you used to be alright » los angeles

Fish Tacos, Newport Beach

terence — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 01:59:31 +0000

Yes, it is March, but I’m cleaning up some of my vacation posts from Christmas. When I was down in Newport Beach visiting my friend Bryan – he said he had found the best fish tacos in Southern California. Well, that’s a pretty bold claim, but being a big fish taco fan, I felt we had to go try it out.

Meeting down in Newport at the Bear Flag Fish Company, Bryan took charge of the ordering, making sure to get the poke. From wikipedia, poke is:

Modern poke typically consists of cubed ?ahi (yellowfin tuna) sashimi marinated with sea salt, a small amount of soy sauce, inamona (roasted crushed candlenut), sesame oil, limu seaweed, and chopped chili pepper.

It was friggin’ delicious. And everybody on Yelp! rightfully recommended it highly.

Bryan getting ready to enjoy the poke before the fish tacos arrived.

But the main event? The fish tacos? Absolutely fantastic. Fresh fresh fresh ingredients. Plentiful avocados, fresh tortillas, and enough of the freshest fish this side of tsukuji market.

Bear Flag Fish Company
407 31st St
Newport Beach, CA 92663
(949) 673-3474
About $10 USD/person

Growing up in the Foothills

terence — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 06:04:14 +0000

I’m from Los Angeles, but not the LA that everyone knows.

I mean, you say “Los Angeles” and you think about

or the beach

or Beverly Hills

Well, I didn’t come from there. I came from an area known as the East San Gabriel Valley – no, not that Valley – and a little town called La Verne, California.

People who are from LA usually can’t even point out where La Verne is, I need to give them clues – you know, Claremont . .. where the Claremont Colleges are, it’s where the 210 and the 57 meet, sort of, on your way out to Vegas – finally they figure it out.

But I was home over Christmas – and when the sky is clear and not smoggy (which, admittedly isn’t often) it can be as spectacular as the beach.

This is a view of Mt. Baldy from Upland

you dropped food on the floor

terence — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:28:33 +0000

what next?

good thing i have this handy decision tree/flowchart.

stolen from a new way to think about the 5 second rule

christmas eve dinner

terence — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 08:33:24 +0000

we were priviliged enough to be hosted by my cousin keelan and his wife amelia and their two precocious sons samuel and joshua, for a hybrid western/filipino christmas eve dinner. growing up christmas eve dinner wasn’t a big deal in my household, but it was nice to have a family dinner on a family holiday.

braised ox tails and ribs

smoked salmon

mac and cheese – this is the california pizza kitchen recipe. sadly, it’s velveeta. still tasty, though.

josh only has eyes for the cupcake santa

a filipino dessert called brazos de mercedes made with egg whites and egg yolks folded with sugar. it was really tasty.

fall is here

terence — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 02:15:02 +0000

well, at least it feels like it. it’s cool and damp and windy these last two days in shanghai, and it’s a welcome respite from the heat of summer. i hope fall lasts quite a bit, because winter around these parts is none-too-comfortable either, what with the poorly insulated buildings and tile floors in my apartment.

weather wise, i’ve always had the horrible decision making power in terms of where i’ve lived after growing up in la (mild, sunny and warm) and going to university in the bay area (temperate and cool).

let’s re-cap:

1996-1997 chini village, huadu city, guangdong province, china: humid and hot summers, damp uncomfortable winters

1997 – 2002 hong kong: humid and hot summers, damp uncomfortable winters

2003 – 2006 houston, tx: humid and hot summers, damp uncomfortable winters

2007 – present shanghai, china: humid and hot summers, damp uncomfortable winters

do you see a pattern? i do, and its not one that i am all that fond of. sometimes when the weather is sucky, i do think about ditching it all and heading back to los angeles where it’s 77 degrees and sunny every day.

speaking of los angeles: