Open Letter

Dear members of the gay and lesbian community of Los Angeles:

When I walked up to the two lovely gentlemen to mingle, I had not realized that they were on a blind date. For that, I apologize.

Sincerely, Cat

WTH, I was at this Chinese American lawyers happy hour at The Standard, and was walking around networking with my fellow legal eagles, and suddenly I saw two white dudes standing on the side. I was like, oh, we need to show that we are a inclusive bunch, so I walked over to mingle. They seemed somewhat uneasy. Then we learned that they were here to meet, but they did not seem to know each other... hmmm... we soon put two and two together and realized we were being accidental third and fourth wheels...so I politely looked over to L and suggested that we get another round of drinks and left the love birds in peace.

A very bubbly restaurant...

I ordered salmon but got this, goodness evolution is happening fast these days... btw, thanks L for letting me borrow your flash again... I feel I should contribute to your electricity bill.

And here is L's roasted beet salad... so pretty. But, where are the beets?

Phew, that was close. This is my frequent patron card at Take a Bao in Century City Mall food court. I love their East/West fusion steaming hot bao sandwiches... but alas, I kind of threw this card in with my business cards, and almost handed it out at the lawyers' happy hour... *BLUSH* But then again, the line between prostitution and being a lawyer is rather fine :-P

California Dream'n

A recently moved from Maryland to sunny SoCal... and we met up in Katsuya in Hollywood. Pretty stainglass entrance, do you see the pair of Japanese flip flops floating on top?

We got some drinks...

...and sushi.

Afterward dinner, we strolled over to the newly opened W hotel in Hollywood... very pretty entrance, how many Ws do you see in this pic? I see three.

Hilarious pic... L was trying to take a pic too, and her blackberry's got a huge flashlight, while her flashlight illuminated the whole table, my camera took this pic, so it was a team effort. Oh yeah, we got chocolate fondue and a bunch of other desserts and I also got a Reverse Bellini... after the W we call it a day.

But our weekend get together was not over yet... the next day, L and I went over to check out A's new pad in Laguna Beach... blue sky peeking out in the courtyard...

View from A's balcony, L and I were both like... WOW. Btw, the little house in the middle with the whitish roof, well, that's my future house. But given my current salary level, I would either need to win the lottery, marry a rich man or conquer it...  decisions decisions :-P

Here is a close up of my future house. So cute. It's even got a little make out area facing the ocean...

Early dinner at Wahoo's fish taco, totally recommend the place. Yum yum.

There are so many super expensive beach houses and here is the entrance to one... people must have a lot of $$$ to have a sun/moon door.

Another view of the ocean... so beautiful and relaxing...ahhhhhhh...Welcome to Socal A, so happy to have an old friend here :-)

Kitty Pad Hunter

Teeny Tiny Townhouse for US$700,000... Location is pretty good. Should I buy it?

Luke, I am your father.

My heart almost sank when I saw the headline, U.S. Identifies Vast Mineral Riches in Afghanistan. It's like you are so naive, so idealistic, believe in doing the right thing, fighting against the forces of evil... only to wake up one day and be told you ARE the devil's spawn, the BADDIE. Now I know how Luke Skywalker felt when Darth Vader uttered the words: Luke, I am your DADDY.

I am disgusted to the core. If we are there to steal other people's resources, let's rid of this freedom, democracy charade and just go all out realpolitik. I hate hypocrisy.

Pretty in Pink

Congratulations H! I am sure you are going to be a beautiful bride :-) These bridesmaids sure know how to throw a bridal shower, I hadn't felt this feminine in a long time. K, time to go home and play with my Hello Kitty dolls :-)

I got to sit at the family table, cuz I pretended to be H's cousin only to meet her real cous. Oh well. Nice party favors too!

Yummy food spread... aside girls, aside girls, Cat coming through.

Maybe I should be a dainty, giggly girly girl for once....kekeke, how are ya, my name is Cat... kekeke... your dress is like so pretty! Woo, where did you get your nails done...kekeke...MUNCH, CHOMP, MUNCH...cover mouth...kekeke...

Jidori Chicken Soup

When I was growing up, food was still scarce in Mainland China. So it was a treat to have a chicken dish during Chinese New Year's. Mind you, the chicken we had was way better than Tyson's assembly line chicken. So much so that they taste like two different species... I remember the incredible aroma while the chicken soup is simmering... and the tenderness of the meat. So when I read in the NYT about Jidori chicken (or earth chicken), I hopped in my car and drove down Bundy to Mitsuwa.

Here is the chicken soup, just a pinch of salt and some scallions... Mmmm, so good, very umami, sure chased my post Asia trip cold away :-)

Been doing lots of NOMNOM-ing lately, so went to C and D's place to work out... since C is expecting a little C soon, D volunteered to be my personal trainer... alas, after ten minutes, he turned around and saw this... but I WAS hungry!

Dumplings!

Yum yum yum. I was over at C and D's place and we had a little dumpling party. I love making dumplings together, very conducive of group bonding: one person makes the wrapper, the others make dumplings, and Cat's job is to go gobble gobble.

Yay, chives and pork dumplings! NOM NOM NOM...

XLBs are Shanghainese!

As I've blogged before, I love Xiao Long Baos (小籠包), especially the ones at Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐). I've been to both the flagship Taipei restaurant and a Shanghai branch, both were excellent.

So, as I was recovering from jetlag and a nasty flu, I started reading some food blogs about XLBs, and to my chagrin, many people think XLBs are Taiwanese. Wha? Just because the first Din Tai Fung is opened in Taiwan, doesn't mean XLBs are Taiwanese. They are most definitely Shanghainese (see, even Wikipedia says so).

XLBs are the pride of ala Sang Hei nien (translation: us Shanghainese) -- the most sophisticated and prettiest of all Chinese, we are so awesome, so cool... K, sorry, got kinda carried away. Anyhoo, we should sue DTF for gastronomical property infringement. Shanghainese soup dumplings forever! Ahh, charrrrrge! NOM NOM NOM...