Katuray salad

[Retro post - recently looked for these pix which were taken in summer of 2017 but am posting them Aug 2019 so I can have a post during that month, ha ha]

My parents recently gave us these interesting flower...

which were placed in a ziploc bag...

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...

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...

Karangalan Scholarship Fundraiser dinner at Tidal (Spring 2017)

Although this is dated March 8, this was supposed to be posted back in Spring 2017.

Yes, more than 2 years ago.

I am going through my drafts and realized I never posted on this Filipino fusion dinner, so here goes.

The occasion was for a Filipino American scholarship fundraiser for my district...

Tambayan Filipino BBQ and Grill

I was at a community function earlier today,

and had plans to go out with D, who picked me up from said function...

Paradise Hills Night Market 2017 recap

Talk about procrastination...

(not us, but some other folks we were following as we headed to Penn Athletic Field)
This is a post for last year's Paradise Hills Night Market...

which debuted last year and will be returning....

Mexipino Craft

Yesterday I was out with two of the Educator GF's...

TORC was MIA but will hopefully join D, KD and I in our future excursion...

Sarap Tikman 2 - Overdue post

I realize this event occurred almost one year ago...

but better late than never, heh...

Mostra Coffee, grand opening

Yesterday Bert and I got up pretty damn early

so we could drive up for Mostra's grand opening...

Christmas decor at the Parol Festival 2017

Bert sent me this photos from the 20th Parol Festival...

held at the Jacobs Center for Innovation. I didn't go this year...

"Disruptions" exhibit at Pinta Dos Gallery, downtown San Pedro

First Thursday for San Pedro's Art Walk was in full swing...

we were here to check out an exhibit at an art gallery in the Arcade, a historic building in downtown San Pedro...

The artist was supposed to be there that evening...

The former Rizal Social Club, Little Manila

While on our way to the Little Manila Historic Site, we passed by this building, home of Iloilo Circle. I wasn't previously aware of its existence and snapped the shot only because I suspected it was a Filipino organization.

(Iloilo is a city on the island of Panay (Visayas region of the Philippines)

Iloilo Circle turned out to one of the last three remaining structures along with Daguhoy Lodge and the Dimasalang House all of which were Filipino fraternal societies founded by pioneer bachelor Philippine immigrants who ventured to the U.S. and toiled the agricultural fields in the 1920's and 30's.

The Little Manila Historic Site recognizes the last remaining few buildings in what was once a thriving Filipino community in Stockton, California....

Papa Urb's Grill, Stockton

I was hoping to visit a couple of nearby coffee places and have us check out historic Little Manila afterwards...but first, LUNCH!

And as luck would have it, the perfect place was right next door to the FANHS National Museum...

Horrible Monster Scene mural near Kababayan and inside Snoice + snacks!

After Cathy and I had breakfast, we got lost meandered through Paradise Hills...

we went to Island Pacific Seafood Market in National City to look around as well as a nearby Philippine clothing shop a few steps away from Tita's Kitchenette...

The Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) National Museum

A few blocks from where we parked was our destinaton...

located in the historic Newberry Building in downtown Stockton.

Founded as an All American five and dime store in the 1911, Newberry's was a retail giant in past years nationwide. The Stockton location was shuttered in 1997 but recently reopened two decades later with various tenants...

Kindness & Mischief revisit

Pickup up where I left off from our breakfast repast at Penny's Burgers...

we were back on Figueroa Street...

It was time for some coffee and hopefully some pastries at a coffee shop Cathy and I visited earlier that summer...

Mostra Coffee's "Super Saturday" @ The Cork & Craft + a peek at their upcoming store

When I saw this...

I knew we had to go...

It wasn't quite 9 am yet but there was a small line...

Filipino Revisits - MJ's, Halphen Red and Halo Halo

MJ's  is in this corner strip mall, Otay Lakes Plaza.

There used to be a Hollywood Video there which has since been replaced by a paint store.

The strip mall has a few places to eat that we like such as MJ's and Halphen Red.

We made it through the rain...to Pasadena - Pho Banh Mi Che Cali, Cafe 86 and Copa Vida

The weather when we left San Diego was relatively decent, albeit cloudy with an impending storm.

It wasn't until later in the afternoon that the rain started barreling in...