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The weekend was filled with good times with friends in Ventura, Los Angeles, and Orange County. It was also filling with great food!

See the full gallery here: http://jennywoo.shutterfly.com/339

Sarah's egg benedict from Haute Cakes in Costa Mesa: cornmeal pancakes on a bed of black beans, topped with salsa, poached eggs, avocado, and hollandaise sauce

Abbie's stuffed baguette "sandwich" at The Farm restaurant/cafe at The Grove in LA

For a amateur racecar-admiring newbie, this new prototype is at least very interesting to look at. It’s the first electric racecar designed to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2011.

It looks great, sounds great (0-60mph in under 4 seconds), but if Le Mans races of electric cars are what lie in the future, would they be as exciting to listen to?

In any case, the point of these races are to prove the full potential of car technology today, so it’d be pretty interesting to see how this one tests out against the top diesel/gas cars.

Check out the preview of the amazing designs and car details here: http://www.carbodydesign.com/archive/2009/05/22-green-gt-twenty-4-concept/

Earlier I posted a blog about a hottle I came across online. Never knew what a ‘hottle’ was until I stumbled upon it on Sur La Table’s web site. Their own employees at the store didn’t even know what I was asking for. One of them half-jokingly assumed that the term, hottle, comes from “hot drink” and “bottle”. It all started making sense. That’s all I wanted it for: put my extra hot drink in this bottle.

A good friend graciously bought me one, which was just $3.95. Here is a photo of it with the excess of my Good Earth tea and honey! And yes, it keeps your drink warm for long!

I think this photo below says a lot, shows a lot, and speaks a lot to me. This is a photo taken by Megan Thompson, who was documenting Blink 182 that night. From the past years of working concerts, music festivals, and tours, this picture reminds me of those still in-between moments of chillin, eating dinner, waiting for the show to begin as the fans arrive and fill up the venue.

Although probably just one of numerous photos taken without much thought, this shot greatly reflects the style I admire, the style I aim for, and am working towards in a video right now. It’s very candid, unplanned. You can’t see his face – not quite the choice for PR. It’s unsure if they have yet to load or have loaded in stage equipment. Looks like he is putting in his ear piece. But this moment is the kind of time I savor at shows. It’s the time when you almost see the artist as a co-worker, though a featured one, for a show you are working at. They are not your idols here, but people just doing their job, getting ready to do another show for fans who paid money to see them live. They are working individuals. They are professional and in all the right mentality to put on a good show. It’s funny to imagine the fun and excitement in performing live, but there is a much needed level of professionalism and experience that must come with it. And isn’t that what you’re paying money for?

Catch them when they may not even know they’re being caught. Observe parts of them that they don’t know are being observed: their hands, their feet, their glances. Up close or from far, you decide what you want the viewer to see. I see a moment that makes me feel nostalgic. How I miss it. But a third look at this photo is like the first look: you don’t see much. But there is a reason this photo was chosen along with some others to show a sequence of events in Mark Hoppus’s blog.

Thanks to Megan Thompson for the photos. I will definitely be referring to the photos as I work today as a reminder of the documentary, raw style that most appeals to me.

Megan Thompson Photography: http://www.meganthompsonphotography.com
Mark Hoppus blog: http://www.himynameismark.com

Surprisingly, not a lot of places stay open late in LA, or at least here in Studio City. Besides the bars and clubs, there are few choices for late night grub.

Abbie and I came across Bob’s, and we think it is our favorite local late-night spot. Located on Riverside in Toluca Lake, the place stays busy around midnight, serves breakfast all day, and comes with a friendly staff of people. Vintage, nostalgic, it looks great, feels great, and even better, the french toast was deeeeeelish.

Summary of today:

-Peet’s Coffee
-Farmer’s Market, watching kids in the petting zoo, sampling cherries
-Shopping on Ventura Blvd.
-Sunday Brunch
-Checking out Annenberg Beach House in Santa Monica
-Football and frisbee at the beach
-Back to the house for smoothies, cheese, and strawberries
-Finishing the evening with “Enemy of the State” on the Roku

This bench outside Big Sugar Bakeshop is exactly what I had in mind in creating a bench with an attached flower/plant box for the backyard.

Can’t go wrong with $10 for this cute tee! Sadly this store was closed, but I’m definitely buying it this week for a very special girl .

We have a loquat tree next to the house!

See all the photos uploaded here.

Although a skinny, lengthy building on Newport Blvd, the location isn’t hard to miss with it’s large neon blue sign. The place features Asian flavored dishes, salads, soups, and dim sum, I just placed a lunch order to go: the salad/rice lunch special and coconut shrimp dim sum. The place is packed with people eating lunch and ordering to go orders, a very good sign. Although this first floor is small and crowded, food looks promising and I can’t wait to eat!

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Update:

The meal overall was delicious. The coconut-fried shrimp was delicious with its sweet yellow sauce. I’m not sure why the salad was incredibly overpacked and overflowing in the plastic container, but it was delicious, though I couldn’t finish it. Rice was fine. Good stuff- just wish there were more dim sum dishes, especially of seafood or veggie based.

In my search on the “interweb” I came across a notebook brand I use but never thought about what company made it. That’s because this fantastic company does not put logos on their products! It’s a Japanese company called, MUJI. The name comes from mujirushi ryohin, which means “No Brand Goods”.

What I love about these notebooks I bought almost a year ago at the MOCA musem in Los Angeles is that they are cheap, simple and plain without any texts or images or logos, made of 70% recycled paper, and they are so fun to use! I love to open the MUJI notebook and admire its flat simplicity, without worrying about pages popping up and huge binds that make me have to press down on the paper.

I think I am on my third notebook (see below). You can buy a set at the MoMA store here.

Check out other MUJI products: http://www.muji.com/

my MUJI notebook

my MUJI notebook opened flat

I got an iPhone. People reacted by saying, “Finally!” and added a comment about how they were surprised I didn’t get one sooner. I am surprised, too.

How did I go this long without listening to Pandora in the car, having high-quality videos and photos to share, and downloading random applications like DigiLite?

Anyways, I was excited to upload my photos I took at the Star Trek Premiere in Hollywood to easily share them with my friends. Here are a few below:

Anton Yelchin, "Pavel Chekov" in Star Trek

I wasn’t sure who this was at the time, but I loved his Bob-Dylan-esque suit! Turned out to be Russian-American actor, Anton Yelchin, who plays the loveable Chekov in the new Star Trek film.

Leonard Nimoy, original "Spock" from Star Trek, and wife

Who can forget Leonard Nimoy’s reappearance in the new film? Every second of him on screen was a joy.

Neil Patrick Harris

Okay, so he wasn’t in the film. But we all love our NPH! I think of him as the one person acceptable for a straight guy to have a man-crush on.

Chris Pine, "Captain James T. Kirk" in Star Trek

 So I didn’t know much about Chris Pine before, I admit. Judging by his black carpet photos, I envisioned a serious, charming, suave character. But when seeing Star Trek after the premiere, I was proved wrong . . . in a good way.

You can see all the photos I took at the Star Trek premiere in Hollywood at the Chinese Theatre at AsianConnections.com: click here for gallery.

Things that I plan to work on very soon for DIY projects: creating home office and preparing our lovely backyard for the summer!