Los Angeles - The Grove, Farmer's market

The Grove is one the famous malls in Los Angeles. It's located in a busy area. It took us a while to find parking around the area. The mall definitely compliments Los Angeles very well because it's outdoors and the sunny weather just makes the mall so relaxing and more comfortable to walk in. The mall is quite big and there are definitely a lot of brand names there such as Banana Republic, Abercrombie, J Crew, etc. 

The Abercrombie store is a must go! That Abercrombie is huge and they also sell their underwear line that a lot of Abercrombies don't carry, at least all the ones I've been to. 

We didn't even have to think about where we eat when we saw The Cheesecake Factory. Because we didn't go during lunch time or dinner time, we didn't have to wait for seats though it was still pretty packed. Since we were looking for a place to sit down and to replenish our energy, we only order a few things. We also used their wifi. Of course, The Cheesecake Factory never disappoints. 

We ordered Chicken pasta, crab cakes, Vietnamese style bun. 

As we walked around The Grove, we saw the filming of Entertainment with Mario Lopez!



We then walked over to the farmers market. The market is super clean and there are a lot of very interesting stores.

This is a store that just sells hot sauce, all types of hot sauce. 

Los Angeles - Camarillo Premium Outlet, In n Out, Miyako Hybrid Hotel,Mitsuwa Marketplace

As soon as we got off the plane, we looked for the shuttle bus that would bring us to the company where we rented our car. We heard that in L.A., having a car is a must and since there's 3 of us, we thought it would be better that way. We asked for GPS installed, and Garmin became our best friend during this trip.

Our first stop: SHOPPING!

We decided to hit the Camarillo Premium Outlet first because it is quite far from everything. It was an hour drive from the airport and an hour drive to our hotel from the outlet. My boyfriend is not much of a shopper but his sister and I enjoyed every bit of it. I actually wished we stayed there longer and because it was far from where we were going for the next few days, that was no way we could go back.

Shops included Steve Madden, Kate Spade, J Crew, Michael Kors, Neiman Marcus Last Call, Tory Burch, Saks Fifth Avenue off 5th, UGG, Coach, Tumi, Samsonite, Barney's New York Outlet, Cotton On, Forever21, etc.

Here are what my boyfriend's sister and I bought. I should've bought more now that I think about it.

During our drive to the outlet, we had to stop by In-n-Out Burger first! This location is so busy! They had a person outside taking your drive-thru orders. This was my first time at In-n-Out. It was definitely an eye-opener. Their burger was juicy and fresh. I really enjoyed the bun with the burger. I saw them using the potato cutter to cut the fries manually. I wouldn't say their fries are better than McDonald's, but it definitely has more potato than McDonald's.

We stayed at Miyako Hybrid hotel in Terrance. Because it is not located in the city, the hotel was cheaper but we had a car, so it wasn't bad for us at all. I was really surprised how nice the hotel is. The hotel was super clean and organized. It is located right beside a Japanese marketplace, Mitsuwa, which was an awesome supermarket which we went there almost every day.

The shower is a Japanese style shower. There's a bucket and chair there which is common for Japanese. Japanese usually cleanse themselves by sitting on the chair and then they would go in for a bath. 

Their toilet is those fancy Japanese toilet that cleans you after you go to the bathroom.

Their lobby is really nice and their rooms are really clean and neat. There's free wifi. They have a huge free parking lot for hotel guests which is nice given that it is common for visitors to rent out cars. They have a lounge/bar downstairs but we didn't go. This is a hotel that I definitely recommend because it's a quiet neighbourhood and this is a really nice hotel for its price. 

Mitsuwa from our hotel room

We visited Mitsuwa the next morning and got breakfast there. We were lucky enough to have this special onigiri (rice balls wrapped in seaweed) place there for the weekend we were there. They are a Japanese brand and Mitsuwa probably invited them. I've never seen onigiri in such a nice presentation. Onigiri is considered a quick eat in japan because it's easy to eat on the go. It's also cheap because there are only a few ingredients. 

They were located right at the entrance. 

Every onigiri was freshly made daily 

We ordered a few of their famous ones, shrimp tempura, unagi and Egg. They were the best onigiri I've had in my life. They tasted so good because they were so fresh. The ones we usually eat are found at convenience stores so they are pre-made already. They also use quality ingredients or ingredients you don't normally find in an onigiri. The typical ingredients in onigiri includes plum, tuna, and salmon. These onigiri also have sauces which makes them less dry and makes eating onigiri more enjoyable.

They were so good that we had to go back the next day to buy more. We got katsu cutlet and salmon. 

Mitsuwa also have another food court. Because we went there during morning time, a lot of the stores in the food court were still prepping. We were able to snag some delicious cakes though. These cakes are from one of the stores in the food court and their cakes look so good. I have to say they are not cheap though but worth every penny. Look at how big the slice is and how many layers are in the matcha strawberry.

Tiramisu. So good, each layer is so distinct. My mouth is watering while typing this. This cake shop is a must try! You will fall in love. 

Cafe Regalade

We were debating between Cafe Ragalade and Oakwood since they are very close to each other. We ended up choosing Cafe Ragalade because there was a 25 mins wait at Oakwood.

We wanted to look at The brunch menu but we couldn't find it on their website nor at the door. We got seated right away at Cafe Ragalade. The waitress attended to us right away and provided us with a brunch menu, an omelette menu and a regular lunch menu.

Some interesting pig decoration. The place was just quite packed too.

I ordered the Lyon breakfast from the brunch menu ($14) which has 2 soft boiled eggs, pearl onions, mushroom, spinach and bacon bits with red wine sauce along with salad and pan fried potatoes on the sides. 

The red wine sauce was so good. It held everything together. The sauce is very rich and sweet which came from the pearl onions. As a Chinese, I would' e had it with a bowl of rice. Nonetheless, it was still a very delicious dish and I enjoyed it a lot. I couldn't stop eating and finished the whole dish. 

The runny egg yolk

The potatoes is different than the usual pan fried potatoes because it's not greasy or oily. It's also not burnt. The flavour is not very strong with little seasoning of salt and herbs. Because the potatoes flavour wasn't as flavourful, it complimented the red wine sauce very well. 

I was surprise at the salad at first because the vinegrette was quite strong but once I misxed it together, it also complimented the red wine sauce well.

Boyfriend orders the Toulouse breakfast with 2 soft boiled eggs, sausage, bacon, and whit beans and also served with potatoes and salad for $14. Compared the 2 breakfast, I liked the Lyon better all because of the sauce. I liked the bacon of the Toulouse. The bacon is not dry at all. The sausage tasted like ordinary sausage. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this place and the price is reasonable considering its French food. It's simple and honest cooking. There aren't many ingredients and yet you can taste the complex flavours. I would like to come back and try their omelette. 

Ernest Ice Cream - Vancouver, BC

I've heard many of my friends raved about the ice cream here and since I make ice cream at home, they all say I have to try this place. We came here on a sunny day in the afternoon. It was fairly empty when we came. I really love their decor, very simple and earthy. I was confused when I first got there, because unlike normal ice cream store, they don't have the display area where you can see the ice cream. The girl greeted us and we looked at the menu. They have some very interesting flavours like candy bar, sweet potato casserole, whiskey hazelnut. I tried the sweet potato casserole and it indeed tasted very much like its name. Boyfriend tried whiskey hazelnut. 

We ended up getting whiskey hazelnut (light color) and salted caramel for $7. The girl said the salted caramel is one of the most popular one and I can see why. The caramel flavour builds in your mouth and the ice cream is super smooth. The flavours are very distinct. After trying the whiskey hazelnut, I actually prefer that better. I can see myself finishing a whole pint of whiskey hazelnut sitting in front of the tv. The whiskey flavour is definitely there but the bitterness of the alcohol is not there. Unlike other hazelnut ice cream, they have whole hazelnut in there and roasted which added more crunch to it which I enjoy. Another reason why I prefer whiskey hazelnut better is the salted caramel just keeps getting sweeter and sweeter where the whiskey flavour balances out the hazelnut flavour and keeps the flavour less sweet. Their ice cream is definitely one of the smoothest ice cream I've had. 

Bandidas Taqueria - Vancouver, BC

After partying on Friday night, what's better than a heartwarming brunch on a rainy Saturday morning. Boyfriend and I wanted to try something different so we found this place on Commercial Drive. Looking at the reviews, I was afraid there might be a long line up. It took us a while to find parking as we missed the restaurant first time around because it was right at the corner of E12 th and Commercial. When we got there, there were probably 2-3 groups in front of us. However, because there were only two of us and we didn't mind sitting at the bar, we got a table right away. 

The restaurant isn't too big and it was still full house considering it was pouring outside. I actually enjoyed sitting at the bar because I was able to see he chefs in action.

There were too many options on the menu and we asked the waitress what to recommend. Based on her recommendation, I ordered the breakfast burrito baked with sauce and cheese for $10.75 and boyfriend ordered Benny with salsa verde. 

The burrito was huge and of course I wasn't able to finish. The burrito had scrambled eggs, beans, sour cream and cheese. Make sure you get it with cheese and sauce.  In my opinion, it would not taste as good if it didn't have the sauce and cheese. Each bite was just so flavourful. It was simple cooking and the Mexican flavours weren't overwhelming at all. I could not stop eating. Everything tasted so good with each other. I thought I would probably be able to finish half of it but it was so good and I only had a quarter of it left. I couldn't really figure out what was in the sauce but it wasn't overwhelmed with tomato flavours. It was really good!  

The aftermath...

Boyfriends Hick's Benny came with scrambled eggs, corn bread, roasted potatoes and yams, pinto beans, red cabbage. It's definitely a small plate but filled with food. 

You can see the runny yolk from the soft boiled egg. I personally am not a fan of corn bread so
I didn't really enjoy it nor was I able to tell if it's good or not. The red cabbage has some lemon flavour. I really enjoyed the beans. It's soft and flavourful. The roasted yam and potatoes were cooked well too. It was a very heartwarming dish. I did enjoy my burito more though just because I like food that's more saucy as well as I love anything with baked cheese.

Sushimoto - Burnaby, BC

I've wanted to try the sushi places in Burnaby because I've heard good things about it. My best friend and I decided to go this weekend. I looked up a few places in Burnaby and decided to give this place a try. 

They are located right beside a skytrain station so it's easy to get to. We were able to find free parking at the end of the road. We went at around 1:30pm on a Saturday. We were surprised to see the restaurant was so empty; there were only two other tables in the restaurant. 

There were lots to choose from on the menu. They had lots of different rolls, sushi and other hot food as well. It took us a while to decide what to get. 

We ordered 2 pieces of seared scallops sushi for $2.5 each (Aburi Hotate). Because it's between raw and cooked, the scallop was very sweet and melted in my mouth. It was a good balance between the rice and sushi. I really don't like it when they give too much rice with sushi and all you can taste is rice. The sauce was also sweet, kind of like terriyaki sauce but it was not as sweet as that and not as strong that it overpowered the scallop. 

We then ordered 5 pieces of seared salmon and 5 pieces of seared saba aburi. I definitely preferred the salmon over the saba. Because it was seared, the salmon was really soft and tender. It had the texture of sashimi but the taste of cooked salmon. I found the saba to be a bit too fishy even though they had some citrus or ginger there to balance it off. 

Lastly, we ordered the saint daniel roll. It had seared beef on top with cucumber, avocado and spicy mayo sauce. I was worried about the sauce being too spicy but I was glad it wasn't too bad. I really enjoyed the roll. However, as we were picking the sushi up, it was falling apart which meant the sushi chef didn't roll it good enough.

I would want to come back again to try their other sushi since I haven't tried a place in Richmond that has good seared and aburi sushi.  I would say their prices aren't that expensive. It came down to be $18 per person including tips.

Ess-A-Bagel - New York City

I have to say this is the best bagel I've ever had. My boyfriend and I was looking for local eats when we were in NYC and we came upon this shop when looking at reviews online. When we looked from the outside, we were wondering if it was open. When we went inside, there was already a huge line up. They had a lot of staff and the menu looked complicated. We were trying to digest the menu and was glad that the line up was long so there was enough time for us to see how to order. 

Here's how to order: 

1. Pick the type of bagel ( and they have lots to choose from. They make their own bagels in house too. )

2. Pick the cream cheese you want. I chose the regular

3. Pick the meats. 

4. Pick Add - ons ( such a pickles, olives, peppers, eggs) 

If you don't like to make your own, you can also order combo sandwiches. 

Their cream cheese is to die for. I really wanted to buy the cream cheese and bring it back home. They have so many different kinds of cream cheese too. Boyfriend normally doesn't like cream cheese but he really liked theirs too. You can see they are very generous with the cream cheese. The table of 4 beside us, ordered a container of cream cheese and each got a slice of bagel and just ate it like that. Even though my bagel so was simple, it was so delicious. The bagel was toasted, so when I took a bite, you can hear the crunch. Because the bagel was freshly made, the bread was super fluffy. I really wanted to go back the next day, but boyfriend insisted that we should try something new since we are on a trip. If I could, I would come everyday to buy their bagels.

One thing I have to say is that I felt like I was so rushed when I was ordering because they were so efficient with the order and there was no way I could go back and change my order. I also would say they have ok service. You can't really compare the service to high-end restaurants, but they get their job done, which is what I care about at the end of the day.

I would say their prices are reasonable considering it New York and for breakfast. If I go back to New York in the future, I will try out their other cream cheese and find a way to bring some back with me.