LASA LA

[Retroactive post - 6/26/20, heh heh]

We made it to our hotel in Burbank to unpack and freshen up....

LA's Chinatown looked so close on the map, but traffic was going to make this "fun"...

Tatang NoHo

[Retroactive post - written and posted on 6/26/20]

FYI - With the pandemic, this place may not be doing in-house dining. Instead, they are doing Takeout according to the four lettered site.

In a small strip mall with a nearby Mexican market is a new (at the time) Filipino eatery...

Tilt Coffee, DTLA

[FYI - This is a retroactive post...dated 4/14/19 but written and published on 6/26/20]

Due to Covid-19, this coffee bar is most likely operating quite differently than when I first visited in Spring 2019. Take heed.

After our quick snack at Sari Sari Store at the Grand Central Market...

we took a walk to find this "hidden" coffee bar...

Sari Sari Store at the Grand Central Market in L.A.

The publish date for this post may say April 23, 2019, but really... it is June 25, 2020.

Yes, I am posting retroactively...

My birthday morning - Cream Pan in Tustin + Hopper & Burr coffee in DTSA + Mexican fruit cup from vendor

Bert's bro was kind enough to let us stay in his pad overnight. TC and her cousin were able to catch up while we were crashed out...

My birthday morning was started at one of my favorite bakeries...

Irenia Part 2 - The Food

As promised...

this post will feature the food we had for my pre-bday dinner at Irenia in Santa Ana...

Irenia Part 1 - The decor + the art exhibit, "Maiden Voyage" by Patricia Ybanez

I'd recently read about Irenia and was excited to know that it was written up favorably by the late LA Times food critic, Jonathan Gold.

Since we were staying overnight at my brother in law's pad for the evening, Irenia was the perfect spot in keeping with my birthday crawl theme...

Seal Beach pier

The last time we were at Seal Beach was several years ago for a road trip.

We were passing by the area and Bert realized he had forgotten to bring his jacket...

Snacks at Thanh Tam Bakery, Garden Grove

Not too far from Bonchon was a bakery I saw that popped up on google maps.

Thanh Tam is a Vietnamese bakery and usually those establishments have pate chaud....

Bonchon, Costa Mesa

TC hadn't tried the Bonchon in San Diego yet but looked online to see that one was fairly close by...

when we came upon it, the place looked familiar...

Rapport Coffee

It was the day before my birthday and both Bert and TC were off from work and school...

That meant weekend road trip to celebrate a milestone birthday for yours truly...

Day after highlights...

Here are some highlights from the Day After My Birthday...

at a coffee stop in Eagle Rock...

Birthday Highlights - I'm now 25 x 2

Well now...

I remember when my parents hit the half century mark...

Pre-Birthday Highlights

I know it's been a while since I blogged but we were in the midst of a remodel.

Through the magic of backdating (this is really 5/16 folks...), I will be posting highlights from my milestone birthday last month...

(passing by the deactivated San Onofre nuclear power plant, but I just call it the "tits")

in which Bert, myself and TC took a Friday off to spend a 3-day weekend in the OC and LA...