After our Roscoe’s trip we went back to my friend’s place in Torrance and spent the afternoon catching up. Later that night, we met up with some more friends for dinner at Kushiage. It’s Japanese and similar to Yakitori (skewers) except deep fried. As we all know, anything fried is is freakin’ delicious.
Here’s a little bit of the menu. But the skewers are on a separate menu. They range from $1-$3 per skewer.
My kabarkada Lyndy is also in LA so we all had to meet up.
Here’s our first plate. They all look the same so I didn’t photograph them individually. Since they’re breaded, I didn’t really know what I was eating until I bit into it. Like I said they all look the same on the outside. It’s like surprise eating. Haha.
Here we have the Okonomi Mashed Potato. They put hot milk and boiled potato and you have to mash it and put your chosen toppings (which they also provide). It’s like “make your own, play with your food” mashed potatoes. It was delicious though, however way you make it. Can’t go wrong.
Sizzling Sauteed Pork Cheek – this was sooooo good. The pork was super tender and it was very tasty. It would’ve been good with rice.
Skewer Plate #2 – there’s some chicken in there, some fried mochi and cheese, chicken sausage and some squid.
Wagyu Tataki – AWESOME.
Sweet Prawn – don’t be fooled. huge skewers but just a small bit of meat.
All our skewers.
The place is small so call to make reservations. Also the service is kinda spotty, considering it’s just skewers, it took a while to be served.
Kushiage Dining Horon
2143 182nd St
Torrance, CA 90504
(310) 515-6147
I was just in Los Angeles. While I am fiercely loyal to Northern California, LA is starting to grow on me. What’s not to like? Every time I go, I have an amazing time!!
I’m lucky that one of my best friends lives there so the last two times I went, I got to stay with her. I haven’t seen her in ages so LA aside, it’s always nice to kick back, relax and catch up with an old friend.
(Before anything, shoutouts – HUGE thank you to IL squared for being great hosts, teaching me the ways of the deaf and going on foodie adventures with me and thank you also to DM for patiently showing and driving me(us) around 😀 I can’t wait to come back.)
Day 1
I flew in early Saturday morning and what better way to start the trip by hittin’ up Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles in Long Beach. Apparently this is rated one of the best (if not the best) place to get your Soul Food fix. Celebs go, Snoop Dogg speaks highly of it… so of course I gotta go when the Snoop Dizzle recommends it. I had only three things I wanted to order, fried chicken, a waffle and a side of Mac & Cheese which I hear is the bomb (it’s not.)
I know most Filipinos are not familiar with the combination of fried chicken and waffle. But the taste of something soft and sweet (ex. waffle) paired with crunchy salty (ex. chicken) is something that appeals to many palates. Chicken and Waffles happens to be the Soul Food version of this salty/sweet flavor profile.
Here’s the waffle – this was good. I like my waffles a little more firm. I don’t typically douse my waffle in syrup for this reason. Too much syrup makes the texture all soggy and I don’t like that. This was soft all on its own which made the texture all pasty. Taste was good though.
The Chicken, yummy. HUGE pieces of chicken that are quite juicy. Yes, greasy, but what can you expect.. it’s fried chicken.
The Mac & Cheese is good.. not as great as everyone said it would be.
Their gravy is something worth mentioning. Very flavorful. Could put it on anything. I didn’t get to take a picture of it though.
Prices, not cheap as one would think. It’ll cost you around $10-$15 per person, not including drinks. We split all our food which is how we got away with paying $10 per person. Also, the wait can be insanely long so plan ahead or be prepared to wait.
This meal put me into a food coma. Afterwards we head home to take naps. Haha. We were that full and that sleep. But Roscoe’s is definitely worth a visit, especially to say you had Soul Food and at this LA institution, no less.
(LA trip – to be continued)
This is a delayed post from my flight to Cali. I took photos of my dining experience in the economy class, PR 104 from Manila to San Francisco.
I have to hand it to PAL, the food isn’t bad. The entrees are served hot and the taste is actually good. Goldilocks, you get a HUGE thumbs down from me for that crappy excuse for dessert you provided. If you see this jello-cream concoction on your tray, please stay away from it, it is disgusting and will give you a tummy ache. On a 12-hour flight, it’s not good to have a tummy ache.
Here we have the Beef Kaldereta.
This is some Fish dish that wasn’t that memorable.
For breakfast it was sausages.
Chicken Adobo is the winner, this was good, saucy and yummy.
Dessert for breakfast was Lychees. I thought this was awesome because I love lychees. Kinda fancy..especially for economy class.
Word of advice: If you ever find yourself on a PAL flight, choose the Filipino dish. It’s usually the better option.
I am in California, staying with my family in the Bay Area. I’ve been visiting almost every summer since I can remember. I practically grew up here, it’s my second home. 🙂 I love it here.
Since we live in the suburbs, we took the BART into San Francisco today.
Check out the nice views from the train.
Here is my grumpy brother on the train..
We went window shopping in Union Square in San Francisco! It’s such a gorgeous city. I would love to live here one day.
They had these nice heart art pieces in the park. Couldn’t resist being touristy and snap photos.
I want a Chanel Iconic Classic Bag.. in Navy lambskin jumbo size. This is my goal “must have before I turn 30” bag. Excuse the ugly expression on my face haha. Yikes, too excited.
Artsy Golden Gate Bridge I saw at Anthropologie.
Window shopping makes one hungry so we ate at Cafe Bistro at the top of Nordstrom. I love this restaurant, their food is actually really good. It’s comfort food.
And they have a nice view of Powell Street.
The Salt & Pepper Shakers were fancy.
Mom & I (it’s no make-up day! woops)
I get this sandwich whenever I dine at Cafe Bistro – Steak Sandwich which is sliced flat iron steak, blue cheese, organic arugula, aioli and fried shallots with french fries and olive mayonnaise. This is so amazing!!!
Dungeness Crab and Shrimp Sandwich. My brother had this, he said it was delicious. He inhaled it, I barely had time to photograph it.
I stole this photo of out server who looked a lot like Sylvester Stallone. Even if you can’t see it clearly. If you ever go, you’ll see him and you’ll know what I mean.
Our bill. Expensive because in US Dollars not pesos. Haha.
What a great day. We didn’t have time to go to Fisherman’s Wharf for some good chowder but we will be doing that a different day for sure. 🙂
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The thing about Speed Dating…
It’s the Friday night before I fly to the US and instead of frantically packing, I spend it Speed Dating at an event in Makati. I’ve always been curious so when my friend Keit called to invite me, I was game. A few new friends can’t hurt, I figure.
The Mechanics of Speed Dating
So I get to the venue and I’m a mix between nervous and excited. It’s a Filipino-Chinese event so all the attendees need to have this prerequisite to participate. Anyone who is friends with me knows that although I am Chinese by blood, I really am 100% Filipino. I instantly feel a little left out because everyone seems predominantly Chinese but it’s too late to back out. I bump into a few people that I know which is comforting yet a little embarrassing. “Oh no.. what will they think of me now that they’ve seen me here, do I seem desperate?” I resist the urge to run and hide. Instead, I constantly remind myself that I’m there just for fun and to not take it too seriously.
Speed Dating is the most artificial social setting imaginable. It’s almost like a science experiment. Picture this, 54 people (around 27 guys and girls) thrown into a room and forced to interact for a specific amount of time. I was given a sheet of paper with all the male participants and was to check off “interested” or “not interested” based on the allotted 3 minute interaction. Given the time constraint, I found that we ended up talking about “the basics” – where you’re from, what you do for a living, your age, which schools (highschool and college) you went to. If there is a little more time, we talked about whether it’s your first time speed dating and how it’s going so far. Usually that’s all that can be covered in 3 minutes. Very few times did we deviate from this standard spiel. Depending on chemistry, 3 minutes is either way too long or not long enough. Inevitably, the bell rings and I’m facing a new person. It’s forced to be sure, you have to really engage in small talk. What’s crazy is you have to repeat this process about 30 times.
I was enthusiastic in the beginning. As the night wore on, my energy began to fade and I got tired of talking about the same stuff. I started telling my “dates” random stuff just to spice up the conversation. Some responded well, others stuck to “the basics.” To sum them all up, I met an assassin (attempt at humor, doubt he was really an assassin), a guy I knew I was going to block from Facebook after the 3rd minute ended, a photographer, a bunch of IT guys, a bunch of engineers, a few banking consultants, a world traveler, a couple of guys in construction businesses, and a gay guy. (what the- ?) Personalities ranged from loud and overconfident to shy and awkward. Some were there out of curiosity, some got dragged into it, some were veteran speed daters(wow!), some for the heck of it and others seriously looking for relationships. All in all, they were all pretty good dates, definitely real nice guys and I had a fun and interesting time.
Check as you go
I thought it was rude to check off my “interested/not interested” list as I went along so I waited until the very end to do so. This was a mistake. Due to the sheer volume of interactions, many of the dates fused together in my mind and at the end of the night, I was looking at my list thinking “Oh no, who is ____ again?” I had no clue who some of them were. I had a little help because I had made little notes for some, and others I recalled as instant No or Yes. Those were easy to decide. But the rest of the guys I couldn’t remember were “in the middle” dates – ones who seemed sweet, genuinely nice, were a little dry, quite shy and definitely needed more than 3 minutes to make an impression. I wonder if these “in the middle” guys are a symbol of the nice guys out there that are borderline forgettable and easily overshadowed by the confident flashy boys. I felt bad. I wanted to check them all off as interested (around 10ish names) but I checked most of them not interested. (Sorry Guys..) I guess there’s a reason I don’t really remember them. But then again, I bet most of them don’t remember me either. 3 minutes really isn’t enough to do anyone justice.
By the way I have to put this out there — indicating “interested” made me feel a little wary because my intent was to make friends first not romantic connections. A relationship is not born from 3 minutes of talk time. While most of the boys there knew this, the few seriously looking ones.. I don’t know.
The Numbers Game
For you to get in touch with the date that intrigued you the most, they have to be interested in you too. If the interest is mutual (as indicated by the list) that’s the only time the organizers will provide you with their contact information. I was interested in about 14 dates. I got around half as “mutually intererested.” Out of the names I received, only a third have contacted me. This is the part where I’m confused. I’m the girl, am I supposed to be the one to reach out? I realized that if no one takes initiative to make contact, then the speed dating will all be in vain.
The Psychology behind the Uninterested
Then there are the guys that I was interested in but didn’t feel the same way. I felt kinda sad because those guys seemed extremely cool and I wanted to be friends with them. But they obviously didn’t want to be friends with me. I saw my list and I was like “wait, where’s ____ and ____? Oh. Aww… they didn’t check me. :-(” What was wrong with me? 🙁 Not gonna lie.. my ego is hurting a little. Haha. Outright rejection hurts!
The What-ifs..
What if I run into the guys I’ve speed dated with at the mall? Do I approach them? Should I say Hi knowing that they were totally uninterested in me? What if they say hi to me and I don’t recall them at all or vice versa? What if they go “oh I checked you” then how do I respond? What if I meet one of these guys in a business setting? Oh man, the awkward possibilities!! I’m already cringing. Gosh. Haha. I know I’m being silly thinking of these things but I can’t help it.
Final Word on Speed Dating
The chances of finding The One at Speed Dating are as about likely as meeting Mr. Right at a club, meaning you probably won’t. However, it’s a great way to make friends. It’s fun and interesting albeit a bit exhausting. There’s nothing to lose. I’d do it again but maybe in a few months. I’m still recovering from this one. 🙂