Crepe Maker in Irvine Spectrum

Before I start writing about the crepe place today,
Let me tell you what I have been munching on the whole day first.

As I woke up with an empty stomach,
I reached my pot and heated up one plate of soup to start out my day.
Later on I successfully murdered one giant watermelon and cut it into pieces, with a few in my belly and never will see the sunlight again.

Shortly after two hours, I finished up one plate of pasta which I made few days ago.

I couldn't really do anything with this full stomach, so I just sat there watching this Japanese movie directed by Akira Kurosawa,
Unfortunately, the dvd just died on me approximately during the last 10 minutes due to mysterious scratches.
Oh well, I should have guess the ending already after watching numerous films with the same director.
By the way, I was watching Umi Wa Miteita (The Sea is Watching),
If any of you know the final ending, please feel free to contact me in any way.

Then I decided to stop by Tea Station for boba after my first half of lazy afternoon,
Laid my fat on the chair, flipped through several Taiwanese style paparazzi magazines.
Enough,
I need to walk around.

"Sadly," I saw this creperie on the way....

Crepe Maker-


Couldn't take my mind out of nutella crepes....so I surrendered....to this yummy devil...

Black and White (Nutella and Fresh Banana)-


Cindy's Rating: 5

Did I mention anything about I'm having a small Bar-B-Que in one hour?
That possibly equals to 3 pieces of large chicken, one hot dog (with the bun), 1 quesadilla with whatever I gonna put inside, and some drinks...

I do have a really bad eating habit...


Crepe Maker
73 Fortune Drive #105
Irvine, CA 92618
(949) 585-9898

http://www.crepemaker.com/

Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup

I usually just go for huge amount of food when my stomach is grumbling,
It's hard for me to just eat a little bit, I always want to be full, really full, which is undoubtedly bad eating habit.
Hoping that after I make the soup, I'll just keep my mind focus on it when hunger calls.

Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup-


Ingredients?-


One can of cream style sweet corn
2 handful of chicken thigh (bite size)
2 stalks of scallion (chopped)
Half onion (chopped)
3 slices of ginger
3 eggs (beaten)
Fresh grounded black pepper
3 pinches of salt
Corn starch
Olive oil
2 table spoons of heavy whipped cream
Water
Chicken stock

How?

Starting with a deep pot, drizzle some olive oil and pan-fry the ginger slices.
About 2 minutes, add the onion and continue to fry it till the color turned translucent.
Pour in the chicken and cook till golden brown on the edges.
Go ahead and add the scallion along with the canned corn.
Sprinkle some salt and pepper.

Pour in the chicken stock till slightly over the ingredients, also couple cups of water, bring to a boil.
Pick out the ginger, or just leave it there if you prefer a stronger taste.
Stir in the whipped cream if desired.

Mix the corn starch together with about 1 tablespoon of water and pout that into the soup to thicken it.
Keep stirring! You don't wanna see corn starch chunks in the soup.
Now just dump in the beaten eggs and this super easy chicken soup is ready to go!

Close-Up of My Super Easy Soup-


Nothing can be easier than this,
You don't even need to wait for hours for the soup to be ready,
Now just pray that I can see some improvements in my eating habit.

Cindy's Rating: 5

Adapted from: http://cookalmostanything.blogspot.com/2007/07/weekend-herb-blogging-93.html

Koji's "Fine" Sushi & Shabu Shabu

Koji's Glamorous Outdoor Display-


The place may look glamorous, but don't be fooled by its alluring appearance.
Let the crappy journey of Koji begins.

As I arrived at the restaurant, I've been told that the approximate waiting time is 40 mins, which is totally fine with me.
So I strolled around The Block for about 25 minutes and returned to Koji.

The hostess with crappy face led us to this spot where there were 5 pots ready for the customers to dine in.
And she suddenly came to realization that it was only me and my friend.
She just let us stood there, made her trip all the way back to the front, walked back to us and said,
"Oh sorry, it's actually for a party of five, could you place wait at the front again and your table will be ready in five minutes? We're out of pots here."

Me: Annoyed level = 6 (everything is still under control...don't panic..)

1 minute...3 minutes...5 minutes...probably after 10 minutes or longer,
She, the crappy face hostess finally came to us and gave us our seats.
Along the way, I saw numerous open tables, with at least 20 pots stacking up in the back.

Me: Annoyed level = 7 (cross fingers that the food will worth the trip)

Yet another 10 minutes wait to order my food, perhaps the restaurant was busy?
There were 3 waiters/waitress standing by the bar doing nothing, another 4 chatting next to the front door.

At Least the Food on the Menu was Cute-


Caterpillar roll they called.

And Here's My Pot (It's been boiling without enough water in it..)-


Me: Annoyed level = 8 (waving, just keep waving, and see if anyone will notice my existence and the lack of water pot)

I Tried to Forgive Everything that Just Happened to Me When This Dynamite Roll Showed Up-


Cindy's Rating: 4 (not so dynamite)

My Order of Large Beef Premium-


It was actually regular beef premium, I guess the waiter didn't believe that I ordered a large one.
All good, I was actually glad that he gave me the regular size...so I don't need to surfer longer.
But!
There was a hair on my beef....of course they exchanged a new plate for me after I pointed out the hair to the waiter...sigh...another 10 minutes wait for my "cleaner" beef...
Who knows if they just pick out the hair and give it back to me again...

Me: Annoyed level = 9 (they really know how to get on your nerves)

My Friend's Order of Beef and Salmon-


The chopped scallion, garlic, and radish wasn't served to us, we had to actually ask for it.
Same thing applies to spoons.
But I shouldn't even complain,
The lady next to me, her pot wasn't even boiling at all so she had to share with her friend.
How much I wish that happened to me, so I can just cancel my order and watch my friend suffer.
Muahahhahaha.
And the bill for one sushi roll and two orders of shabu shabu was surprisingly $56.
Not that I don't want to pay that amount for food,
But is it worth the money?

Overall Rating: 1 (zero will be good, but at least the place did feed me some grudges into my stomach)

Koji's
20 City Blvd # 602 (Inside The Block at Orange)
Orange, CA 92868

(714) 769-0200

http://kojisjapan.com/ Let the suffer begins....

The Simpsons Movie

Da Da Da Da~
Da Da Da Da~
Da Da Da Daaaaaaaa~

I'm proudly present you, The Simpsons-


It was 87 minutes of non-stop laughing.
Seriously, every little scene from the movie was funny, and every single conversation was hilarious.
Starting from the 21th century fox opening till the end of the movie credit,
There's always something "different" and "hysterical" that makes you laugh.

Cindy Created from The Simpson's Website-


Just like what Homer Simpson said,
Why do we need to pay for something we can watch for free on TV?
But trust me, it's definitely worth it!

Cindy's Rating: 8

http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/main.html

Dried Seaweed Wrapped Marinated Pork Loin Strips

Kinda ugly, makes me wonder why I didn't cut the edges out to make it prettier,

But it's too late to say anything now, plus I still wanna share this with you guys.

(And they're all gonna go into my stomach anyways)

Dried Seaweed Wrapped Marinated Pork Loin Strips (hoo~what a long name)-

Ingredients for Marinated Sauce:

Sugar (just a small pinch)

Soy sauce

Ponzu sauce (just a tiny bit)

Chili bean sauce (about two spoonful)

Mirin (two spoonful too)

Other Ingredients:

Extra virgin olive oil (for frying)

Pork loin (cut into strips)

Dried Seaweed (one slice of seaweed for one strip of pork, fair enough huh?)

Seaweed flakes (for garnish)

Sesame seeds (if desired)

How?

Simply marinate the pork strips overnight and pan-fry it whenever you feel hungry the next day.

Wrap the strips with dried seaweed, so easy even a caveman can do it.

Cindy's Rating: 5

Sakaeya (Hachimitsu Castella) - 蜂蜜蛋糕

Saw this little thing when I was "shopping" at Mitsuwa,

Yes, shopping in a supermarket,

It's like my routine ritual now, I go to the supermarket about twice a week.

What can I say, you can find almost everything inside a supermarket nowadays.

This Award Thing Gave Me the Confidence to Buy the Cake-

So How Does It Tastes?-

It was actually way better than what I expected.

The first few bites were great, but it still falls to the sweet side towards the end.

However, it does tastes good in comparison to most of the cakes on the shelves though.

Cindy's Rating: 6

Kwik-E-Mart

Apu Nahasapeemapetilon,

Probably one of the most well-known Indian immigrant in America,

And here is his very own famous convenience store in Springfield.

Kwik-E-Mart-

I told you it's famous. So Many people waiting in the line to get into the store.

We all want a piece of Simpsons!

Pink Donuts-

Sugar Coma.

I didn't even dare to buy this. There's no way that I'll put it in my mouth.

Homer-

I'm glad that even though I was stealing the hot dog, he's still smiling to the camera.

High Five to Apu-

Thank you for this interesting convenience store!

The only two locations for Kwik-E-Mart in Southern California are:

1. 11143 Venice Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90034

2. 1611 West Olive Avenue, Burbank, CA 91506

And here's the website for further Kwik-E-Mart information:

http://www.7-eleven.com/kem.asp

Abbot Kinney Blvd

As I was walking along the boulevard in the search of Jin Patisserie,

I noticed that there are many cute lofts around the area,

Also some cute little restaurants and cafes,

I'm so gonna visit this neighborhood more often whenever I get a chance!

(One hour drive can sometimes be a challenge..even though I'm well-known for driving all the way for food)

Loft One-

Loft Two-

Me: If I have a lot of money, I don't mind getting a loft somewhere in the city.

My Friend: Well, if you have a lot of money, you wouldn't mind getting a lot of things.

Me: (Sinking in a string of thoughts)

(胡思亂想中)

Jin Patisserie

Just found another nice dessert place to go,

I should be happy that I finally don't have to drive all the way down to San Diego for Extraordinary Dessert,

But Jin Patisserie is all the way up next to Venice Beach.

...........

When can I find a place that is less than 30 mins drive...

Outside the Patisserie-

Have to pay attention, they don't really have a huge sign out there showing you where they are.

Abbot-

"Caramel banana topping over a honey walnut sponge cake, filled with a dark chocolate mousse made with semi-sweet chocolate cocoa" (I took the description from the website)

The cake was light, but flavorful,

Especially when eating it all the way to the middle,

You get a full bite of banana, walnut, and that smooth mousse in your mouth all at once,

Ahhhh!

Cindy's Rating: 8

Chocolate Heaven-

You can easily figure out by looking at the name--Simply chocolate.

One good thing about Jin Patisserie is that their cakes are small,

Just enough to make you craving for more without leaving you in deep sugar coma.

Cindy's Rating: 6

Next time: San Diego or Venice Beach?....My head hurts...

Overall Rating: 8

Jin Patisserie

1202 Abbot Kinney Blvd

Venice, CA 90291

(310) 399-8801

http://www.jinpatisserie.com/

Rainier Cherry

I've been munching on these little beauties for the past few days.

Never really a big fan of cherries, but these....are just too good to be true.

Rainier cherry needs special care in order to grown to its highest sweetness,

Farmers have to watch out for slight changes in temperatures, winds, and rains closely.

Washington State even has its own standard for the sweetness level,

Only the ones surpass "17 brix" can call themselves--Rainier Cherry.

These cherries don't come along easily,

Thank God that it's the season now,

Plus I am in America,

Should enjoy Rainier's wonderful flavor even more since the price is crazy back in Asia.

Hash House A Go Go

I've been thinking about going to this place for a long time. Now my chance has finally come.
Hash House A Go Go is more famous for their breakfast,
I was glad that even though I went there for lunch,
Breakfast items were still available such as hashes, scrambles, and waffles.

I was surprised when I first entered the restaurant. It was loud, super loud. And this cute DJ was spinning the disk right next to me.
What's going on?
Later on I found out that it was their 7th anniversary. 7th!!! Can you believe it?
So I was actually eating my breakfast food accompanying with house/trance music,
Lovely.

Logo-


Exterior-


View from Our Table-


Good thing we sat away from the DJ, I don't know if my ears can handle the music for one hour straight.

Pomegranate Mojito-


I love mojito!

Cindy's Rating: 6

Famous One Pound Stuffed Burger with Apple Smoked Bacon & Mashed Potato-


No way one person can finish the whole thing,
Fine, at least not a girl~

Cindy's Rating: 6

Hash House Farm Benedict with Roasted Chicken-


But as a girl,
I did finish the whole plate! I rule!

Look at That Egg Yolk-


Cindy's Rating: 8

Not Food, But Me and My Friend Amy-


Our cute waiter brought up the bill along with two dices?
What are those for?
Since it's their anniversary,
If we can roll a "one" and a "six," the meals will be on the house!
My result: a "six" (half way there).............................and a "three" (arghhhhhh).

Overall Rating: 7

Hash House A Go Go

3628 Fifth Ave

San Diego, CA 92103

(619) 298-4646

http://hashhouseagogo.com/

Bacon Wrapped Squash

As I open the fridge, I saw two packages of bacon sitting there right in front of my eyes.

It hurts my head cz now I have to figure a way out to get rid of them.

(I rarely use bacon for cooking unless it's from the BBQ leftover)

Mmmm, at least today I managed to finish up one package by making spaghetti alla carbonara and bacon wrapped squash.

Spaghetti alla carbonara. Don't be fooled by its fancy name, this Italian dish is actually really easy to make.

The basic ingredients are heavy cream, onion, bacon, and Parmesan cheese.

Most importantly: raw egg yolk, that you mix it in in the end to combine all the flavors together.

But since the picture I took for the spaghetti went wrong today (that means it doesn't look yummy at all),

Let's just focus on squash here.

Bacon Wrapped Squash-

Ingredients:

Bacon

One squash

Freshly ground black pepper

How?

After washing and peeling the squash, slice it.

Wrap it with bacon and spray some black pepper on the top,

Sear them in the pan. (Don't add any oil since bacon's fat enough, unless you wanna drown in the guilt of high calories)

That's about it, how much easier can it be?

PS. Remember to sear the opening-end side down first,

Don't touch it for a while otherwise bacon and squash won't stay together.

Cindy's Rating: 5

Lucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que

After the new plaza just recently opened around Irvine/Tustin area,

I've been thinking about going there for lunch,

And see if there's anything new or exciting in the district.

By the way,

The plaza is located on Barranca and Jamboree,

Besides a few restaurants,

Like Lucille's and Chick-fil-A,

They also have Costco, Lowe's, Target, etc.

One stop for all your needs.

Destination: Lucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que-

Pig Butts Next to Our Table-

Bar-B-Que Sauce-

I tried them all,

And the conclusion goes~

The ribs are flavored enough,

Adding these sauce seemed redundant to me.

Biscuits with Apple Butter-

Really good,

Probably my favorite item at Lucille's,

Even more than the ribs.

Cindy's Rating: 7

BBQ Sauteed Shrimp-

A little bit on the sweet side,

But overall it tastes pretty good.

Ps. Hickory wood and smoking/roasting machine in the background.

Cindy's Rating: 6

Lunch Special (Baby Back Ribs and BBQ Tri Tip)-

Ribs are not bad,

But not that outstanding either,

As for the tri tip...

It's kind of dry..

Ps. I had macaroni & cheese for my side dish. The lunch special also comes with a slice of watermelon. Good choice after eating ribs, very refreshing.

Cindy's Rating: 5

Dessert Menu-

No more.....

Overall Rating: 5

Lucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que

2550 Park Avenue

Tustin, CA 92782

(714) 259-1227 (1BBQ)

http://www.lucillesbbq.com/index.asp

Hong Kong Deli - 香港齋滷味

I went there a while ago,
Memories fading,
However,
I do remember that this place is not a bad choice for vegetarians.

They have a wide selection of Chinese style vegetarian food that you can pick from,
Things like vegetarian pork and vegetarian chicken,
I wonder,
Why people still want to eat something that looks and tastes like real meat if they choose to go "vegetarian?"
Why?

Interior-


Vegetarian Platter (I Can't Remember the Exact Name)-


Cindy's Rating: 5

Beef Tendon Rice-


Close-Up for the Tendon-


Very sticky,
And it melts in your mouth!

Cindy's Rating: 7

Hainanese Chicken Rice-


Cindy's Rating: 5

Sweet and Sour Chicken Wings (Not the Exact Name)-


Cindy's Rating: 5

Overall Rating: 6

Hong Kong Deli 香港齋滷味
301 W. Valley Blvd # 115
San Gabriel, CA 91776

(626) 289-3300

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Director: David Yates

Current Status: Number one in the box office; $77.4 million during the opening; I guess all we muggles are in love with the movie.

Personally speaking,

I prefer the last Harry Potter sequel way more than the Order of the Phoenix,

I feel that the Order of the Phoenix still has lots of rooms to better stretch the story line,

Just to make it more detailed and expanded further.

By the way,

The lines were crazy,

Good thing that there's internet so I got my ticket way before the movie starts.

But that doesn't mean anything yet,

I still need to stay in the line to secure a good spot in the theater.

Here's the line all the way to the back of the Spectrum-

Where Was I?-

Those are not my feet,

I was standing behind them,

Yes,

On the construction site.

Cindy's Rating: 4

I expected a little bit more from the movie,

Maybe too much.

Whens the next one coming?

November 2008.

Why do we have to wait for so long for movies nowadays?...

(Me singing..one for the money....two for the show...)