Ann Whatever

Three Apples, the Many Faces of Hello Kitty Part 2

nobody@vox.com(Ann) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:23:59 -0800

Various artists were invited to create their interpretation of the iconic kitten for the Three Apples show. Some of my favorite artists contributed: Camilla d'Errico, Tokidoki, Buff Monster, Plastic God, Luke Chueh, Dan Goodsell, Travis Louie, Andrew Brandou...

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Three Apples, the Many Faces of Hello Kitty Part 1

nobody@vox.com(Ann) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:41:31 -0800

Two months ago Hello Kitty invaded Royal/T (the maid cafe and art gallery) for her 35th birthday. Looking good there. The show name Three Apples refers to her age (she says she's three apples young). There were two parts to the exhibit. Part 1 showcased every possible incarnation of Hello Kitty merchandise - including the (in)famous Hello Kitty vibrator. Purrrrrrrrrrrrr.

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Kylie LIVE in New York Album!

nobody@vox.com(Ann) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:22:02 -0800

The US Tour LIVE album is coming out Dec 14th. Woohoo!

1760790-2

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Suddenly Santouka

nobody@vox.com(Ann) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:06:00 -0800

I had to take Him to Santouka after the underwhelming experience we had at Daikokuya. Somehow I was going to redeem ramen at my favorite ramen shop. Here's what He got. And He loved it. WIN!

Large ramen set at Santouka

Charsiu gohan at Santouka

Tamago (egg) at Santouka

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Uncle Bill's Pancake House

nobody@vox.com(Ann) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:33:15 -0800

Why go to a pancake house and order waffles?
Because I can't help myself...

Waffle combo at Uncle Bill's

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You Make Me Melt

nobody@vox.com(Ann) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:53:48 -0800

I think the best dinners are the interactive ones that require some audience participation. Like Korean BBQ, hot pot, shabu shabu, teppanyaki. It's a dinner and a show, especially if the person you're dining with is accident prone in the kitchen.

Fondue counts as one of these interactive dinners. He and I decided to try Melting Pot during the extended DineLA. Now I've never done fondue, but if melted cheese is involved then I'm in!

The helpful waitress recommended the spinach-artichoke cheese fondue to start. And, hello, it's spinach-artichoke melted dip! As usual, we (I) cleaned out the bowl.

The next course in the DineLA menu was a bouillon broth. It was very peppery and an interesting taste journey since our collection of meats all had different marinades, from sesame teriyaki to ginger.

For dessert we chose the dark chocolate fondue. We dipped a bunch of goodies: brownies, rice crispy marshmallow squares, marshmallows, strawberries.

It was a delicious and fun night. The atmosphere is perfect for a romantic dinner. They even have a Girls Night Out special menu which I'll probably go back for. By myself.

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Striptease at Distinction Gallery

nobody@vox.com(Ann) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:57:52 -0800

Distinction is probably one of the best art galleries I've found in San Diego (North County) other than Subtext. And it's in my hometown of Escondido, so it's a trip down nostalgia street whenever I visited. This is the last weekend to see their show Striptease.

Get your mind out of the gutter, pervert!

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Possibly the Best Pizza in L.A.

nobody@vox.com(Ann) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:25:14 -0800

...is at Mozza, but I haven't eaten there yet. I will eventually. It's on our Window to Weight Gain restaurant list. For now my favorite pizza spot in L.A. is Mulberry Street Pizza.

I'm partial to the Beverly Drive location. What sealed the deal for me is their white spinach pizza. Imagine ricotta and mozzarella cheese with garlic sauteed spinach on a thin crust. Amazing! I could eat an entire pie.

On this occasion I only got a slice of that heavenly white spinach pie. I also tried a slice of their tomato-artichoke. Good. It's not white spinach though.

Maybe one day I'll try their more outrageous pizza like lasagna or penne pizza. They have an eggplant or chicken Parmesan pizza, too, but I've seen their Parmesan sandwiches. Enormous! I wonder if the eggplant or chicken Parmesan pizza is just their sandwich in pizza form? That might be worthy of ThisIsWhyYoureFat.com

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A Waffle-ly Good Time

nobody@vox.com(Ann) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:08:59 -0800

Kobe-Fugetsudo Waffles profile

Kobe-Fugetsudo Waffles

Kobe-Fugetsudo matcha red bean

Kobe-Fugetsudo waffle with chestnut

The Mitsuwa Japanese market holds food fairs to highlight the foods of a season or region. Last month it was the Autumn food fair. Local Japanese restaurants and food purveyors from Japan set up mini-shops to celebrate the coming of Fall.

We got there too late, so most of the treats had run out. I really wanted to try some Japanese regional Autumn specialties, so I passed on the onigiri (riceballs) and just bought the Kobe-Fugetsudo waffles. They ran out of the original cream filled, but we snatched up the other two flavors - chestnut and matcha red bean.

The chestnut had a whole chestnut in the waffle. It's slightly powdery texture was a nice contrast to the silky chestnut cream. The matcha red bean wasn't anything to run home about. I'm not a fan of sweet grean tea flavored treats overall. I enjoy green tea's slight bitterness.

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Did the Incans Really Eat Like This?

nobody@vox.com(Ann) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:52:23 -0800

He took me to one of His favorite spots El Pollo Inka for Peruvian food. Now I'm not sure which episode of Bizarre Foods it was, but I think the Peru episode was the one where Andrew Zimmern ate guinea pig. (I just checked. It was Equador)

No guinea pig on the menu at El Pollo Inka. As the name suggests, it's mostly chicken. Rotisserie chicken is their main draw. I just wanted fried plantains, so I got some. But since their roast chicken is well known I ordered it in their arroz con pollo. Very delicious.

He got His new favorite dish bisteck montado because He's a sucker for anything topped with a fried egg.

He was still full even after eating an egg-topped steak, so we got a flan. When I was a kid I hated flan, but then again as a kid I thought sophisticated cuisine was Lucky Charms or Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream.

I lied. I never liked cookie dough ice cream.

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