Monday, May 20, 2013

Just some thoughts

I've recently picked up painting as a hobby. I started last week? And I've been painting every day. There's something about picking up a brush, dabbing in some paint, and swirling against canvas, seeing colors come to life. When I paint, I know what I'm doing. I can see the outcome of every action. I've gone through a lot of personal things this year. It's hard, to see your life change when you didn't plan it, when you didn't prepared and weren't ready for it. And even though you aren't ready for any of it, you suddenly have to grow up and face those problems and deal with them. Life can't just stop so you can take some time and think about how to do things. You have to do, do, do and rush, rush, rush. Even though I wasn't ready. Painting is my little sanctuary. I can get away from everything. Just close my door, sit at my desk, and just create for hours. I can be in control. And when something doesn't go right, I know just how to fix it. I just get some more paint and go over the mistake. Cover it up and everything is better.

North Shore Poke CO and Banzai Bowl in Huntington Beach, CA

A few weeks ago, I hung out with my sis in Huntington Beach. We were both hungry and looking for a place to eat. We actually were going to eat in Long Beach, but we couldn't find the sushi place, despite circling around for 20 minutes. -__-She suggested we try this poke place in HB so we drove over.


North Shore Poke Co. in Huntington Beach, CA. A casual order&eat place on Main St.




Cute kitschy interior


I walked in and was greeted by a very (read: overly) friendly and enthusiastic cashier named Tiffany, covered with those rainbow colored fabric leis. Some people are just super happy and upbeat naturally; but if I were like that all the time, I don't know how I could muster up enough energy for an hour lol. To each their own.

How you order: 1) Choose tuna, salmon, or albacore fish and regular or large size, 2) Choose white rice, brown rice, or cucumber salad, 3) Choose from four different poke sauces (you can split your bowl and order two different sauces), 4) Add optional toppings such as mango, avocado, smelt egg, or ogo (Hawaiian seaweed).

For those that may not know what poke is, poke (or also spelled poki) is raw fish usually dressed with Hawaiian seaweed, green onion, sesame oil, and soy sauce, typically found in Hawaiian cuisine but becoming increasingly popular in the US.

North Shore Poke Co. lets you choose from four different poke sauces
Pipeline: Classic preparation with soy sauce
Waimea: spicy mayo based sauce with smelt eggs
Sunset: Soy sauce-based with a spicy kick
Haleiwa: Coconut juice and wasabi added 

I like different textures so I wanted to order their poke nachos, but the girl said it's more like an appetizer with 2 oz of poke. The regular poke bowls come with 4 oz and the large bowls come with 6 oz, I believe. My sister and I were hungrryy so we split a large poke bowl with Haleiwa sauce ($ since the coconut juice sounded interesting. I added mango ($1 charge), the sweetness sounded like a good juxtaposition to the savory poke. I still wanted chips and the hyper cashier girl told me their chips are suuper good so I ordered some on the side for $2.


Haleiwa style poke, cucumber salad, Hawaiian Sun, chips

Our food! Okay first I have to say that since the girl raved about their chips, I was expecting them to be made in store and super fresh, especially since I paid $2 extra. Uh no, I watched the guy pour some chips from a big bag onto a paper plate. Hmm... okay... but to be honest even if they were from a bag, the chips were really good!


Looks boring but I love Japanese marinated cucumber salad. They have this at my work too and it's super addicting to me. My sister said it tastes funny but I think it's crisp and refreshing (better than at my work, shh :X)

Poke!

Piece de resistance. Not gonna lie, it looks better than it tastes haha. The mango was a really nice touch, but I was underwhelmed by the poke. The fish was fresh but the I couldn't taste any wasabi at all, even though it was supposed to be the main thing to set this poke apart from the others.


My adorable sister! Ain't she a cutie


We wanted dessert and this was just next door. Everyone has been raving about Banzai Bowls
so we stepped in. They have fruit smoothies that have cool ingredients like acai and goji berries.
Hmm, gee I wonder if Volcom owns this place... lol


My sister goes here often so she ordered for us. You walk into a small hallway to see a counter and cashier. You order and turn to the right into this area. Cute!


Me! :)



I tipped. Jk, I didn't hahaha



We got a Maui Sunrise, small $6.75 Huge portion for a small!
Inside is: coconut milk, pineapple juice, acai, bananas, strawberries, mango.

My sister is very impatient and dug in before I could take a proper picture -_-
I like bananas, but hate when they are blended into something, like yogurt or smoothies. So we asked for no bananas blended in, but bananas on top would be fine. I think the guy that was making it messed up and forgot to exclude bananas. He hesitated, asked if any of us were allergic to bananas. We said no and he handed it to us.


On top: bananas, blueberries, strawberries, coconut flakes, granola, and honey.

I take a bite and yep, there is definitely banana in the smooth boo. The smoothie underwhelmed me too, I guess Huntington Beach doesn't like me :( I felt like the smoothie would have benefited a lot from some milk or some sort of creaminess. It was pretty tart and I couldn't really taste any acai at all. I only took a few bites and let my sister finish the rest. Bleh.

Time for real dessert--Dippin Dots!

Afterwards we stopped by the beach and I was definitely not satisfied by Banzai Bowl, 
so we stopped at a little beach hut and got Dippin Dots! 
Brought back memories from when I would go to Disneyland with my family and always eat Dippin Dots :)

Mandatory generic beach picture

Although North Shore Poke Co and Banzai Bowl were not that good and I probably won't be going back, Huntington Beach is always a nice place to hang out with friends and just chill.


Second birthday dinner: Kula Revolving Sushi in Irvine, CA


On the last day of school, after I was done with everythang, I met up with my friend Carolyn because she wanted to treat me out for my bday. She was craving revolving sushi, so off we went!



I usually go at night and it's always crowded. We came at 5 PM? and there was no wait! Such a rarity.



Revolving sushi bars are a bit different than regular sushi restaurants. The sushi come pre-made on plates and rotate around the entire restaurant on little conveyer belts. So adorable! Even though the sushi is pre-made, the quality is not bad at all. At Kula, all the sushi plates are $2. Most rolls come with three pieces, regular nigri comes with two pieces, and specials like uni and toro come with one piece. 


Red bean mochi!


Say hi to Carolyn! I told her to pose for the camera.


Serious face. Something's wrong here...

Devious face, wait for it...




Hahah, cute silly Caro

Tiger Roll!

California roll with cooked shrimp on top, with spicy mayo and eel sauce. Topped with jalapeno. So fattening but delicious!

Kula Roll

California roll with salmon on top with lemon juice. Usually I don't like salmon that much but the lemon makes it yummy! Note the small amount of fish, hence the cheap prices


Salmon mayo sushi

Seared salmon with mayo. I didn't try this haha but Carolyn loved it


Carolyn's sweet shrimp. I loove shrimp head, so good



Beef sushi! Comes with two pieces. The beef has a sweet, sesame sauce on it. Pretty good, although it's such a thin slice of meat. I guess it's better that way so you aren't stuck chewing on a huge chunk of beef.

Spider handroll. 

In my opinion, Kula makes the best spider hand roll I've ever had! Deepfried soft shell crab, with gobo and lettuce inside. Perfect with some ponzu sauce.



Vegetable handroll. Lettuce, avocado, and gobo inside. 

I think things like cucumber rolls and and veggie rolls are a refreshing palate cleanser when you're eating sushi. Carolyn took a bite of my vegetable handroll and the look on her face told me she did not agree at all haha!



Spicy tuna crunchy roll. Inside is shrimp tempura, avocado. 
On top is raw tuna with mayo and eel sauce topped with fresh jalapenos.

I looove this! I  




Tuna Yukke. Chopped tuna with "bbq sauce," poached quail egg, and green onion

One of my other favorites! I always get this when I go to Kula. The sauce they put in is so yummy and the creaminess of the egg yolk goes so well against the seaweed and green onion.



Carolyn's tempura udon. Only $4?

I hate udon (I don't like the think noodles) but Carolyn said it's good. Udon broth with noodles, tempura flakes, and two shrimp tempuras.


Our finished plates stacked up. Carolyn still looks hungry ahaha. 

When you're full, you just call the server over and they count the plates, multiply by $2, and that's your total! We didn't eat too much, I think 12 plates between us? That would be $24 dollars plus the udon. Not bad! The plus is that you get to sample a lot of different sushi items. I like small plates. In normal sushi restaurants, each roll comes with 8-10 pieces. All the rice fills you up so it's hard to order a lot of rolls. I'd recommend Kula as an alternative to that. No, it's not authentic sushi, it's not top quality, but it is very good for the concept!

Friday, May 17, 2013

Seafood Cove #2

in Westminster, CA


 This place is famous for their dim sum. Cute old ladies walk around pushing carts of food. They stop by your table and ask what you want. You pick what you want and then they point to ten other dishes and ask you "How about this one? You want this one? Or this one? This other one is good. Try this one!" hahaha typical Asian people, pushing you to buy their stuff.



Yum! We ordered more after this hehe




Shrimps wrapped in rice cake. They pour a sweet soy sauce over it. Yummy!



Soup dumplings! I've always to try them and these were my first. Mm, they were okay, Just pork and some broth inside. I'm sure there are better soup dumplings somewhere else.




We thought this was shrimp chumai? ..Mooshoo? 
Ionoe, I don't know the names of dim sum, I just point and eat haha



Inside is pork, shrimp, cabbage, carrots and green onion. 



Shrimp dumplings. I don't like, I let my friends eat this all.



Deep fried taro balls! Soo good. Inside is taro and savory pork and green onion



I loove chinese broccoli. A lot of dim sum dishes are greasy and carb-y, so some veggies balance it out.




Dessert! Egg custard tart. My friend ordered it and they ran out and had to cook it fresh. I swear, took thirty mins to make... -___-



Gasp! Who's that I see?? Mitt Romney! 



Dang, I personally think Romney is cray cray but he is one good looking man!



Yeah, this guy totally looks like Romney.
I made Alina "pose" for the camera and snuck picures of the man hahaha. I was really going to go up to him and tell him he's Romney's doppelganger buttt ADD set in haha. We got up to leave and my friend left the to go boxes on the table so I had to run back and get them and then I forgot LOL

Overall, Seafood Cover #2 is delicious in my book! Honestly though, I can't tell the difference between restaurant dim sum and the $1.50 dim sum at the supermarkets haha. Dim sum at Seafood Cove 2 was like.. `$2-$3 each. Not bad, but supermarket dim sum cheaper hahaha. AND, they charged us $3.25 for a pot of tea! Tea is usually like $1. I don't mind the price but they immediately brought it to us in the beginning so we thought it was complimentary. And when I voiced my surprise, the man just looked at us and said "..everything okay?" Dang sneaky people -_- But I suppose it's a minimal thing. I'll still come back, for the Mitt Romney lookalike!

Birthday dinner! Loving Hut Vegan


Holla for a dolla! Or more like holla for a dinner! Two of my friends treated me out to dinner this weekend for my birthday, such nice friends :)

My friend Lynn goes to school in San Bernandino and was in town this week. She wanted to take me out to an Italian place but I didn't know and requested vegetarian food right when she said she'd take me out hahah.

So we went to Loving Hut Vegan in Huntington Beach, CA. I've been here a couple of times when I was veggietarian, but it's been a long time!

Cute wall decor


The counter dun look too pretty, but the rest of the restaurant is cute in a simple Ikea way



My drink! Happy Go Lucky: Strawberry cactus rose drink



So cutee!! I love pink, girly things. I take a sip, eww. It's very artificial and sweet.



Here's Lynn, being Lynn! hahah

Cutie!


Pale one lost in the snow! That's a name I came up for her during our first year of college. 
I used to make fun of her soo much for being light skinned haha, so mean.


Chipmunk baby! 



Okay girl, stop posing for the camera and drink your drank. She got a "cucumber drink". Cucumber with ice and lemon. Interesting, but needs some sugar.



People on Yelp rave about their Avocado nuggets, so we ordered them as an appetizer. Plus I love avocado! 




Inside. It's aiight. Underwhelming. Just breaded avocado nuggets. Not really salted.




My portabello burger! 
Whole Portabello mushroom with lettuce, tomato, onion, whole wheat bun, and sweet potato fries.
Ugh, the lighting and the all white decor made for some BEAUTIFUL pictures. I love my cammie :')


Hello good looking. 

Last time I came here, my sister ordered this and it was soo good! 
I've been craving it  for a long time. It was delicious. 
A lot of places half ass their veggie burger but not here. 
In addition to the huge, juicy portabello mushroom, they sautee bits of mushroom, green bell pepper, onions and put that in the burger. So delicious and flavorful.
However, the portabello mushroom is super fresh so when you bite into the burger, a bunch of juice comes out, making for a soggy burger if you're not careful. no bueno




Lynn's food! Veggie "chicken" lemon with capers. So much parsley lol



Side shot. 

It's funny because Loving Hut is labelled as Vietnamese food on Yelp, yet I had a burger and Lynn had Italian food haha. Her dish was just okay to me. She said mine was better and I agree. I'm not a big fan of soy protein and the sauce was not as flavorful as I'd like.




Afterwards, Lynn wanted to go shopping for shoes and we bought matching sandals hahah so cute!! Guess which feet are mine and Lynn's. Keep in mind that Lynn is the pale one lost in the snow ;) It's funny cause Lynn doesn't dress super girly and I thought she hated pink? But she ended up buying sandals with a big fat pink bow on top haha. I love spending time with Lynn. She's super adorable and insightful. She lives in San Bernandino so I don't get to see her often :( So when I do see her... I like her even more haaha.
 Thank you for din din Lynn! :)