Week 31: Lalaland, Toddlerhood, & The Good Dinosaur

Lalaland

I took the last flight of my pregnancy (and 2015) to visit family down in LA this past week. This is likely my last flight for a really long time! The trip was great but definitely too short. Luckily there was enough time to hit up all my favorites:

• Half and Half Tea House: I like their caramel iced milk with 25% sugar.
• Porto's Bakery: A few of my favorites are pictured in this post from earlier this year here (guava pastries, potato balls, and the caprese sandwich). The lines are long but they tend to move relatively quickly - the longer wait is really for the food.
• 101 Noodle Express - The best chicken noodle soup and juicy potstickers (see here)!
• Chang's Garden - All the food here is really solid; I especially like their minced shrimp in lettuce cups.
• Banh Mi My Tho - Love their meatball banh mi - this is my favorite banh mi place by far! There is always a wait but it's worth it.

Toddlerhood

My darling nephew is now 3 and a half and currently going through a very sweet and adorable phase. While I will definitely try to savor each phase leading up to, I really hope baby Lucas gets to such a great phase in toddlerhood too! Here are some new developments I've noticed:

• Independence: He's learning to do more things by himself so his mantra is "I can do it!" I was worried it would get annoying and bratty but it's actually just hilariously cute. Getting dressed does take a lot longer as he insists on doing it himself but then ends up getting stuck in his sweaters for awhile. Rather than getting frustrated or cranky, he just perseveres on until he gets it right.
• Affection: He will reciprocate I love you's and I miss you's. He also initiates hugs more. It broke my heart each time I had to turn down his request to hold him, with my ginormous belly and all.
• Emotional control: Even though there were times that he was clearly upset, he did a good job of not throwing tantrums in public. He didn't get fussy or loud when we didn't buy him any toys at the store or when it was time to leave the museum.
• Speech and conversation: Even though most conversations involve a lot of "why?" and "why not?" questions, it's still fun to talk to him and get an understanding of how his mind works. It's also funny (and dangerous!) when he imitates us, so we try to be a lot more careful of our speech around him.

The Good Dinosaur

It pains me to say this, since I love Pixar movies but this is not one of those Pixar movies that's good for adults. The plot is unoriginal and the story is slow - but that didn't stop me from crying at the end anyway. Oh pregnancy hormones! Still, it's a good movie for young kids that love dinosaurs. Some parts may be a bit scary though, depending on the age of the child.

Valentine's Weekend in LA part II

No trip to LA is complete without Korean BBQ. This time we tried Soowon Galbi with Jeff's cousins. This isn't a buffet but we still left very stuffed! They don't take reservations so we got there at 5pm - we still had to wait 30 minutes but it was well worth it. Of course, we had many portions of galbi:

Even though we were stuffed, we had to make room for their famous ice cream macarons. I opted for strawberry, which looked more like watermelon. The ice cream flavor was light and fruity, although the macaron was a bit crunchy. 

We love getting Taiwanese breakfast favorites and baked goods at JJ Bakery - here's a peek at their selection:

We also checked out Lemonade, which I found a bit overrated and pricey. The 5 item salad bar for over $11 is ridiculous - it was just 5 small scoops of food! I didn't expect to pay almost $50 for lunch for 3 - especially when it's cafeteria style food. I did like the truffle mac n cheese and blueberry mint lemonade but I won't be coming back here. The regular lemonade's not even that great. There's way better and more affordable food in LA to be had!

Valentine's Weekend in LA part I

We spent Valentine's / President's Day weekend in Los Angeles, which of course means we had delicious food. Porto's is a super popular bakery and cafe in LA. Whenever we come here, we always get a box of guava cheese pastries. Don't judge - we share! 

Here's a close up of their yummy potato balls, another Porto's favorite.

This was my first time trying their Caprese sandwich. Definitely won't be my last!

101 Noodle Express has all my favorite Chinese comfort foods, cooked just the way I like them. Their potstickers are perfectly crispy and juicy.

I'm also a big fan of their chicken noodle soup - the handmade noodles are chewy and thick and the chicken broth is amazing.

I actually like bubble tea more in NorCal because they have so many authentic chains from Taiwan but the fresh fruit teas at AU79 are pretty delicious too. Passion orange tea is my favorite.

This is only what we ate in the first half of the weekend! Part 2 to come...

Thanksgiving weekend eats in LA

Whenever I visit LA, my priority is spending time with family and friends - but food definitely comes in at a very close second! Luckily, we can have our cake and eat it too (figuratively and literally) by enjoying delicious cuisine with our loved ones.

It's becoming a tradition for us to eat Ding Tai Fung with Christina during the holidays. While the Taiwan locations will always taste more authentic and delicious, this one is still a yummy and viable alternative. We prefer the Glendale one because it's located by the Americana so we can shop while we wait. They also let you track the wait time with a nifty app that will text you when your table is almost ready. While the pork soup dumplings (below) are a must, I would also highly recommend the noodles with sesame sauce (not pictured).

No trip to LA is complete without a visit to an all you can eat Korean BBQ. We went to OO-KOOK in San Gabriel - the service was particularly fast and friendly this time. I love that OO-KOOK is generous with the rice paper (lower left corner below) because some restaurants are quite stingy about it for some reason. I focused most of my energy and stomach space on the different types of kalbi, all of which were tender and flavorful. 

While we ate out quite a bit, we stayed in for Thanksgiving dinner. I didn't want to trouble my sister-in-law into cooking a huge Thanksgiving meal, so we opted for Taiwanese style hotpot instead. I always load up on silken tofu and fish balls filled with cod roe.

The next morning, my brother made us all delicious gluten-filled waffles (he experimented with a few gluten-free mixes that didn't quite work out). This is one of the first meals he has cooked for me in at least 3-4 years, if not longer, so I had to document this momentous occasion! I added the berries myself. ;)