Hello, again!

Note to readers:

Apologies for my long absence. I promise I’ve been filling my belly with good eats but I’ve let you down in documenting my adventures. Last year I changed jobs which was an exhilarating and scary thing for me. Exhilarating because I am growing and learning more with this new change. But it was scary because I had been working for seven years as a public radio producer and I was embarking on something new at a new place. I don’t regret my decision for leaving but as I situated myself with my new work, I had less time for my personal projects – like my blog. But in the last couple months I’ve felt this feeling that I was missing something – I realized it was this… my creative outlet to share my love of food and adventures with you. This note is to let you know that I’m back!

Thank you for hanging in there and checking the site. Sit tight — working on posts right now. But first… here’s a tip for the weekend from the cute puppy Milo:

Taco Tuesday: Sergio’s Tacos

I love tacos. It’s one of the best things you can eat in Los Angeles. The best tacos are simple – a quality tortilla, meat, and cilantro/onions with some hot sauce. My friends know I’m always on the look out for a good taco and recently my friend Ruth gave me an awesome recommendation. She said it was a little taco stand outside of LA in the city of Commerce called Sergio’s Tacos.

It’s close to the Citadel Outlets but you take a turn on Atlantic Blvd. and you see the small stand on a corner. The parking lot only fits a handful of cars and when you walk in there are just a few tables. But let me tell you, this place is definitely on my list for best tacos! Check out my order for a carne asada and a carnitas taco.

The tacos are made to order. The tortillas are perfect. Really. At first bite, it’s warm with a slight toasty edge then the savory marinated carne asada meat and carntitas were tender – not chewy and dry which can happen at some taco stands that reheat the meat. What tops it off is the hot sauce. I prefer the green (tomatillo) sauce but if you like hot, ask for the red sauce which is their house sauce. Here’s a closer look at my carne asada taco in the foreground and my carnitas taco in the background.

So if you’re headed to the outlets or traveling down the 5 freeway, take a detour off Atlantic Blvd. to Sergio’s and let me know what you think of their tacos. Also, I’m always open to your taco recommendations!

Sergio’s Tacos
2216 S Atlantic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90040

(at least) 50 photos a day

My friend Patrick said I should take 50 pictures a day while I’m in S. Korea. With one full day under my belt, I think the 50 photo challenge won’t be too hard – especially in a place like Seoul. I sometimes forget how many photos can fit on an 8gb card – apparently at 9 mega-pixels, mine can fit around 1900! Yesterday I took 74 pictures – warning: not all are stellar. There are probably a handful that I’m super happy about. Here’s one…

This stand had amazing fried foods – can you almost smell it through the photos? Right after I took this picture, a rush of people stood in line. That was taken in Nomdaemun area in Seoul. There are tons of food stands, stores, and carts in the alleyways – and of course, there are the occasional motorbikes that drive through with deliveries.

I think so far on this trip I regret one thing – I regret not visiting when I was younger. But I guess better late than never, right?

Can’t wait for the 50+ photos I’ll be taking today!

This time last year…

I’m doing some early spring cleaning in my iphoto library. I admit I haven’t gotten very far because I keep getting tangled up in images of the past – all the people, places, and things. I did see how my photography started to evolve by each picture – in technique and with subject.

For the last three years, I was living in Minnesota and during that time I started to photograph more food. Food from restaurants, bars, and home. One of my favorites, even though it’s a little blurry, is this one from tapas night at Isabel and Mark’s place. It was taken a year ago and I remember how cold it was outside in Minneapolis. None of us had ever done DIY tapas night before.

Everyone that came over and including the host brought one tapas item to contribute. At first we didn’t know what sort of a meal we’d have but once we saw all the small plates together, we realized we had a feast on our hands. I brought an easy dish because I didn’t have much time to cook between work and dinner.

I sauteed some shrimp with olive oil, fresh garlic, salt/pepper, and a squeeze of some fresh lemon. The best part is someone else brought some French bread and we dipped the bread in the garlic oil that was left over from the shrimp… yum! We also had a selection of cheeses, olives, prosciutto, salad, fruits, nuts, wines, veggies… it was a good night.

After the meal was dessert – a game of Cranium and some more red wine! All in all, it was a perfect evening and so simple… food, friends, and games.

Welcome!

I admit I’ve started blogs and have let them die a slow death. But not this time. I’ve decided this is the year that I will commit… commit to sharing my thoughts on sights, sounds, and tastes of all kinds. I often wondered who would care about what I had to say but I recently realized (maybe it’s the wisdom of embarking on my 30s) that I’m doing this for me. I don’t mean this to be a project of narcissism though. I want this to be a place where you find something new and you want to share with others. When I decided to go into the profession of journalism, it was because I loved exchanging stories and to be the conduit of information… I want to continue that here.

More importantly, I’ve chosen this week to launch this blog because I’m going on my first trip to South Korea at the end of this week. I received a journalism fellowship to South Korea to learn about their green technology sector through the East-West Center.

Anyhow, the pressure of the first entry is done. I hope you stick around for the fun stuff to come. Cheers!