Places: The Counter redux & Things you put in your belly: The Counter

I forgot from when these were from, but I remember it being delicious allll over again. Why don't they have a place like this in Santa Barbara? Pasadena, you are one lucky city. Freaking eggs, cheese, veggie patty, olives, cucumber, and a chipotle sauce. DELICIOUS.

Things you put in your belly: Veggie/ Vege Spring Rolls

Vege spring rolls from Thien Tam Vegetarian Restaurant on Garvey Ave. in El Monte. I wish I was eating this right now, and it is so cheap!!! I AM SO HUNGRY.

Things you put in your belly: New Capital Dim Sum

So I went to dim sum with my family at New Capital Seafood in Hacienda Heights a few weeks ago when I thought I was getting better but actually wasn't getting better. Being a vegetarian, it is difficult to find things to eat at dim sum that are not sweet or that come in a salad form with seaweed in it. Luckily, at this place there were a few options like the fried tofu and things wrapped in rice noodles or tofu skins. They were actually pretty good. I can see why this place is always crowded, even at 9:30am when we went.

I am back in SB, and I, luckily, bought some dim sum bao back here. DID YOU KNOW!?! If you freeze dim sum bao as is and re-steam it or re-bake it, they are delicious once again!!!!! HOORAY FOR MODERN REFRIGERATORS!

Things you put in your belly:Tutti Frutti Yogurt

I LOVE YOGURT, but I hate all of those flavors that they come in except the original. I like the original with granola. I love granola. Granola are like healthy sprinkles because they are sweet and crunchy, and they stay crunchy despite being covered in yogurt. I also like berries. Berries are delicious and healthy, like granola.
GRANOLA. Apparently granola can be an adjective to describe something now. It means something to the extent of people who like yoga and healthy lifestyles but overly so. INTERESTING.

Random Thoughts: Top Traffic Source

I want to be blog famous one day. Like Annietown.com. She is fab. Her book (which I have on my kindle, is pretty hilarious and awesome). In order to be blog famous, I rely on the people who read my sad poor little blog, and according to blogger.com my top source of traffic is NAVER.COM! HOORAY KOREA! 대한민국  짝짝 짝짝짝~ You know, like the clapping they have during the World Cup for soccer. I STILL HAVE MY REDS T-SHIRT, that I hug to sleep every night. So I just want to say Thankies! You guys are awesome!

Also to my other readers, you guys are awesome as well. I have just never been to Malaysia so I don't know any fun cultural references. BUT you guys are still awesome.
America. You know I love you.
Other places (except CHINA because I only have one view from CHINA, EH-HEM, CHINA), I love you guys too.

I'm in a I'm loving everyone and not hating anyone kind of mood today.

LOVE YOU. and THANK YOU. <3 har har har

Random Thoughts: What I really need.

It has been a long time. I am busy gearing up for school, which technically started today, but I start on Monday. I met one of the Chinese teachers today, and she was with another Chinese teacher (because you know Chinese people travel in flocks, like fluffy sheep) having tea. After talking briefly about a Chinese class I probably wouldn't be able to get into because it is full, I realized what I really need in life is a tea drinking buddy.

Now, I love tea (and drinking), but I hate going out to drink tea all the time. The ideal situation would be that I would be tied to a ridiculously rich man who was never home but still supported my culinary/clothing/luxury items habit, and I would have tons of free time. So basically, I would be a Chinese concubine (or a qinfu hahahahah) because I don't actually want to get married. Since the laogong (literally: old man) wouldn't be home, I would have a friend come over to my house for tea and snacks on a daily basis. If I didn't have any delicious tea that day and my (gay, straight, male, female, transgender, transvestite, asexual, bisexual, or whatever floats your boat yo because I love everyone, but hate everyone at the same time) friend didn't have proper tea at their house (which would preferably within a 30minute drive or my glorious castle) we would go out to Larchmont or Pasadena to buy more delicious things to eat and drink.

ANY TAKERS YO??? Old man and tea friend positions are open! The position of ME unfortunately is not open for auditions because no one is qualified enough to be me except me.

Some may ask, "Don't you have friends?" Yes. Yes, I do, but they are all far far away right now. Or mayber, I am the one far far away.

Places: In-n-Out

What can a vegetarian eat at In-N-Out, aka the best fast food ever? GRILLED CHEESE. FRIED. CHEESE. They only have In-N-Out in CA and NV I think. That's what my office husband tells me. British cousin loves it! If you ever come to California, GO TO IN-N-OUT. SO DELICIOUS!!!!!

Places: Solvang

I am moving to Santa Barbara soon! So I will be in and out of LA and SB. Friendie, British Cousin, and I went to my dorm/apt, and then we headed off to Solvang (NOTE: NEVER EVER TAKE THE 154 IF YOU CANNOT DRIVE THROUGH MOUNTAINS). It was interesting. I can honestly say, I've never seen anything like this. It was kitsch, funny, and fun allllllll at the same time. We stopped by the Danish Mill Bakery for an apple boat. FREAKING DELICIOUS. So oily, flaky, crunchy, crispy, and sweet. I can eat 100000000000000000000 of them if someone could pump my stomach immediately after. Go for the danish. DANISH. If you can make me a danish as delicious as this, I will marry you.

Places: The Counter in Pasadena

Went to The Counter in Pasadena with British cousin and friendies. We split the fries/ sweet potato fries. I appreciated their shoe stringy like quality. I had the veggie burger bowl (I love bowls, taco bowls from CHIPOTLE AKA THE BEST AND MOST WONDERFUL FAST FOOD EVER). For the set price you get to choose what you want from each list (if you want extras, they list the price added on the side). I had the organic greens, veggie patty, sharp provolone, olives, jalapenos, sun dried tomato vinaigrette, and pickles. The ingredients were FRESH, and the only worry we had was if the combinations we picked would work together or not. IT WORKED. Service was friendly, but I felt like I had to be really friendly back. All in all super duper duper duper. BECAUSE BOWLS ARE THE WAY TO GO. GO. GO.
 

Places: Lovebird Cafe in Alhambra

Went to Lovebird Cafe in Alhambra with cousin, who is applying for med school right now. I had the veggie meatball sandwich, but I am going to try the veggie turkey next time. Bread was good, but it needed more cheese. CHEESE IS DELISH.

Oh yeahhhh, good luck GINNY!

xoxo

Food/ Places: Veggie Life on Garvey in Rosemead and their steamed buns

I went to Veggie Life, which is a Vietnamese restaurant that serves all vegetarian food, and usually I just eat there because they give you tons of yummy herbal veggies. This time, I also bought home the steamed bun. It was JUST OK. It was expensive (I think $1.50), so I'll stick to eating the noodle dishes at the restaurant. Slightly SAD FACE for the bun because it was expensive, but other than that no bad points.

Places: Fosselman's Ice Cream in Alhambra

So I went with friendie to Fosselman's in Alhambra and had the coffee cookie ice cream. It was pretty good! It was two things that I LOVE, so I don't see how anything could have gone wrong. Friendie had matcha (ground up green tea leaves), which was pretty ok, and isn't her top cute! She is so fabulous. I do suggest going to http://fosselmans.com/ to check out the flavors they have. It is pretty awesome. The flavors are pretty yummy, but the base it basic so expect no SUPER AMAZING reaction. But very much tolerable, very much so.

PS: Sorry I have been MIA for the last few days/ weeks. I have been BUSY ok? hahahahahahaha LOVE YOU

Places: Balboa Park in San Diego

Went to Balboa Park in San Diego with the sister. Hiked for an hour and an half. Tons of fun fun fun. A little warm, but saw a lot of fun things. IT IS FREE! the museums are not though. It is a long long long drive from LA. A two hour drive.
A lot of nice architecture to see, although I don't know if it is authentic or not. If you have time to stop by, why not?

Places: Brioche in East LA Pt. 2

So I talked about the macaroons at Brioche. Here they are! Also carrot cake and opera cake. OMG SO DELICIOUS. Why are they delicious? They are not heavy or oily, and they are not too sweet. I am not a fan of my mouth being invaded by sugar crystal soldiers cutting my taste buds into smithereens. You know how I roll. It has to be balanced. BALANCE IS ESSENTIAL IN LIFE, AND BAKED GOODS ARE LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love you. xoxoxo

Places: Brioche in East LA

I met college best roomie this weekend, and we caught up over at Brioche, which is a small french bakery over on Whittier. I had the iced coffee, which is pretty good, meaning that there was nothing I hated about it. The shiny goodness was the pastries. I had a cranberry orange scone. SCONESSS ARE DELICIOUS. I like them better than donuts because they are not as greasy, but they are covered in powdered sugar goodness. I also liked the pretty plate.
College roomie bestie is applying for med school (ie: that which destroys one social life). She is suffering, but it is for the sake of a good lucrative future. Oh yeah, she mentioned helping people too. I love college roomie bestie. She is so on top of it.

On another note, I bought some macaroons, which they are famous for, and cakes to go home. I will share later.

http://www.briochepastries.com/

Places: Fine Garden in San Gabriel Valley/ LA

In the SGV area, there are a lot of Chinese vegetarian restaurants, but this one is by far my favorite because there are two AWESOME things: almond tea (top) and vegetarian dimsum (素点心). There is almost no such thing as vegetarian dimsum, but this place has it. The almond tea is super duper too. They basically put a puff pastry on top of almond tea and bake it. Puff pastry and almond tea, nothing can go wrong.There are only two words that can describe this place: 好帮。 The only down side is that it is PRICEY. A bit for Chinese food.

http://www.finegardenveggie.com/


EAT IT. IT IS DELICIOUS.

Gardening: Chili and Basil

Chili, sweet basic, and thai basil from my garden. All natural and organic yo! Hahahahaha My mission to become self sustaining is slow but progressive! I need more land to plant things. I started to plant onions, different varieties of chilies, and garlic. Hopefully, they all grow. The tomato and zucchini  seem to be kind of major fails, probably because I planted them too late in the season.

Life goal: Survive by farming on three acres of land.

Video: Moves Like Jagger

FINALLYYYYYY!!!! This video has three things that I very much enjoy: Maroon 5, LA, and British accents.
Can you move like Jagger? I hope so. I like to believe I have moves like Jagger despite the fact that people have mentioned otherwise.  <3

Gardening

Perfect LA weather gives you wonderful summer flowers. Sadly, the edibles in the garden are not growing so well. The zucchini flowers keep falling off without making fruit. It is in a sad state. The tomatoes are not getting  bigger either. SO SAD.

Also, I recently started becoming interested in growing chili, there are five different varieties in my backyard. Hopefully at the end of August, I will be able to make some really delicious chili powder.

I am also super duper into Glee right now.

Places: Perfectly Sweet

I had the carrot cake, and newly relocated friendie had the raspberry mousse. OH MY GOD. SO GOOD. I would punch someone in the face to live there.

http://www.perfectlysweet.com/

I encourage you to go, but you know a better suggestion? I encourage you to take me with you. K thx bye.