Oysters at Redondo Beach Pier, LA, California

One of the nights when I was visiting my parents, my dad decided to take me for a drive to Redondo Pier. It's kinda nice how the pier looks nothing like the asian piers we got, very different. =)

cute playground!

before the sunset!

boats parked all around!

the sunset! such a nice glow!

the pier even had a pretty big arcade!

aphrodisiacs! haha yes, ^^last longer. LOL

crabs and lobsters!

some wierd conch.some of them were trying to run away.eeks!

 more oysters! various kinds!

ordered a few and a guy shucked them on the spot. when i squeezed lime on one of em, it kind of squirmed, i was so grossed out. but it looked too yummy so i ATE IT LIVE! and it was MAGNIFICENT! hahaha

definitely a must-try if ure in LA! and the pier is too pretty to miss!

the beach at night =)

SF bridge, lombard street and fisherman's wharf

went to see the san francisco bridge, 

Lomabrd street, the most winding, and steepest street, and the fisherman's wharf!

Alcatraz was an island to keep prisoners in.

 Even if they escaped, they'd b surrounded by shark infested water!

bath salt cupcakes and barrels of salt water taffy!

Harry potter jelly beans! with ear wax and vomit flavor. yeux!

 sunset at fisherman's wharf!

funnel cake!

SF. Rum on fire at Smuggler's Cove

Finally!!!

That night, we went for drinks at Smuggler's Cove, which had a 45 minute line, and was a small bar with three levels, and looked like the interior of a ship! Very "Pirate's of the Caribbean"-ish.

650 Gough St
(between Mcallister St & Ash St) 
San Francisco, CA 94102
Neighborhood: Western Addition/NOPA

Can't remember the names of the drinks, but they were citrus and tangy, lot's of lemon, lime, and pineapple flavours with augostura bitters methinks. ARGHH MATEY!

 Bartender made three drinks. his hands moved so fast I couldn't even see them, all while having a conversation with a lady at the bar.wowza.

 orange peel, a leaf to garnish, and well shaken.  the drinks were all really nice, having more than 6 ingredients each. the rum wasen't sharp either, but warm, and complemented by the sourness cutting through.

and for the finale:

BOOM! 

(I also have no idea what this was called. let's name it... "the drink with the fire!!!")

How to Serve "drink with fire":
1) dust cinnamon over
2) set cinnamon on fire with torch
3) let torch blaze for fiery festive effect
4) 4 people drink from straws from each side.

lastly, a cute coffee corner  i passed by =)

I also learned that everything in California closes at 2am, so bars have their last orders at 1.30am. This sort of discourages drink driving! and late night lurkings i suppose. =P

nightey night!

Road trip to Big Sur otw to San Fran

Hello! i did a road trip last weekend from Los Angeles to San Francisco, via the PCH, pacific Coast Highway. Usually, it takes around 8 hours to drive up, but we did so many pit stops that it took two days =P

1st stop: Doritos Nacho Cheese Tortilla Chip Taco (phew! what a mouthful.literally too)

breakfast at Taco Celle, i mean Taco Bell HOHO! dry humor. california is a desert you know. MOVING ON! this special taco, is not an ordinary taco, no Sir-ree-mister, this new taco shell is made by Doritos. yup, a mega tortilla chip that's nacho cheese flavoured. With a hot interior of beef mix that's rich in flavour, juicy and soft, slightly pepperish and slightly spicy, the top mix of cold lettuce, fresh cool tomato chunks and thick cut cheddar cheese strips. there was no way to eat this neatly. i gobbled it down most unglamorously.

The scenic PCH route

The brown cows are where you get chocolate milk from. HAHA just kidding!

2nd stop: Lighthouse
climbed a fence just to take this picture

A friendly lady bug

3rd stop: Big Sur, a scenic locality in west central california that has hiking trails and camping grounds

got some food from a mexican guy running the food stand by himself. respect. one man show. and 20+ people waiting in line.took ages! but he was working uber fast. reminded me of spongebob and his crabby patties. we bought some hot spicy buffalo wings that were tangy, crispy and super yummy, a hot dog that was pretty good ( you can't go wrong with a hot dog) that i covered in mayo, ketchup, and mustard, and a turkey bacon cheese sandwich that was heated on the grill. We got drinks from a nearby mini-mart, green tea and Dr Pepper!

We had been munching on the Tapatio Doritos on the way. Tapatio is a hot sauce produced in Vernon, California, and is made of hot peppers, spices and some preservatives. Basically, its a hot sauce like tabasco but isin't as sour, and the spice is warmer and 'hot peppery' in flavour, with a slight tinge of barbecue sauce.

4th stop: We stopped by the road side to set up our base camp =D

boiling water over the charcoal!

BBQ Ham and scrambled eggs with bacon for breakfast.
just boil water and pour into packet
(From REI)

the blue jay that said hello! we fed it tortilla bread!

A cafe in the middle of nowhere. i was so glad to wash my hands with soap the next morning!

And with that, we set off again to make many more pit stops =)