Wowza! Well it's been awhile .. a very long while. And I'm finally going to do another review! Yay! Even though no one ever reads this (except my dear boyfriend), I guess it's important to keep food-blogging. For my own memory. Lately, I've realized how difficult it is for me to remember things as the years go by. I have the worst memory out of all the people I know. It's not quite the importance of the food itself, but the way I felt when I ate it and how much I enjoyed the moment and with whom. All these posts act as memory-joggers actually! :) Although I won't be cheesy and describe my emooootions, I'd most likely remember the general feel at the time. So, here's the review:

In Temple City, California .. there's this wonderful mom and pop joint called Dumpling Inn. They're Chinese-Koreans (meaning Chinese people raised in Korean), so they have customers of both ethnicities, and then some. We were there on a weekday during the lunch special so there weren't many people. Actually, we were the only ones for most of our entire visit, so service was good. The lady who owned the place was very maternal and gave us tips on how to order and what the best deal would be, even encouraging us to order less. She insisted we would not be able to finish. And true to her words, we left stuffed and carrying take-out bags.

(1) Steamed Pork Dumplings - So juicy. So tender. So delicious and home-styled! It's nothing like those tiny pre-packaged supermarket dumplings you would get at Cha for Tea or some other cafe-styled restaurant. This is the real stuff. Hardy, meaty pork and onion stuffed home-made dumpling skin. That's right -- home made dumpling skin. I only know this because I've been going to this place since I was knee-high. Apparently, they do it the old-fashioned way: pulling and tugging on dough until its chewy and thin.

(2) Steamed Fish dumplingsss. Do NOT pass these up! Stuffed with fish paste, these babies are the best ones I've had so far. They're tender and juicy and still pretty big, considering seafoods on the menu are usually served in lesser portions. Well, not these. Although smaller than the pork dumplings, they're still very packed with the paste. =) This was definitely one of my faves.

(3) A fried chicken dumpling and wonton skin that came with the lunch special. Fried isn't my favorite so it was just 'eh' to me. At least it wasn't dripping with grease like some "Chinese" places (ahemmm Panda Express). I do have to admit, it was perfectly crisp on the outside, but the dumplin skin was still chewy and tender on the inside. This I know from the plate of fried dumplings that we ordered.

(4) Fried pork dumplings, I believe. Read comments above.(5) Za Jiang Mien - oh babyyy. There's no direct translation, but look for noodles in dark sauce, or something of that sort, on the menu. =) It's not amazing, but its something I grew up with. So I have a special place in my heart for this. One thing to note about this dish is that the noodles are handmade. All the carbs (minus the rice) at this place is made right in the kitchen, with a chef pulling on dough for chewy perfection. These noodles had the right texture. We couldn't finish this so we took it to go. Note: Eat this hot! It's just not the same heated in a microwave.

(6) This was the lunch special beef and brocolli. It was alright .. just your average Chinese restaurant beef&brocolli. There was definitely MSG though, which accounts for the super savor of the flavor. To all those places that boast NO MSG, screw you! Authentic Chinese restraunts should be using MSG and lots of it -- its the wok staple. To all those Americans who are "health conscious," you all use chemically engineered chicken broth and flavoring for your soups and what not. Tell me that's healthier than MSG. Go ahead, proveee it.

(7) Fried Rice that comes with the lunch special. Its .. fried rice? Nothing special. What a typical Asian mom would whip up in 5 minutes.

(8) Here's the Korean flava to the restaraunt. Kimchee served at every table. Not like Korean BBQ kimchee, although I am told there are different kinds of kimchee. This was on the sweeter side. The lettuce was very crunchy still -- very home-made. By the taste and look of it, it hasn't been underground or soaked for longer than a week. But it's free, so who am I to complain?

All in all, this was a good experience. Now I can cross off one more thing on my list! We left satisfied, our stomachs and wallets. We didn't have to blow big money for this meal. I believe the check came out to be about $25. One bad thing was how hot it was outside (this was during summer break) after so much food and how thirsty we were after the meal (msg dehydrates, as does any salty food). I would recommend this to anyone looking for a home-sweet-home kind of food. The experience was reminiscent of me coming home from college Friday night, and my mom expecting me to down hardy home-cooking. If you come alone or do take-out, $8 can get you 6 of those big fat dumplings in a white styrofoam smileyface box. You will not leave disappointed.

Because I am kind, I have decided to update Love Stuffed. :) For you, Christopher Wu, daily complainer. I don't really know what to review. I've had so many things to eat, I don't even know where to start. But here's your update. =D It will be continued after my Calculus Midterm.

In the U.S.

Back from Hong Kong & Thailand. The trip was pretty good, minus the Thailand part. I'm sure the country of golden steeples and mango sticky rice had more to offer, but whatever it was -- I didn't see much of that grand splendor. I have no pictures of the mango sticky rice, but I just want to say that it was the only dish and only "attraction" I really enjoyed. The rice is mixed with some sort of sticky coconut cream type thing, and you eat it with fresh mangoes. I also want to state that the plethora of homeless dogs was a sad sight.

Hong Kong was definitely a trip. My days were filled with different meals between doing what I did best: shopping, shopping, and more shopping! What the actual city was lacking in glamour on the outside (run-down buildings, clothes hanging in public, and leaky air conditioners), it made up for in convenience (subway/metro/cheap taxis), retail (bargains and bargaining on every corner), and food heavens. Chinese people are known for their affair with food and Hong Kong was a perfect example of that. Whether small or big, the restraunts met my expectations to the "tea."

The first thing I want to review is the airplane food. I know, I know -- what's there to review? Airplane food always sucks, right? Well, I think to really enjoy food, you should always be as broadminded as possible. You can't stab your fork into something with the mindset that it'll already suck. Then what's the point?

I took Cathay Pacific Airlines. If my memory serves me correctly, we had 3 meals and snacks. The only memorable part of the meal was the smoked salmon salad and the cute little green tea cups (I took three with me).


It's not a very good picture but there it is. It's a very simple salad with tomato, lettuce, and smoked salmon. Strangely enough, I had my best smoked salmon experiences on this trip. The first time was this one (where it was perrfect!) and the second time was in Thailand at the hotel's complimentary lunch buffett. :) Inbetween mini bagels, toasted to perfection. YUM!!!

Anyway, the flavor of the airplane smoked salmon salad was definitely close to a 10. It was just the right amount of salty and smoky, with a hint of pepper, and it was not fishy at all! I mean, the salmon flavor was definitely still there, but the fishiness was not overpowering in any way. =) Plus, the veggies were definitely fresh, which is a new one for plane food. The tomato was sweet with the perfect taint of sour. I can't give the same ratings to the rest of the meals, although the smoked salmon sandwich (the snack they were giving out) was pretty good too, forget the overpowering foccacia mini bread that sandwiched the cream cheese, salmon, and tomato slice.

Christopher Wu, tune in to my next post when I review the amazing Pizza Hut.

Eastern Skies

Well, my dear nonexistent readers, it seems as though I have been given the opportunity to fly across the world to explore Hong Kong with my boyfriend and his cousins. This means, my food list will have to be cut short and perhaps edited -- probably just pushed back. I sure am disappointed but not really since I haven't even been keeping up with my fooding. So, I'm more disappointed in myself than anything. But, I will be dropping nearly $2K on this trip, and I do not think I should be asking my parents for money to eat out when I come back. No siree. However, I am going to be flexible about this. I will blog about my food adventures in Hong Kong. Of course, I will not be able to update as I go and I will run mostly off of memory from 3 weeks of jam-packed shopping/eating action. I can't say how far my literature can take us but pictures are worth a thousand words. SO, my departure is on August 1 for tres weeks. Bon voyage!

Anime Expo 08

Anime Expo o8. There wasn't much hype for it, but it's tradition. Plus, it would be a chance for me to test out my new Sony Alpha 300. :) That's right -- my baby arrived. Well, it's been here but I haven't been able to use it since I had no memory card. So what I really mean is, my memory card is here. Thank you Chris for buying it for me!

From my experience, Anime Expo was the best when it was in Anaheim. Among a couple of reasons why, it seemed more like a community than a convention when it was held there. The hotels lined up on the same xl-bungalow and the convention center smack dab in the middle. Then, after many amazing years of costumes, late nights, and adventures -- it was moved to Long Beach. The LBC provided a new environment (though I had been there previously for Key Club Convention) with an ocean view, etc .. but it definitely was not as fun. Everything was spread out and hard to get to. Then this year, it was moved to Los Angeles. I can name a couple of reasons why this year was disappointing for me: (1) it was too close for a hotel, but extremely expensive in gas money & parking money & food money altogether ; (2) my friends didn't want to go although this may have been because we've mostly grown out of it; (3) my cosplay that I had spent mucho time and money on failed last minute and I was [understatement] very upset.

BUT, I made the best of it. Or at least I tried to. I only went Friday and Saturday this year. On Friday, I went with Chris to check out the convention -- scope out merchandise and the types of cosplayers there were this year. Seems like I wasn't the only one who wanted to do Vampire Knight. Seeing all the VK cosplayers was depressing; I should have just bought the uniform when I had the chance. Oh well, too late now. I highly doubt I'll ever go to AX again, but who knows? Chris bought a toy car that was pretty crappy, to say the least. You basically have to run after it to keep it running. Chris and I ended up sitting at an emptier area in the lobby, but with a good view of cosplayers walking past. We critiqued, yawned, and constantly checked the time. I had never, at any AX, looked at the time over and over again, waiting for the convention to be over for the day. Well, since it was 4th of July, we left, planning to meet up with Sherry and Risa at Newport Beach for an Independence Day Festival. We had to eat dinner at Chris' house first and by the time we finished, it was too late to go so far. Instead, we went A.Tam's house and watched the view of fireworks (from literally more than 10 sites) shows from his backyard. Then we went to light our own and we called it a day.

Because I felt so left out from the 'cosplay community' .. I raped my closet for a costume. I came up with a Mario outfit in less than 5 minutes and spent a total of 10 putting it together with double sided tape (which held pretty well).

On Saturday, Nick came over and we drove over to Chris' house -- only to find that he was unable to go with us. He met us at the convention later on, after Nick and I met up with Matt and David. We had Exhibition passes so we abused our rights of entering and exiting where ever we wanted. :) Thanks Nick's brother! We walked around the exhibition hall (feet killer!) while I went on a hunt for a Totoro toy for Sherry. By the time I found a suitable one, I was super starving. That's when I decided we had to go and we ended up at Orochan! HOWEVER, Christopher Wu did NOT bring my camera down from his car so I did NOT get ANY pictures of my meal. Whatever.

This time at Orochan, I decided to enjoy my food so I got the Miso #4 Orochan ramen bowl with egg and garlic with an order of the Cha-Su Pork Plate (melt in your mouth pork). Not the BEST bowl of ramen but what are you gonna do when you're hungry? After dinner, I forked over some more money at a gelato/mochi place in Little Tokyo's main plaza. The Kona coffee mochi was delish! When I find the name of the store, I will definitely post it up. We talked for a bit at the square and then headed for Alhambra to sit at Cha, where I would fork over even MORE money. But I was definitely happy to meet up with my friends there. And now here I am, blogging before I get too lazy to do it.

All in all, my feelings about Anime Expo were lukewarm. Eh~! Not that bad, but definitely not amazing. But maybe its one of those things as you get older. And also, I feel guilty for eating so much today, but what I've learned from these past years of weight-struggles is that today is nothing I can't fix with the next two days of hard exercise and diet, diet, diet.