12 miles. 2000 feet elevation gain. CONQUERED. MINE!!

Yesterday, CA and I decided to go hiking on the Eagle Rock trail off of Topanga Canyon. It was supposed to be a nice, 4-6 mile hike round trip that would only take a few hours, but somehow, along the multiple trails and peaks, we ended up hiking 12 miles. 12 MILES. Whoever thought I'd willingly walk that far in one trip??

Our hike started off in Tippet Ranch, which is on Entrada Road. Entrada Road is a few miles inland from the ocean when you're driving on Topanga Canyon. The ranch was actually really nice and peaceful. There were several tables there for anyone to have a picnic and you could rent horses to go horseback riding. There were also multiple trails of different levels for people to walk or run along. CA and I decided to take the Eagle Rock trail which would (obviously) take us to Eagle Rock, and it was only supposed to be 4 miles round trip. We agreed we'd go there, and if we felt like going further, we'd continue along the trail before turning around. I figured that I'd be hiking 6 miles total, which was fine with me. At the beginning of our hike (which was actually very pretty and scenic), we saw some deer!! There were at least five of them, and they seemed to be incredibly tame as they were only about 7-10 feet away from us.

We continued along the trail, and soon, about a mile in, we could make out our supposed destination: Eagle Rock. Even though the trail towards it was mostly uphill, I was completely stoked to get to the top of Eagle Rock and see the view from there. Yesterday was rather overcast, but you could still see some awesome views of the Santa Monica mountains and even views of the city. We climbed to the very top of Eagle Rock with ease and relaxed for a bit to enjoy the view and to take some pictures. Even though I was glad it wasn't hot during our hike, I really want to come back on a sunnier and clearer day so that I could see better views of the city.

Since the trek up to Eagle Rock wasn't too strenuous, CA and I decided to continue on the trail. We saw another peak that seemed to be about a mile away, so we figured we'd go there and then go back to Tippet Ranch on another trail that looped around and met up with the Eagle Rock trail. We kept on walking for a while, but we weren't getting anything that resembled the second peak. Along the way, we started to see views of the city, and even though the picture doesn't do it justice, it was awesome. You could see all of the buildings that made up Westwood, and in the very far distance, through the brown smog, you could see the skyline of Downtown LA. I think we walked for a solid 2 miles or so before we hit a sign that said, "Backbone Trail to Will Rogers State Park: 6.4 miles." We decided that this must be part of the route to the second peak and continued on through it.

After a mile or so into it, CA and I realized that we didn't seem to be getting any closer to a peak, but since we were so far along the trail, we agreed (or more like CA conned me into agreeing, haha) to just hike all the way to Will Rogers State park and have someone pick us up there. I don't know what compelled me to agree to hike so much, but I did and we continued on along our hike. The beginning of the trail was pretty cool, if a bit creepy, and it was a narrow, one person trail. There were a lot of shrubbery around us, and after an hour on this trail, it felt like we were legitimately in the middle of nowhere. There was no sign of human life around us, and we were completely surrounded by the Santa Monica mountains. There weren't any views of the city or the ocean, but we kept on going, trying to pick up our pace in case we somehow got lost and stuck among these mountains.

Soon, we saw another view of the city, and this time I got excited because it was clearer and seemed a lot closer. Clearly, we were headed in the right direction, and I began to regain a little more faith in this hike. Twenty minutes after that, we started to see the ocean through all of the valleys. The trail began to change, and we no longer were surrounded by shrubbery and dead trees. There was now green, lush trees around us, and even at one part, the leaves had started to change color. Who knew you could get fall and actual seasons in LA? It was really pretty, and this is one of the reasons why I like hiking so much. I love the views because it's amazing to me that this is a part of LA. I've grown up here my entire life, and I'm so used to city life that the fact that I can just drive 45 minutes from school or 20 minutes from my house to a such a different and beautiful place astonishes me. The juxtaposition of urban city life with nature in one city is great, and I love that I can go from one extreme to the other in one day.

We continued on along our hike, and it was even more exciting when we started running into other people (another sign of civilization). I asked two guys who had come from Will Rogers State park how long the hike from there took, and they said around 45 minutes. That was exciting to find out that the end of this long hike was actually in sight and near! We continued along the trail, and even though it ended, we had to walk all the way down to the parking lot to be picked up. CA is in a fraternity, so he called one of his pledges to pick us up and drive us to my car. We walked another 1-2 miles from the trail to the parking lot by the field, and we sat on a bench for a little bit because there were two guys playing polo! You don't see that very often.

I honestly can't believe CA and I did that yesterday. We went from Topanga Canyon to Will Rogers State Park, which was approximately 12 miles with a 2000 feet elevation gain. Took us nearly 5 hours. I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THAT.

Being Honest Takes a Certain Lack of Self-Confidence

I just started this blog a few days ago, and while I love writing about food (since that seems to be the only topic I've approached thus far), I realized today that maybe this blog will end up being a bit more personal than I thought it would be. I enjoy writing, and I find it comforting; you can't expect me to have a blog and not write about something that's sitting on my mind.

I don't know how personal this blog will become, but I don't want it being as personal as the last one---I'll save those for writing in a Word document or in my plain, written journal. I read over certain entries in my old one, and it astounds me how honest I was and how naked I would feel if other people were to read them. I guess I was comforted by the idea that maybe only JR and SL were reading it, and I really didn't care if they read those entries. (But who knows....the internet leads to easy stalking these days, ha.)

SH and I had a quick talk about this yesterday because she's had a few blogs, too. It's so easy to be honest when you're writing in a blog, and it's never intentional. You start writing about one topic that's been sitting on your mind, and that leads to another idea. Soon, the emotions are running, and your fingers are flying across the keyboard in an attempt to catch up with your thoughts. They just all spill out, and you allow these thoughts to be posted on the internet for anyone to see because you don't exactly know who's going to see it. Feelings and conclusions that you would've never made before somehow end up typed up on your computer screen.

Being so honest on a weblog takes a certain lack of self-confidence because you're unable to verbalize these feelings in person. If this was an idea that was so important to you that it compels you to objectify it on your computer screen, then shouldn't you also have the courage to voice these thoughts to others? But instead, you post it on a weblog where you still have the (perhaps false?) sense of privacy because you don't know who's actually reading your thoughts, but it's also posted on the internet for anyone to find.

Scoops (and Jitlada again....)

So this is going to be my third post on the same day because clearly the novelty of this blog hasn't worn off yet...

I went to Jitlada Thai again tonight with JM. I can't help it, I have this habit where once I've tried out a new restaurant, I want to go back immediately if I really liked it. She wanted to try something new in Thai Town, so I told her about Jitlada, and we immediately agreed to go there for dinner. Of course, I had to do my research again about what to get because the menu's magnitude intimidates me. We split the coco mango salad, and JM ordered the Chinese broccoli with salted fish while I got the southern curry soft shell crab.

The coco mango salad is a mix of sliced mango, shrimp, lime juice, onion and chili with also a bit of coconut water. It's a bit sweet and tart, but it definitely has a kick to it. It was really good and exactly what I needed tonight. The Chinese broccoli with salted fish was also delicious. It must seem like I rave about every dish I try, but this restaurant is actually that good. This dish didn't have actual chunks of fish since they were shredded up, but you could still taste the fish in the dish.

The best dish was definitely the southern curry soft shell crab. It took them a long time to bring it out, but it was worth the wait. Even though it had the same name as the beef curry SH ordered the first time I went there, this sauce is completely different. I was worried about burning my taste buds again, so I decided to go on a milder side with this dish, but it was way too mild for me. This red sauce was sweet and salty at the same time. It reminded me of the red chili pepper sauce that Korean places give you when you order bibimbap. I love soft shell crab, and when the dish came out, I was a bit apprehensive because the crab had been fried in the red sauce. It honestly looked like fried red lumps, and you could sort of make out the crab legs. The second I ate it though, all of my concerns about this dish immediately went away, and I made JM try it right away. We agreed it was our favorite entree of the night.

Finally, after completely stuffing myself at Jitlada, we decided to go to Scoops, a nearby ice cream place that I've been wanting to go to forever. Scoops is a little shop off Heliotrope, and if you've never been there, you probably won't know where to find it because it's a bit hidden. This ice cream place is unlike any other I've been to. It's really unpretentious, the ice cream is homemade everyday, and they have the most original flavors, ones that you won't find anywhere else. The owner creates different flavors every day, and he even has a suggestion board to the side where people have filled it up with random flavors they want him to make.

There are unlimited samples at Scoops, so naturally I had to try as many flavors as I could. The first one I had was the orange jasmine. When you first eat it, you immediately taste the orange, but I didn't find it to be too overpowering. Then, as you let it dissolve in your mouth, the taste of jasmine hits you last and stays with you. I love the smell of jasmine, and actually eating it and tasting it in my mouth was insane. I've had jasmine tea before, but it was always the smell of jasmine that hit me, and not the taste that I was aware of. It was kind of weird to actually be tasting jasmine, but I liked it. JM wasn't a fan; I think it's just one of those flavors that you either love or hate.

I had the strawberry and balsamic vinegar next. What is it about those two ingredients that go so well together? In Italy, strawberries and balsamic vinegar are always used together in desserts. Once again, it was the strawberry that hit my taste buds first, and then it slowly became a mixture of balsamic vinegar and strawberries. It's not the same kind of balsamic vinegar that you get at normal restaurants because this tastes like really good, aged vinegar. An amazing balsamic is a bit thick and condensed, it's been aged for a while, and while it still maintains that tart acidity, it has a certain sweetness to it that makes it delicious. That's immediately what I thought of when I sampled this flavor.

The next few that I tried were good, but not as memorable. I sampled the banana peanut butter (really sweet and comforting), peach and plum wine (tasted mostly like peach sorbet), and the brown bread (sort of reminded me of coffee cake). Clearly, I chose the orange and jasmine, and the strawberry and balsamic vinegar. Two scoops for just two dollars!! Great deal and well worth it.

Home and Pho

I went home last night because I hadn't seen my parents in a while and because I was really craving my dad's cooking. (I also needed to get some laundry done....so I guess my reasons for going home weren't entirely selfless, ha.) Luckily for me, my dad had just cooked a fresh batch of pho, and it was delicious. I always like going out for Vietnamese food, especially now because I never get to eat it as regularly as I did when I lived at home, but no pho has ever compared to my dad's. I don't even know what exactly makes it so good, but it's all in the broth. My dad's broth is deeper, richer, and more complex than any broth I've ever tasted at the Vietnamese restaurants I've been to, and rightfully so as he cooks it for more than 24 hours.

My dad's pho just symbolizes so many aspects of home for me. It's warm, it's delicious, and most of all, it's comforting.

I guess I'm going back to the ArcLight

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-na-theater24sep24,1,2340920.story

Wow, what a brilliant idea!! Looks like I'll be heading back to the ArcLight after swearing I wouldn't return there because tickets prices were too high and the stupid ticket kiosk annoyed me.
The Bridge has something similar. You pay $19.95 for a movie ticket of your choice, a sample platter of appetizers, and your choice of an entree salad, sandwich, wrap, pizza, or burger. $20 for all of that sounds a bit too good to be true, but I'm definitely checking this out some time in the near future.

Jitlada Thai

Last week, SH and I went to Jitlada Thai in the heart of Thai Town, and wow, I loved it!! I had read so many reviews about it in Chowhound, Eater LA, and the LAist, that I had some really high expectations when I went there, and they definitely did not disappoint.

I met up with SH for lunch, and the restaurant wasn't that hard to find. It was in a strip mall off Sunset, and I found a parking spot pretty easily. It wasn't that big of a parking lot, so maybe SH and I just happened to go there when it wasn't very crowded. The minute I stepped in, I felt like I was immediately back in Thailand again. The decor, the atmosphere, and even the smell instantly brought me back to the days where my family and I would visit that country nearly every year.

The service was great there. From the beginning, our waitress was really nice and informative, and she ended up advising us on what to order. The menu is HUGE there...I don't think I would've been able to pick a dish if I hadn't read all of those reviews beforehand. SH just ended up asking the waitress for a suggestion, and she recommended the Southern Curry Beef. I ordered the Catfish salad, and I had to get the Tom Yum soup with shrimp. That soup is like my test of whether or not I feel like a Thai restaurant is truly authentic. I used to eat it all the time in Thailand, and my family and I would always order it at our favorite Thai restaurant in West LA. I've tried this soup at so many other restaurants before, and it more than often disappoints. Maybe my expectations are just too high.

The soup came out first. The picture on the left is a bit deceiving though because we had actually eaten two bowls of soup before I took that picture....but just imagine how that must've looked when it was full! It was delicious and exactly like how I remembered it should be. One of the restaurant owners came out to see how we liked our food, and she told us that the herbs in their food are fresh and not the powder that other restaurants used. It was a bit sour and spicy, and full of shrimp, herbs, and mushrooms. The picture on the right depicts the soup a tad better than the one on the left since you can actually see the ingredients in this picture and not just the pot that it came in.

SH's Southern Curry came next, and it tasted like nothing I've ever had before. It's not the wet curry that most people are used to, and I guess they must really rub the curry powder and herbs into the meat to get all of the flavors to meld. Our waitress had warned us that it would be really spicy, but SH agreed to try it because she likes eating spicy food. When I first took a bite, I was waiting for the spiciness to hit me after the warnings from our waitress. It was so odd though because it doesn't hit you right away. You're chewing it in your mouth, taking in all of the different flavors, and then about five seconds later, the spiciness hits you, and you feel a little like you're about to die. Or maybe like your stomach is going to hate you in about a few hours. It was really good, but way too intense for me. Even SH had problems eating it! She kept on trying to eat the meat quickly so that the spiciness wouldn't quite hit her right away. They brought out a plate of fresh vegetables to go along with the meat, and when we asked why, our waitress told us it was there to calm our taste buds and relieve it from the spiciness. After eating as much as we could (I think SH ended up eating most of it), we finally asked the waitress on a scale of 1 to 5 in terms of spiciness, what would it be? SH and I had already agreed that it was probably around a 4...but it was actually a 3. Jeez, I'll probably try that in a 1 or 2 the next time I go. (Yes, despite the fact that I nearly killed my taste buds with this dish, I'm willing to try it again.) It's funny though because midway through our meal, an older white guy sat behind us and ordered the same thing. He reassured the waitress that he could REALLY eat spicy things, despite our warnings (we felt a little compelled to tell him how spicy this dish actually was). Of course when the dish came, he couldn't handle it and had them dilute it so that it wasn't so spicy. Ha. We told him it would be too spicy....I'd think coming from 2 Asian girls that the warning would be pretty legit but I guess he didn't believe us until it was too late.

My catfish salad came out around the same time that SH's curry did, and it was pretty good. I was really intrigued by the thought of this because I had seen pictures of this dish before. It doesn't look like you can actually see the catfish because it's been dipped in this batter and somehow fried in this crazy way. I can't explain it, so I'll let the picture do the talking. The catfish came out on top of a bed of sliced mango, peanuts, and this sauce that reminds me of Vietnamese fish sauce. Despite it being fried, the catfish didn't feel that greasy as it was rather fluffy, and it went really well with the mini salad below. I enjoyed the dish, but I couldn't always taste the fish in the salad. At times, it felt like I was just eating something crispy and fried, without a hint of fish (if that makes any sense). That would be it's only drawback, but overall, I enjoyed the dish.

I can't wait to come back here. It's good food, good prices, and great service---what more can I really ask for? The menu is so extensive though that I need to do a bit more research on this place and figure out what I'm going to order next.

Starting Over

So after four years of writing in my old blog, I've decided to start a completely new one. This one won't be as personal as the last one was, and it will strictly be about the three main things I've been doing the past few months for leisure--I eat, I hike, and I drink (and in no particular order). Knowing me, however, it won't always be about those three things, and I'll end up writing some random and maybe even personal thoughts.

I didn't tell many people about my last blog because it became way more personal than I ever expected it to, and I think it's a journal that I've outgrown. I maintained it for so long, and while it's something that I used to turn to when I had too many things on my mind, it's time I retired it. I don't want to feel like I need to have something worthwhile and bothersome on my mind for me to write anymore, so I'm hoping this blog will turn out lighter and more spontaneous.

This is a blog that I've wanted to start for a while now, but I never did because I was stuck on a title. I wanted something clever and witty, but then I realized that no title will ever encompass such random things as hiking, eating, and drinking. Finally, after talking to SL about this, we agreed that I should just settle on someting simple. Lo and behold, eat, hike, and drink was born!

Here's to a new blog!! I'm excited about this one. I get giddy at just the thought of all the restaurants, bars, and hikes I will be writing about.