restaurants and cafés (and some of which are in Manila too) open till the wee hours just like how things are in Seoul. The place I visited this time seems to be a popular one as it was still packed at 8 p.m..

Meeting up with K and T guarantees that we eat somewhere cute or fancy. (So, horray for me! I'll have something nice to blog about!) This time, they decided that we have dinner at Yellow House Café .

We met up a little bit past 8 p.m. and we had to wait for a table to clear up. Apparently, the bigger the party, the more difficult it is for you to get a table.

While waiting, we all decided that we order something to pass time since we were all too hungry to wait. K and I ordered Cheese Tteokbokki ($10.95). 

Blogging.

Blog is defined as a "a personal website or web page on which an individual records opinions, links to other sites, etc. on a regular basis (Oxford dictionary). However, blogging has become more than that these days. Aside as a medium in sharing (at times oversharing) one's opinions, it has become a way to earn extra cash. At times, this has also become people's ID to events or whatnot. And there is nothing wrong with that. But  there are also cases when being a blogger becomes some people's excuse to act in a way they shouldn't. 

I'm a blogger. I must be a good great writer. 

I'm a blogger. I deserve to be in this event. And hey, I deserve extra pampering too.

I'm a blogger. Where are my extra freebies?!

Take 2: Вà Nôi’s

I just love living near Kapitolyo, one of the hole-in-the-wall restaurants hotspots. Admittedly, it has been a while since the last time I went there and I was surprised to see that there are a lot of new restaurants since my last visit. One of which is a Vietnamese restaurant named Вà Nôi’s. Okay, perhaps not all are new establishments but new to Kapitolyo. 

Welcome to the neighborhood, Вà Nôi’s.

I still remember the first time I dined in Вà Nôi’s. It was way back in 2011 when it was still in Makati. I was with my Couchsurfingfriends and we ordered a handful of dishes for sharing. One of the dishes I loved was the Bo Luc Lac, an oh-so-tender stir-fried beef. It was a bit pricey though for the serving. 

 

This time around, I went with two of my college friends and we ordered Pho Bo (PHP260), Pho Ga (PHP230), Cha Gio (PHP195), Cha Thia Xao Dao Hao (PHP115), Ca Kho To (PHP250), and a glass of iced Vietnamese coffee (PHP110).

 

Service was very quick. First served was my coffee on a dripper. It reminded me of Highland’s coffee.

Restaurant Discovery: Woo Galbi

I think I'm sick. I'm suffering from an ooh-a-new-restaurant-we-have-to-eat-there-NOW disease and I think I have reached stage 4. 

Lately, I haven't been going on hardcore food trips where I have to stop by 4 restaurants in one day. (Awww T3, I miss those days!) But one thing is for sure, if there's a new restaurant in Shangri-La or Megamall, I have to go there. True enough, when Woo Galbi opened, I begged my mom and sister that we hold one of our Saturdate lunches at the new Korean restaurant. And we did.

We arrived a bit past 1 p.m. as my sister came from school and I was trying to lead a healthier lifestyle by going to the gym for circuit training and studio for yoga. (Yeah~ <3)

The place wasn't packed so we easily got a table. I got slightly confused as there were Japanese dishes on the menu too such as tempura and sashimi. While reading the menu, the only thing in my mind was, "hey, the food here is pretty pricey" upon seeing the price of the bibimbap. PHP450 for a bowl?! Well, worth it, I guess.

It took us 10 minutes or so to decide on what to order and finally, we ordered a solo serving of Cucumber Prawn Salad (PHP176), Japchae (PHP298), Grilled Boneless Shortribs Bulgogi (PHP595) and Shrimp Tempura (PHP232 for three pieces and PHP350 for 5 pieces). 

While waiting, we feasted on the side dishes which I find okay. The serving though wasn't very generous. 

First to arrive was the salad. I must admit, it was pretty tasty! The dressing was superb. Slightly tangy and sweet. It somehow reminded me of the dressing Vietnamese restaurants serve. The greens were crisp and fresh though there were only two prawns included. I guess if I upsize it'll be four or more.

D-I-Y: My Ikea Experience

Ikea... oh how I love thee. From those cute accessories down to the most colorful furniture, you never fail to amaze me. For the longest time, I was in love with this giant brand. Little did I know that I have yet to experience the full Ikea deal.

Yes, I'm back to the land of uhm... Disney! And agenda on the first day is a trip to IKEA. (Woohoo!)

How I miss the place. The cute set ups, the interesting furniture, the soft stuffed toys, everything is L-O-V-E!

Anyway, N and I were looking for a dresser and after an hour of looking around, we found the one.