my aunt and cousins came over earlier this week for a stay. i cooked and we ate – everyone was happy. purveyors of all things delicious, shahriar brought me aloocheh and shahrzad brought a rosewater and pistachio flavored gelee.
sour ropes have nothing on aloocheh. it may not look as pretty, but it tastes delicious. kind of like tamarind paste, but with a more fruity flavor.
speaking of which, i think i still have some lavashak stored away in the cupboard. yum.
i’ve been on east coast time for the past few days. i flew to new york city towards last week for the occasion of the tanya morgan moonlighting release party at opus 22. upon my arrival on thursday, it took an hour to get to the hotel; by the time I got there around six in the evening i had about ten minutes to get ready before the big event. despite my extreme fatigue (by the time the party was over i’d been awake for 24 hours) and hunger (i never did get to eat a meal that day), i was thrilled that it was all a great success.
monica came all the way from dc; von on the other hand calls brooklyn home sweet home.
ilyas!
von pea! (loves dilla!) together they plus donwill make up tanya morgan. duh.
tim and dwine. both are california transplants to the east coast. both are super tall. both are well-rounded gentlemen.
this is michelle the publicist and frank the graphic/web designer.
tara was there too, which was fantastic because she’s fantastic.
after the party a whole bunch of us went to triple crown where i met ali shaheed muhammad. ordinarily i would have been super excited but i was so tired that all i could see was mirages of my hotel bed.
speaking of which, my hotel was an unpleasant experience to say the least. i never could catch up on sleep since every few minutes i’d hear a door loudly (and i mean LOUDLY) slam shut down the hallway or overhear the pseudo-party a few rooms down at four am. and our bathroom was about the size of a shoebox. the room itself wasn’t much bigger. and the staff was rude. i’ll stop before this turns into a hotel review.
our group spent friday exploring record shops and wandering the streets. the highlight of the day was a visit to the offices of scratch magazine. the lowlight of the day was my decision to order chicken soft tacos at a diner for lunch. mexican food in new york city – what was i thinking?
at least i got to pose with dog the bounty hunter. hi melody.
saturday was a bit more eventful. despite the rain, we made a trip to the united nations after a disappointing faux vietnamese lunch. my main reason to visit was to purchase some iran flag keychains; the one i’d bought during my last trip had long fallen apart. it turned out the gift shop was out of keychains for nearly every country that begins with an “i.” i was heartbroken. stupid UN. thanks, kofi.
we got to pose with our favorite secretary generals, though. the UN had an exhibition of persian rugs featuring the likenesses of all the past secretary generals on display, courtesy of the iranian government. (the least they could do is carry their keychains in return.)
me and u thant. how cool is his name?
from there we took the metro to brooklyn.
grand central station. we saw two sets of newlyweds there.
brooklyn was fun but chilly. afterwards i went back to manhattan to meet dwine and his girlfriend for dinner. my tekka maki was the best meal i’d had since my arrival. afterwards tim and frank joined us at a coffeeshop for chess and hot mochas. then came the highlight of the day: our security-laden foray into the offices of hot 97. it was almost reminiscent of the time when i visited the state department.
for my last day in new york, i had gray’s papaya for lunch. i was surprisingly pleased with my humble hot dog and banana juice.
mmm, new york.
i made a disappointing trip to canal street where i attempted to hunt down a pair of lacoste sneakers. even though i was unsuccessful, i did run into a dean and deluca on our way towards brooklyn. from there it was more record shopping and then a quick dinner and everyone parted their separate ways. i had to be up early the next morning to catch our flight back, 3:30 am to be exact.
it was a great trip and i was thrilled to finally meet so many people i’d heard all about and to catch up with ones i hadn’t seen in a while. that said, i’ve been more than a bit sleepy all week long.
while its been pouring buckets outside, i’ve been inside cooking. (well i’ve been outside too, but that’s another story.) the theme this time was chinese.
shandong stir-fry soup noodles
spicy eggplant
sizzling singapore chili shrimp
chinatown roast duck
daikon with bean thread noodles
here’s the recipe for the eggplant:
1/3 cup chicken broth
1 T hoisin sauce
2 t soy sauce
2 t lemon juice
1 t plum sauce
4 chinese eggplants (1 lb)
vegetable oil
2 t minced garlic
1 t minced ginger
1/2 jalapeno chili, sliced into thin rings
basil leaves
sliced green onions
1. prepare the sauce: stir the chicken broth, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, lemon juice, and plum sauce in a bowl until blended.
2. cut the stems from the eggplants, then cut them lengthwise into quarters, then cut crosswise into 3-inch pieces.
3. pour enough oil into a large saucepan to come to a depth of 2 inches. heat over medium-high heat and deep-fry the eggplant until tender. remove and drain on paper towels.
4. heat a wok over high heat until hot. add 1 tablespoon of oil and the garlic, ginger, and chili and stir-fry until fragrant, about 20 seconds. add the sauce and bring to a simmer.
5. add the eggplant and stir to coat. scoop onto a serving platter and garnish with basil leaves and green onions.
i’m back from yet another quick weekend trip to southern california. like the last, i spent a considerable time stuck in the notorious los angeles traffic. this time around, however, i played tourist. i didn’t take nearly enough photographs; in fact i only snapped a few on saturday afternoon.
on friday i took the scenic route down along highway 101, and although it meant spending a couple extra hours in the car, it was nice to look out of the window and see san luis obsipo and santa barbara as opposed to endless overcrammed herds of cows. by the time i reached the hotel, i had just enough energy to have dinner at california sushi roll in west la. i’d been (and still am) craving authentic japanese food, but i willingly obliged and went with japanese-california fusion instead. i was pleasantly suprised. my house special maki of salmon wrapped around seaweed, rice and fried fish cake was pretty good, and the beef gyoza’s offbeat hint of lemon was a good match.
the next morning i set out for lunch at the infamous roscoe’s house of chicken and waffles. my fried chicken was seasoned well and the syrup-laden waffles were yummy too, but i’m sure my arteries were begging me to stop.
afterwards i set out with a friend to the museum of contemporary art to check out their new exhibit, ecstasy: in and about altered states. to my dismay photography was not allowed, but i was really impressed. in particular i enjoyed olafur eliasson’s, erwin redl’s, and fred tomaselli’s pieces.
i spent the early evening in santa monica along the beach, and continued along to the third street promenade.
that evening i ate at korean char-b-que with a friend. i mistakenly ordered naengmyon. i’d accidentally ordered it a few weeks ago at another korean restaurant and found it to be anathema to my favorite flavors prominent in korean cooking. to my misfortune, the menu we ordered from on friday night didn’t have english translations, only pictures. i ordered what looked good yet recieved something quite different. the slushy ice water, flavorless beef and rubbery noodles and slices of pear made me wish i had ordered something else.
we redeemed ourselves by going to westwood to grab a mango hookah and mint tea at habibi cafe. i was in awe most of the time; almost everyone was iranian. i’d never been around so many iranians in public outside of iran at the same time. i don’t quite know how to say this politely without generalizing, but a lot of iranians i saw were, how should i put this, special. glitzy clothing and makeup, glitzy cell phones, glitzy attitude. everything seemed a bit overdone. i wondered if any of them had ever been to the iranian countryside, to ramsar or tabriz, to isfahan or shiraz. it seemed so far-removed. still, i had a great time people-watching. the music was great, as was the hookah, but the tea was a sorry mug of lipton with a couple of crushed mint leaves thrown in.
sunday was spent having lunch at farmer’s market. we met up with another friend for brazilian at pampas grill churrascaria. little did i know how delicious brazilian food is. the hearts of palm and cucumber salad, fried bananas, okra stew, and grilled garlic steak were all mouthwateringly perfect.
after a quick stop for shakes (i had banana flavor), it was time to say goodbye to los angeles and its sunny weather. tony toni tone was right; it never rains in southern california.
i miss hawaii. the trip was so short but ever since i got back everything reminds me of it. i already want to go back.
i suppose i should start from the beginning:
the view from my hotel room. can you see why i miss it so?
my hotel, or resort i should say (why anyone would want to stay within the confines of their hotel/resort instead of venturing beyond touristy waikiki is beyond me) was home to many animals which probably would not have found their way there naturally.
flamingoes, for example.
and african penguins.
and finally, koi.
on the first afternoon, i had to attend an international relations conference panel presentation, but afterwards i was able to go to the beach to catch the sunset and go for a little swim.
can you believe the water was warm enough to swim in the evening? try doing that in san francisco.
a partial view of the hotel from the beach.
for dinner, i decided on thai with my conference group. one unfortunate thing about the neighborhood was that all the restaurants were upscale chains (benihana, todai, etc.) that we have in california too. why would people come to hawaii and not want to try regional cuisine? we were hard-pressed to find any hawaiian restaurants, let alone find fresh local fruits. (no coconut! no mango! no starfruit! i had a slice of pineapple but it tasted like nothing!) i imagine the non-touristy areas were much different. regardless, the thai was delicious.
we shared the duck-filled spring rolls with mango salsa for dessert. too much cilantro, but otherwise perfect. i had a seafood and vegetable green curry over somen noodles.
the next morning, i woke up early so i could hike up diamond head crater before my panel presentation that afternoon. what was to be a fifteen-minute walk (according to the map) turned out to be two and a half hours.
by the time i reached the foot of diamond head, i was too exhausted to climb it. i got a cab and went back to the hotel, where i spent a couple hours at the beach until my panel presentation.
later on that evening i got my first taste of hawaiian homestyle. i highly approved of the garlic chicken strips.
the next morning marked the beginning of my one day in hawaii where i didn’t have to attend any panels. i went with my university’s panel group to hanauma bay, also known as paradise. also known as The Best Place In The World. also known as Where I Would Love To Be Right Now.
we ate breakfast while we waited for the bus. i love the abc stores in hawaii, for they provide me with the best breakfasts ever, a breakfast i am unable to attain in san francisco:
spam musubi (contrary to what i expected, it was good!), salmon rice ball and island mocha iced coffee. delicious.
we had a little mix up with the bus lines and on our way there we had to transfer to another line. we decided to walk towards the bay until we came across the bus stop.
hanauma bay is gorgeous. i went snorkeling and saw lots and lots of bright colorful fish in the coral reef. it was like swimming through a pbs nature special. it wasn’t until over five hours later when we were leaving we realized that the gift shop sold underwater cameras. hopefully next time i’ll get underwater photos. we all got sunburned pretty bad but it was very much worth it.
all the dark grey-ish areas in the water are coral reef. we saw fish of every color and pattern imaginable.
this must be the happiest flower in the world, for it lives in hanauma bay.
that evening our group went to sam choy’s for dinner. if any of you lovely readers who have an affinity for cooking follow pacific rim cuisine, you know that sam choy is the hawaii’s most famous chef. the food was wonderful.
i love poke.
i had the seared shrimp and scallops.
the next morning was my final few hours in hawaii.
this is what i woke up to every morning.
i really do miss hawaii.
