i think i am the last one to read this book

but it was so, so good. it’s about a sad, lonely man who dies and goes to heaven. he finds out that in heaven, you meet the 5 people who had the most affect on your life and through their stories he discovers the meaning of his own life.

it just reminds me that for every person out there, everyone has a story to tell. and for every person that thinks their life is insignificant, they have no idea how their life and actions are affecting someone else. basically, we are all connected somehow, someway. i loved the message of this book.

i love the location of our house. our walkability score is very high and all of the roads have bike lanes. now that summer is here i’ve been walking or riding my bike all around town.

my blue cruiser looks so skinny here!

the other day i rode my bike to a new sno cone place that opened up down the street that was voted the best dessert in orange county. i foresee myself coming here a lot this summer.

i asked them what their most popular flavor was: tropical treat

orange and pineapple ice with fresh strawberries and ice cream. we also added condensed milk because we’re asian like that. and yes, it was as good as it looks and sounds.

their menu sounds amazing though: red velvet, reese’s buttercup, green tea & raspberries, peanut butter & jelly…i’m all about those weird and quirky flavors

service is a little slow but they grind that ice on the spot. besides, they have this fun wall hook game that you can play while you wait.

sno on the go
6840 Edinger Ave
Huntington Beach, CA 92647

4th of july always signifies the start of summer for me. barbecues are synonymous with the 4th and this year we had a shindig at the beach. i made red, white, and blue jello

(thanks mike for the photo!)

so happy with how they turned out. so festive, pretty, and EASY!

and i also made honey bbq ribs….which i don’t have a picture of (yes amy, i do suck at taking pics! ) but were tasty and went pretty fast.

when i told boyrobot that we were eating beans on toast today he laughed at me. “that sounds stupid”.

i thought for sure there was a reason it was on the oc’s top 100 dishes to try. i was actually excited to try this dish that i had never seen or heard of. to see what the brits had done to make this a beloved snack.

unfortunately there was nothing magical about these beans.

i could have just as easily opened a can of heinz beans (the exact ones they use in fact), popped some bread in the toaster, and poured the beans over the toast. these were in fact just that. beans on toast.

to say i was disappointed was an understatement. boyrobot just laughed at me and at this ridiculous #100 eats list that i was making him join me on.

but. i will forge on. i will eat every dish. they can’t all be beans on toast, right?

ps. we also had the clam chowder which was slightly better but also not that great. a little too pasty/gloopy for me.

and the prime rib sandwich which i have no pictures of but was absolutely DELISH. now that should have been on the list!

The Olde Ship
1120 W. 17th St.
Santa Ana, CA
(714) 550-6700

Tags: food

wow, it’s not often that i am impressed with vietnamese food considering i am vietnamese myself but if you are a fan of baked/grilled rice, this is the place to go. each morsel of rice was perfectly crisp. crunch crunch.

i ordered mine with the hainam chicken which was just ok. but definitely the real star is the rice. i will have to go back to try the rice with other dishes.

Luc Dinh Ky
9812 Bolsa Ave. #100
Westminster
(714) 839-6813

a few friends joined us for our food adventure on sunday

we decided to try #92 – lamb with pickled cabbage at mas’ islamic

mas’ islamic is an islamic chinese restaurant. i was really excited to try this place because i have always been curious about islamic chinese food. it sounds weird, but supposedly there is a big population of muslims living in china and this is where the food originated from. the menu consists of mostly the same thing as a regular chinese restaurant but with some differences like lamb dishes and the following sesame bread:

we had no idea it was going to be this big! but it was pretty tasty. crispy on the outside and soft and warm on the inside. it went great with the lamb. the lamb dish itself was pretty good but be prepared for some sourness because of the pickled cabbage. definitely not something i would normally order but i’m glad this list is making me try stuff i wouldn’t normally try!

and i’m glad i was introduced to this restaurant. apparently, it’s one of the most famous and highly rated islamic chinese restaurants around and i definitely would love to go back to try other dishes!

mas’ islamic restaurant
601 e. orangethorpe ave.
anaheim, ca
(714) 446-955

dinner at the vintage steakhouse

i like the theme/decor of the place…it’s like you are eating inside of a train! and it’s right next to the amtrak so you’ll randomly see the train flying by sometimes just a few feet outside your window

outside, they had a mini garden growing their own herbs. not sure which one this is?

inside, they had interesting hanging artwork that you could purchase. one of these days i’ll be rich enough to own real art to hang on my walls

time to order

while we wait, we munch on fresh baked bread and butter

unfortunately, i wasn’t too impressed with their bread….and i usually love fresh bread

i decided on the rack of lamb

again, i was disappointed. i’m not too big a fan when restaurants overpower their meats with a sauce so that i can barely taste the meat. i was also disappointed with their sweet potato fries….how do you mess that up?? but they tasted like they had been sitting out and a quarter of them were drenched in the lamb sauce deeming them unedible. the best thing on this plate was the creamed corn. but so small! boo.

on the other hand, boyrobot ordered the 16oz ribeye with the twice baked potato (after the waiter kept pushing it on us). but now i see why, both were delish. the ribeye was soooo tender and wonderfully marbled. one of the best steaks i’ve had in a restaurant actually. i realize now, always get the house specials. rarely will you be disappointed.

i also realized at this point that i could never be a food photographer. when i get my food….i want it in my tummy! i don’t really want to be futzing around with ISO and aperture settings while my food gets cold. i don’t know how those food bloggers do it.

which is why i also don’t have a picture of our dessert, white chocolate mousse with blackberries. sounds yummy right? well i’m asian and i don’t like my desserts too sweet. which this surely was. should’ve went with the peanut butter creme brulee!

despite the so-so food, it was a fun night. boyrobot always makes me laugh and we dreamt up some money making schemes that will never see the day of light but are fun to think about. love these times.

this weekend was graduation weekend for two of my cousins:

christine from ucsb

amy from ucsd

so, so proud of them!!!!

i basically spent the whole weekend driving from one end of socal to the other, spending lots of time with my family and eating SO MUCH FOOD. i think i gained 10 lbs or something. it was all worth it though. good food, good family, GOOD TIMES!

while i was at amy’s graduation, i went around shooting pictures of some of my family. sorry if i missed ya…couldn’t get everyone since some were camera shy while others were too busy shooting their own pictures. i still love you too!

g-pa: my cousin think he looks like a turtle. cute, right?

myra: my mini me. ’nuff said.

randal: always down for whatever and so sweet!

eric: wow…had no idea he was getting into photography. i took a glimpse at some of his pictures, amazing! anyways, he always surprises me, in a good way!

brian: sorry other cousins but brian is THE COOLEST. love this kid to death.

mason: this kid is smarter, more worldly than should be allowed for his age. always teaching me a thing or two!

uncle dan: always full of good advice

my pops: best dad ever!!!

boyrobot: my better half who was with me this whole weekend with my crazy family. that deserves a medal in itself.

the beginnings of vietnamese coffee ice cream thanks to two awesome housewarming gifts – a bodum french coffee press and cuisinart ice cream maker

vietnamese coffee ice cream recipe by david lebovitz

ingredients
1 cup (400 g) sweetened condensed milk
1+1/2 cup water
1/2 cup ( 1.3 oz or 40 g) + 1 tbsp dark roast ground coffee, divided
1/3 cup whole milk

method
brew a very strong coffee with 1+1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of ground coffee.
whisk together the condensed milk, espresso, milk and ground coffee.
chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

sorry there is no “after” picture, but did you really expect me to stop and snap a photo before eating this??