Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Friday, April 17, 2009

Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles CA


Griffith Observatory
Hollywood Sign
Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory
2800 E. Observatory Rd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(213) 473-0800

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Siem Reap Asian Cuisine, Long Beach CA


I have been splitting the waking and sleeping parts of my days for the past couple of week-ends in LA, City of the Angels, and my parents' place in the OC. This past Sunday I took advantage of a break in my schedule to hang out with my parents.

I don't unfortunately take my parents out much, but when I do, I try to pack-in as much adventure as they/I can handle in the time that we have.

On this fine day, I loaded them up in the car, hit the freeway and drove north in the general direction of where excitement would be, Little Saigon, Westminster, home to 30,000 Vietnamese expatriates and a myriads of Vietnamese restaurants and shops.

As often the case, I didn't tell my parents where I was taking them. As often the case, I didn't know where I was going to take them but I had a few ideas.

We drove past the Irvine exits. That meant no Diamond Jamboree. The 55 interchange faded from our rear view. That meant no downtown Santa Ana...

Phnom Penh Noodle
Num Pa-Chok

...The Little Saigon exits came to pass, then the Huntington Beach exits.

Mom asked "where are we going?" She had obvious reason for concerns as all those off-ramps she were familiar with disappeared in the distance.

We are going to Long Beach for Cambodian food I told mom.

I had made the decision somewhere between Brookhurst and Beach while traveling north-bound on the 405. My options were running low. I proved more indecisive than usual but I couldn't just take my parents to McDonald's.

The GPS navigated us through the familiar parts of Long Beach. I used to go to school here, the California State University - Long Beach. A quirk in the Nuvi 760 routing routine took us through narrower streets.

Passing by a weathered white washed building with a graffiti styled mural on the side I remarked to mom that I like the older neighborhoods.

Dad sat silently in the back seat, taking in the conversation and the melange of Long Beach City streets. He had hardly said anything, though I was not fooled by it. He normally never missed a beat.

Siem Reap Long Beach
1810 E Anaheim St
Long Beach, CA 90813
(562) 591-7414

Monday, April 6, 2009

Friday, April 3, 2009

Edamame

Gotta love them:

Edamame