Great Geysir and Strokkur - Haukadalur - Iceland

After leaving Gullfoss (Golden Falls), the last stop was Haukadalur, a geothermal valley that was home to several geysers. While hot springs are reported to exist in this area for 10,000 years, the Great Geysir wasn't first mentioned until the late 18th century. At times erupting more than 200 feet in the air, the unusual phenomenon caught the interest of people during the Age of Enlightenment. Henceforth, all spouting hot springs were named geysers.

These days though, the Great Geysir rarely erupts, sometimes going for years at a time with no movement. Still, it was worth a visit just to see the original Geysir.

Nearby is Strokkur geyser, which reliably erupts every five minutes or so.

After a few quick snaps of Geysir, I made my way over to Strokkur. I was chasing the clock at this point since it was 10 p.m. and daylight was waning fast.

Cha Gio Cua Be (Vietnamese Crab Egg Rolls)

Cha Gio Cua Be (Vietnamese Crab Egg Rolls). So decadent!

I remember the summer I spent a month in Hanoi, I repeatedly visited Bun Cha Dac Kim at #1 Hang Manh for Bun Cha Hanoi (Vietnamese Hanoi-Style Rice Vermicelli Noodles with Grilled Pork Patties. As the reputedly best in town, sure the bun cha was good, but it was really the crab egg rolls that had me coming back again and again. An order of bun cha nem ran cua be only set me back about $1.50 back then too. *Sigh.*

If only crab egg rolls weren't such a luxury. Normally, any amount of crab I have on hand gets saved for my mom's banh canh cua (Vietnamese thick noodle soup with crab), but I had to make this just once, just for the blog.

Crab is too delicate and flaky to use alone in the filling, so adding some ground pork and shrimp can stretch it further so it's not quite so expensive. I omitted Tree Ear Fungus that I normally add to egg rolls because I felt the mushrooms would overpower the taste of the crab. Other than that, it's a pretty basic egg roll recipe.

$41.40, JetBlue RT LGB to PDX for 35 Hours

I had to skip out early on cousin A's bridal shower because I was going up to Portland again.

For $41.40 round-trip!

After taxes!


JetBlueCheeps LGB to PDX, $10 each way, plus taxes.

Sure I was only going to be home for 35 hours. But did you not see that my round-trip plane ticket was only $41.40?!

Even though my parents were coming down a few days later for cousin A's wedding, it was too good of a deal to pass up. The minute I saw the price, I started furiously typing so I could book it before the deal disappeared, while simultaneously text messaging oldest nephew and dad's friend's daughter to tell them about it. They were too late though.

Surely you'd pay that for two of your momma's homecooked meals?

Dean Sin World - Monterey Park

For more than a year now, I've been getting my potsticker and soup dumpling fix at Dean Sin World in Monterey Park. The dumplings are good and cheap, and mama Lu is way nice and almost always gives me freebies. So I tip very generously. And she gives me more freebies to make up for it. So I tip very generously again. And well, you see where this is going? I've also dragged various friends, cousins, aunts, uncles, cousin's cousin, cousin's uncle, nephew, nephew's friend, dad's friend's daughter... I guess I should finally blog about Dean Sin World then huh?

As with many places that have gained popularity among food bloggers, many times the person who discovered the restaurant doesn't get proper credit. You know how I feel about attribution. So it's not just because he's my friend, but because all Dean Sin World hype should be properly credited to Tony of SinoSoul, who discovered it back in 2008.

I first read about Dean Sin World on Pepsi Monster of Right Way to Eat, who said that mama Lu supplies many of the restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley. Not the dumpling houses, but the restaurants who offer dumplings in addition to their menu. But I didn't visit Dean Sin World until last August when Danny of Kung Food Panda took me here since they don't speak English.

Hae Jang Chon Korean Barbecue Restaurant - Los Angeles (Koreatown)

On my actual birthday, I opted for a tried and true favorite, Korean barbecue with the oldest '87 and her middle sister at Hae Jang Chon Korean Barbecue Restaurant in Koreatown. The photos for this post were actually taken back in February, during my first visit when my dad's friend's daughter was in town.

I guess it does pay to advertise. I noticed the restaurant's ad on LA Weekly's website and clicked over. All you can eat Korean barbecue, including 19 items, for $16.99? And open until 2 a.m. every day? Definitely worth checking out.

So on my dad's friend's daughter's last night in town, we decided to go there for dinner. When I got there, I realized that I actually had tried to go once before with lil' sis, after noticing it during a visit to Kyochon Chicken - Los Angeles (Koreatown). But the restaurant looked empty so early in the day, so we defaulted to Tahoe Galbi Restaurant - Los Angeles (Koreatown) for lunch.

It was an hour wait on a Saturday night, but we stopped off at Scoops - Los Angeles for gelato beforehand so we didn't mind.

Part of the reason I wanted to try Hae Jang Chon was for the rock slab grill. You'll see why later in the post. The waiter immediately started bringing out all the panchan (Korean side dishes). The Baechu Kimchee (Korean Pickled Napa Cabbage) and the Kong Namul (Korean Seasoned Soy Bean Sprouts) were the overly fermented kind intended for the grill.

Ask Wandering Chopsticks 14

Busy, busy month! My Octobers are always like that though. A while back, lil' sis told me to save October 6 for my birthday surprise. But that's not my birthday, doesn't she know me at all? :(

She wouldn't tell me what it was, but told me to dress nice, ie. no flip-flops. That Wednesday, she drove up right after work and surprised me with tickets to "Phantom of the Opera" at the Pantages Theatre. Aww, how nice!

Ask Wandering Chopsticks 9

What's up? says my adorable little niece. :)

I smile every time I look at this picture. She's soooo cuuute!

UCC Cafe Plaza - Walnut (Closed)

After dinner at Ong Ga Nae Korean BBQ - Rowland Heights, we literally went across the street to UCC Cafe Plaza in Walnut for dessert. The UCC, which stands for Ueshima Coffee Company, is a pretty nice Japanese cafe located in a strip mall that also sells Rolex and Cartier. Pretty nice indeed!




The first time I visited was back in November 2007. My dining companion and I had seen the many, many photos that CrazyPooh had uploaded onto Biggest Menu and wanted to check it out. Leather sofas. Quite a step up from the normal coffee shop.

Behind the Scenes: Bob's Red Mill - Milwaukie - Oregon

Almost a decade ago when I was home in Oregon for an extended period, I noticed a lot of Bob's Red Mill grains and other products on the grocery store shelves. No wonder since the company is based in Milwaukie, just outside of Portland.


While I liked the whole grains and ground flax seeds and other products, I especially liked the story behind the business. Bob Moore retired in 1978 and moved from Redding, California, where he had operated a small mill in the 1960s, to Oregon City, Oregon. One day while out for a walk, he saw an old mill for sale and decided to buy it. That mill was lost to a fire in 1988, and the business was relocated to Milwaukie where it now occupies a 320,000-square-foot building on 17 acres. The maintenance guys use tricycles to move from one place to another. And all employees get a coffee break at 10 a.m.

Bob's Red Mill now has 400 products, including 50 gluten-free products made in a separate facility so there is no contamination. Last year, 7.5 million pounds of flax were sold.

The mill still uses old-fashioned quartz milling stones to grind grains.

Since Bob's Red Mill was so close by, I had to tour the facilities. Fortunately having a food blogger friend, namely Darlene of Blazing Hot Wok, around was handy since my siblings weren't interested in seeing it at all. Tours are held every Friday at 10 a.m. at the World Headquarters. We mistakenly went to the Bob's Red Mill Whole Grain Store, Restaurant, and Bakery (pictured above) first by mistake.

Femme Noir by Phong Hong Debut at Downtown Los Angeles Fashion Week Fashion Angel Awards Emerging Designers Runway Show

Everyone in the family has always known my cousin Phong was talented. But last week, when Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced that he was one of three "emerging designers" who received the inaugural Fashion Angel Award from the City of Los Angeles and the Department of Cultural Affairs, it was even more wonderful that my cousin had this opportunity to show off his skills.

His new Femme Noir Collection debuted at the Downtown Los Angeles Fashion Week Fashion Angel Award Emerging Designers Runway Show at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.

Phew! What a mouthful. Can I get a "whoohoo!"?

So excited! The show didn't begin until designer Randolph Duke, who was on the committee who picked the winners, showed up.

Barview Jetty County Park - Rockaway Beach - Oregon

After getting ice cream and free cheese samples at Tillamook Cheese Factory - Tillamook - Oregon it was time to head over to the camp. My parents were still out fishing though, so we went to the beach while we waited for them to arrive.

Like my attempt at getting an artistic photo of my brother and his wife? I like the kite in the background too. :)




Growing up, my family spent most weekends on the Oregon and Washington coasts during the summers. These days for camping, we prefer Barview Jetty County Park near Tillamook. Barview is an unincorporated area between the towns of Garibaldi and Rockaway Beach.

The campground has plenty of bushes and trees so there is privacy between each space. The bathrooms are usually within a short walking distance with flush toilets and coin-operated hot water showers. The jetty near the beach is a good fishing spot for my dad. The beach itself is located within the campground and makes a great place to jog in the mornings. The Tillamook Cheese Factory and Pacific Oyster - Bay City - Oregon keep us kids occupied. There are also plenty of other quaint coastal towns nearby for us to explore.

Cortez Cultural Center - Cortez - Colorado

After hiking the Petroglyph Point Trail at Mesa Verde National Park, I was beat. I would have liked to explore some other Anasazi cliff dwellings or pithouses, especially Long House on Weatherill Mesa, but it was almost dusk and the park closed at sunset.

Luckily, I had flipped through the travel brochures left in my hotel room the night before and earmarked the Cortez Cultural Center. Various Native American groups put on free cultural programs almost every night during the summer.


On this evening, we got to see several Ute performances.

Isn't that the coolest mural ever?

Here's a close-up.

Cliff Palace - Mesa Verde National Park - Colorado

Cliff Palace is the largest of the 600 cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park, as well as in all of North America. It has 150 rooms, 75 open areas, and 23 kivas. About 25 to 30 rooms have residential features. And yet, only an estimated 100 to 120 Anasazi actually lived at Cliff Palace.

These large cliff dwellings are rather uncommon as 90 percent of the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde have less than 10 rooms, and a third contain only one or two rooms.

Breed Street Food Fair - Los Angeles (Boyle Heights) (Closed)

I first heard about the Breed Street Food Fair, a collection of Mexican street stands in Boyle Heights, back in 2007 when Abby of Pleasure Palate uploaded pictures of her visit on Biggest Menu. She was introduced to it by Street Gourmet LA, who stumbled upon the lively scene while scouting out new places.

Gorditas made by splitting a handmade tortilla topped with a pumpkin and sesame seed mixture, I had never seen the like before and definitely wanted to try. I didn't get a chance to do so though until June 2009, and then I returned a couple of days later, and the week after that, and the week after that.

Squash blossoms, corn fungus, and fried chicken necks. Sure I've made Squash Blossom Quesadillas, and I've heard of huitlacoche (Mexican corn smut) before, but didn't know of where I could get some. And not only could I get both here, but deep-fried chicken necks and freshly fried churros too. Yum!

Tiki-Ti - Los Angeles

If you're just tuning in, we started off the night at Indo Kitchen - Alhambra, then went to Silver Lake Wine before hitting up Tiki-Ti.



I'm not much for hitting up bars, even back in my younger days, but Tiki-Ti is seriously cute! It's also got a fascinating history. The cocktail bar was started by Ray Buhen, a Filipino immigrant who came to California in 1930. After working as a bellhop at the Beverly Hills Hotel and then attending bartending school, he started working at Don the Beachcomber's in 1934. After bouncing around several other bars (click on the above link for the detailed history), he finally opened Tiki-Ti in 1961. Today, his son Mike, and grandsons Mike Jr. and Mark, run the bar and mix the drinks.

Latourell Falls - Columbia River Gorge - Oregon

After Bridal Veil Falls, we skipped over Shepperd's Dell Falls to go to one of my other favorite waterfalls, Latourell Falls. Just a short walk down and you can see that radioactive yellow lichen.

Bamboodles Restaurant - San Gabriel (Closed)

When I first saw Bamboodles Restaurant replace the Chinese ramen restaurant, I figured it was along the same lines and didn't pay much attention. Then via Pleasure Palate, I saw Exile Kiss's post about how the noodles were kneaded by a man bouncing on a big bamboo pole.


Err. That sounds a lot dirtier than it actually is.

See?

Man bouncing on bamboo pole.

Palms Thai Restaurant - Los Angeles (Hollywood)

Back in September 2008, my brother and his wife, cousin Q, his older brother and his wife, and I dined at Palms Thai Restaurant, home of Thai Elvis.

Don't be cruel. Surely you've heard of Thai Elvis?



Unfortunately, the acoustics in the restaurant were absolutely retched. I couldn't even tell you what Thai Elvis was crooning that evening. Nonetheless, where else can you get pad Thai with a side of "Love Me Tender"?

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens (Spring) - San Marino

I managed to score tickets to The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens on their first Thursday free day so my third-cousin came up from Orange County to hang out. After a quick dim sum at Elite Restaurant - Monterey Park, we dashed over to the Huntington Library to get in before our time slot was up.

MidnightMare Apparel Fashion Show at Project Ethos Presents: Culture Shock

The closest I'll ever come to a red carpet. ;)



I know you've been waiting eagerly, eeeeeagerly I tell ya, for an update of my cousins' MidnightMare Apparel fashion show that I teased you about previously.

All of the designers had tables featuring their wares. Some of the MidnightMare shirts for sale. Sorry, my photos were pretty bad so you should check out the MidnightMare website to see real pictures of the collection. All hand-drawn designs, 100% organic cotton and dyes, and locally made.