A visual.

Cooked a bit on Friday night after spending the morning at Marukai for groceries. I haven't been to Marukai in months (!) and everything is all changed around inside. But it was really nice to buy Japanese groceries since I've been deprived of cooking it for a long time now. Parents went out of town this weekend and so I ended up making:

top l-r: ahi poke and teriyaki steak
bottom l-r: miso soup w/ abura age & some wakame and okra with bonito flakes on top

The weather has been up in the 100's. Way too hot especially since I don't live near the ocean. On Saturday, we ran an errand out in Little Tokyo (again) and enjoyed the nice cool aircon of Kinokuniya while checking out some of the books and magazines there. Again, I fondled the Kogepan doll. There's so much to delve into there that I never get a chance to really go thru everything during a single visit. Ate something small afterwards at Curry House since we were hungry.

Met up with our friends at The Hawaiian Loft Restaurant for dinner in Cerritos. I really wasn't planning on going but glad I made it out anyway because I wanted to catch up with them and also eat some "ono grindz". It's my first time there and I was glad that almost everyone got something different so I just took a bite from each person's plate to satisfy my curiosity. The Island Style Fried Chicken, the Korean BBQ Beef, Kalua Pork, Char Siu BBQ Chicken were real tasty. Although the place is small, it was packed to the hilt on Saturday night. The staff was real friendly and you definitely feel like you're amongst the locals. The portions were large and the price was good. Toisan Rob, gotta meet you here for some grub one day - you'd be pleased.

The Hawaiian Loft
20157 S. Pioneer Blvd.
Cerritos, CA 90715
562.402.3538

I'm really glad I went because I needed to check out their catering menu (my main purpose) and to talk to the manager about it. After tasting a selection of their food, I definitely think it's way better than Shakas and L&L Drive In.

The night was still young and all the guys wanted to do something. So we headed over to the bowling lanes and they got themselves into a lil bit of Xtreme Bowling for 2 hours straight. I notice that at bowling lanes, there are either people under 21 or people over 30 there. I guess everyone else in their 20's would rather be out drinking, partying, dancing or whatever. Xtreme Bowling was just like Rock N Bowl with the lights turned off and the black lights turned on. The music was a bit too loud though -- I had to shout to just carry on a conversation.

Nothing quite like stinky fermented fried tofu to either 1. make you puke or 2. make you real hungry. People usually fall in either one of those categories. Most people are surprised that I love this stuff so much since most ABC-like people won't dig the smell of it. Sure it doesn't smell good but the taste is totally different and the sweet garlicky sauce is divine! On Sunday, I grabbed some shaved ice because it got so hot here. Not just the regular dry heat but it was hovering around 90% humidity and the air was thick. So nothing better than shaved ice to cool a person down. In fact, every person in the "small eats" store got their regular meal and a shaved ice on the side. Cool, cheap and filling. But stinky tofu -- there's nothing like it.

Have a good week all.

I'm out.