California

Day 66: Thoughtful

Fugetsu-Do peanut butter mochi

Fugetsu-Do peanut butter mochi

My stepdaughter was in town today, paying us a quick visit before heading back to school. Pictured above is a thoughtful gift she gave us: the sublime peanut butter mochi from Fugetsu-Do, a Japanese confectionery in Little Tokyo. I love the history of the store (the Kito family has owned it since 1903; yes, it’s a 112-years-old business) and even though I’m not the biggest mochi fan, their peanut butter mochi is one of my favorite desserts. My stepdaughter introduced me to this particular flavor and whenever we’re in the area, we’ll try to score a few packages.

My wife and I were excited to see her; it’s been almost two months since she was home. She arrived late last night and we all chatted until the early morning hours. Every time she comes back during her breaks from school, it’s like a new person is talking to us. She’s still the same person, obviously, but personality-wise she’s an adult now. Since I’ve known her, she’s been mature for her age, and the person she has become (and is still becoming) is intelligent, lovely, and a pleasure to know. Of course, I’m biased when I say she’s a cool kid, but I don’t care. She is.

I love hearing about her college experience, from the daily goings-on with her roommates to what she’s learning in her classes. I love discussing social justice with her and I’m so proud to see her committed to making positive changes in the world. It’s people like her that give me hope for the future and I know the world is in good hands with her around.

 

Day 65: F Is For Friday

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Belly Buster in Alhambra, CA

 

Three Fs for Friday:

1. F is for Five K: I hit up the trail this morning with my wife for our latest craze: 5K Friday. Not sure if it’s a trending hashtag, but this is our way of getting our weekends off to the right start. It always feels nice to put in a few miles at the end of the week.

2. F is for Farmer’s Market: We bought fresh fruit and veggies today at the farmer’s market. The oranges we scored were local, organic, and delicious. The veggies will be used for smoothies: my wife is a genius when it comes to making sure I get my daily dose of fruits and vegetables.

3. F is for Flashback Friday: All of the healthy living and eating today was in anticipation of my return trip to Belly Buster Sandwich Shoppe in Alhambra, CA. I haven’t had a Belly Buster sandwich in over 20 years and I’m happy to report that they still taste the same: delicious. It’s not the best sandwich I’ve ever had, but it’s comforting to know that nothing has changed over the years. Their menu still consists of the cute names for the various sizes of the sandwiches: Belly Buster, Belly Button, and Dimple. Back in the day there were several Belly Busters at Southern California malls, but they’ve been whittled down to the original location in Alhambra. I’m not complaining one bit, either. As much as I love the Belly Buster (truth: I got the Belly Button), my waistline can’t handle these gut-busters that well these days.

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Day 64: These Boots Were Made For Hiking

Monrovia Canyon Falls

It’s been too long since I’ve been on a hike. The photo above was taken at the Monrovia Canyon Falls, after a simple hike (there are a few routes with different degrees of difficulty for more ambitious hikers). My wife and I were dating at this point and once a month I’d pick a trail from Dan’s Hiking Pages (an excellent resource for Southern Californians) and we’d go conquer that trail.

Living in Southern California it’s easy to overlook all of the resources we have at our disposal. I’ve never been a gym rat, so being able to make a short drive to a hiking trail is perfect for me. I’m not a fan of watching television while on the treadmill; give me a pair of hiking boots and a decent trail and I’m more than happy. Not only is the fresh air good for the lungs, but the disconnect from electronic devices of all sorts is great for the mind as well.

One item on my bucket list is to climb Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states. I always envisioned doing it when I turned 50 years old, but after the last few years of a torn-up knee, bum back, strained Achilles, and other dings and bruises, I’ll have to do it before then, lest I suffer another physical setback.

If I don’t fulfill my Whitney quest, though, it won’t be the end of the world. I could always re-read Into Thin Air, my favorite book about conquering an even bigger mountain.

 

Day 60: Bradbury Building

The Bradbury Building

The Bradbury Building

Pictured above is one of the coolest buildings in Southern California: the Bradbury Building. It’s easy to miss as you’re admiring the architecture in this part of Los Angeles (read my Yelp review here). I love stopping here whenever I’m downtown; it’s free to gawk and take photos, but you can’t go past the second floor or ride the elevators. Movie fans will recognize the interior from Blade Runner and 500 Days of Summer.

Many moons ago I worked nearby and it’s nice seeing how they’ve revitalized the area; downtown is much cleaner and hipper these days. My favorite thing about the Bradbury Building? It’s right across the street from the Grand Central Market, where you’ll find a bevy of culinary treats, including the amazing carnitas at Las Morelianas.

Trust me on this one: checking out a historical landmark and and chowing down on pork tacos is an excellent way to spend a day date with your significant other.

Day 55: Family Celebration

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Gaviola family favorite Salo-Salo Grill was the site of another celebration tonight. Whenever we get together here, we tend to order too much food. It’s consistently excellent Filipino food, served in abundant portions. I call it The Place Where Diets Go To Die.

Clarissa Wei, one of my favorite food bloggers, recently posted this guide to Filipino food in Los Angeles. There are  some great spots listed; I’ve been to a few of them and others were new to me. I would’ve loved to have seen Salo-Salo on there, but it’s still a solid list. Newbies to Filipino food should start with her article; better yet, I’d point them to one of the Filipino-American restaurant icons of L.A.: Bernie’s Teriyaki.

Bernie’s has been serving inexpensive plates of Filipino barbecue for decades in the same location. Yes, the name suggests Japanese food, but that taste is undeniably Filipino. In fact, I prefer Bernie’s over Grill City, which was one of the places in Wei’s article. Unlike Grill City, Bernie’s doesn’t overdo it with the barbecue sauce and glaze; it’s a more subtle taste and there’s less fat on their pork sticks, which sets them apart from most Filipino barbecue.

In my family, we’re on generation three of the Bernie’s fan club.  The menu isn’t as Filipino-heavy or authentic as Salo-Salo’s menu, but those barbecue plates are deeply satisfying and inexpensive to boot. The location is ideal during baseball season: you can pick up a plate to go before making the short trek to Dodger Stadium.

Day 53: World Record

World Record for Largest Beer Tasting.

World Record for Largest Beer Tasting.

One year ago today, my wife and I helped set the Guinness World Record for Largest Beer Tasting. Yelp hosted the event at Santa Anita Park, the historic racetrack in Arcadia, CA. To set the record, 490 people blind tasted three different beers. My wife isn’t much of a beer drinker and didn’t care for two of the beers, but she liked the Shock Top Wheat Chocolate Stout beer. I liked them all, of course.

Alas, fame is fleeting: our record was broken at the end of last year. It’d be great if we could get another crack at the title. Until that happens, we’ll have fun referring to ourselves as former world record holders … and we’ll always have the glassware to prove it (as seen above).

Day 49: Time Travel

Back to the Future

Back to the Future

The Streak is over. After blogging for the first 48 days of 2015, I spaced out yesterday and forgot to post something. I usually blog around dinner time, but plans changed last night and by the time I was ready for bed I was wiped out, my quest completely forgotten.

Fortunately, thanks to the magic of WordPress I can change the date of this post to yesterday. Like Superman turning back the clock to save Lois Lane from death-by-earthquake*, I can travel back in time to post my 49th blog of the year. The Quest continues!

My earliest recollection of time travel, aside from childhood games, was the Twilight Zone episode “The Rip Van Winkle Caper.” Four criminals steal $1 million and hide in a cave, where their leader has them enter suspended animation chambers. Their plan is to lay low for 100 years and wake up when their crime is forgotten: outrunning the law through the use of science. Of course, this being the Twilight Zone, nothing goes according to plan and the bad guys get their comeuppance. I’ll never forget the criminal mastermind (played by the fantastic Oscar Beregi) at the end of episode, desperate and dying, trying to barter for his life.

Another time-travel favorite of my youth was Back to the Future. I won’t rehash the well-known plot here, but two things I remember from that movie are 1) vest that Marty McFly wears throughout was similar to one I wore throughout middle school, as my wife likes to tease/remind me and 2) the mall parking lot scenes that bookend the film were filmed at the still-standing Puente Hills Mall. Whenever I visit the mall, I’m tempted to tear through the parking lot at 88 MPH.

Finally, during my senior year at UCSB, I read Captain Blackman for my senior thesis. It’s a novel that moves back and forth in time, exploring the role of African-Americans in the U.S. military in different wars, as told by its African-American protagonist. Captain Blackman was one of a handful of books I kept from college and I’ve been meaning to re-read it for years. If only I could travel back in time to read it instead of wasting my time rooting for a bad football team.

*I always get a kick out of Superman geeks that get fired up about that ending, talking about the impossibility of Superman reversing time like that. People, we are talking about an alien that has x-ray vision, superhuman strength, and FLIES. 

Day 47: Links

Links at Terranea. Pacific Ocean in the background.

 

Spent the morning at the Links at Terranea, a 9-hole par-3 golf course in beautiful Ranchos Palos Verdes. My quest to break 100 on a golf course is on hold right now as I shake off my latest injury, this time to my elbow. But I couldn’t resist the chance to play with a good friend of mine, especially after he scored a deal on Groupon: $25 for the round, including a push cart, which was half off the regular rate.

When I drove there today, I passed the nearby Trump National golf course, which is out of my price range ($300+ for a round). Terranea offers an affordable alternative and even though the views weren’t as spectacular as Trump’s, it was still a gorgeous place to play golf (despite today’s marine layer that refused to burn off until after we had played). I wouldn’t recommend paying more than the $25 discounted rate we scored, though; the greens weren’t as good as some of the $10-and-under courses I’ve played (Los Feliz and Glen Oaks, to name just two).

Overall, though, I’d suggest playing here at least once for the views and links-style golf. It was my first experience with this type of golf, which requires lower-trajectory shots that won’t be affected as dramatically by the ocean winds. There were a few slight breezes today, but on the final hole, my playing partners and I all looked on as each of our tee shots was hung up in the winds and dropped short of the green. Lesson learned for my next visit here: club up, practice those stingers, and make sure Groupon has a deal.

Day 22: Ice Cream on a Cold Night

Handel's $1.25 scoop

Handel’s $1.25 scoop

There’s nothing better than a scoop of ice cream on a cold night. Over at Handel’s they serve scrumptious ice cream every day of the week, but my favorite day to visit is Thursday, when all single scoops are $1.25 each (normally $3.70).

According to their website, Handel’s originated in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1945. Although most of their stores are in Ohio, they’ve slowly added locations in several states and they have three spots in California: Rancho Cucamonga, Redondo Beach, and Upland.

Handel’s was ranked No. 1 ice cream by National Geographic’s 10 Best of Everything guide and it’s easy to see why. Every flavor I’ve had is fresher and creamier than other ice creams. While I’ll always be a fan of Thrifty’s Chocolate Malted Crunch, it doesn’t compare to the heavenly flavors at Handel’s. My two personal favorites: Blueberry Cobbler and Spouse Like a House (pictured above, it is a satisfying vanilla malt ice cream with peanut butter ripple and chocolate covered pretzels filled with peanut butter).

There are over 100 flavors that change daily and for regular readers of this blog: no, I will not be adding a Try Every Flavor at Handel’s to my 2015 goals. There aren’t enough cold nights in Southern California for that.