I’m in LA today. It’s good to be away from home. It keeps me from just wrapping myself up in a blanket and staying in all day long, casually browsing job listings on Craigslist or LinkedIn on the laptop.

RV and I arrived yesterday afternoon. Alex was kind enough to pick us up from the airport, and we started off our trip by trying out Kitchen 24 in Hollywood. Basically, a fancy version of a diner. The servers wore pink pants, and I had french toast for lunch.

Most places we check out SHOULD be new while we’re down here since I’ve not been lived here since 2004, and my last trip was several months ago. After walking around in the neighborhood, I can say there’s a lot to see just within a few blocks, so we’ll be entertained for the few days we’re here. We spent a few hours hanging out at the apartment, playing Little Big Planet. YES, they have that game here! I’ve been obsessing over the Sackboys for some time now, so that was pretty exciting. While time-consuming, it’s fun to see what the characters can do.

When Jen got home from work, I told her about Kogi BBQ being on Vine, possibly nearby, and we looked it up right away. Turns out it was just a block up! We immediately headed outside to get in line for it, totally expecting a reaaally long line. It was actually not too bad of a line, and we had our food in hand in 20 minutes. It’s basically a taco truck with Korean-style meats that announces its location using Twitter [@kogibbq]. My review: here.

Since I’ve been following all these food trucks and carts lately, I’ve decided to start a new Twitter account for that purpose. Follow @hungrysuki for my foodie adventures, my first one being Kogi BBQ!

After the delicious KBBQ tacos, burritos, sliders, and dessert [Yeah, we ordered a shit-ton!], we hung out [aka painted their new apartment bathrooms] until finally deciding to go out. Ended up downtown at Bar 107 where we caught up with a few others to finish off the night.

Wondering what today will bring… aside from the guaranteed boozing madness that will ensue tonight at the joint birthday party that was the real reason we flew down for the weekend! Can’t wait!

Learning to cook [aka "not burning the house down while making something edible"] is on my list of things to do. The idea is to compile recipes that I can try, try them, and then mark the results. So one of the first things I’m going to do, besides look up recipes, is ask my friends for their favorites. My friend, Quinn, already shares his recipes on his blog, Nermo. Of course, he’s all making everything fancy, so I’ll have to ask for simplified versions that don’t require a billion utensils or lots of time that I don’t have.

Anyway, feel free to share your favorite recipes!

Fortunately for me, RV doesn’t require that I cook. In fact, he’s the one who cooks. Okay, so simple things like eggs, but he still does it.

I just make up all excuses not to.

First, there was the tapioca ["boba"] craze. Then, there was the cupcake craze [still a craze as I'm planning on attending a cupcake-eating event this weekend].

Now, there’s the frozen yogurt ["froyo"] craze, specifically that of the tart variety. I’m still not sure I understand it at all, but I broke the seal and tried one of these froyo places today. Yogen Fruz, a franchise that started up in Canada in 1986, has finally opened up shop in California. The San Francisco location is its first on the West Coast, second to open in the U.S. after Chicago, which only opened up three weeks prior. Absolutely LOVE their logo [see above!]. It makes me smile.

I was basically the first in line. Their grand opening was at 10am, and I was there 1.25 hours early. I wasn’t there alone, of course, and actually the main reason I got there so early was because someone else said she’d be there early on. I was finished with my orthodontist appointment early, so I went right over. About 45 minutes before 10am, the owner came out to talk to us. He even let us into the store and showed us around, giving us a background of the franchise. He was friendly and answered the questions we had regarding the product itself.

I ordered the soft serve with raspberry, blueberry, and strawberry toppings [see above!]. Fresh fruit! On the plus side, the froyo was neither too tart nor too sweet for my tastes. Maybe I’ll jump on that froyo bandwagon now…

Though I could probably survive without the internet, I’d definitely prefer not to. For the last two weeks, I have had very little internet access during the day, and then in the evenings, I’m just too tired to get on it for long periods of time. It might actually be a good thing, but yeah – not my choice situation.

I have been eating out for the last three weeks. Got a little jellyroll going. Yes, folks. It jiggles. I need to hit up the gym soon.

The weekend in Portland with Michelle was fun! Lots of eating out, and just taking things slowly. Friday night, we walked around looking for a place to eat, but then decided on some other spot that she had heard about – Le Bistro Montage. It was a warm and humid night.

After a few hours of avoiding the rain and shopping at the outlets on Saturday, we went to the Spring Beer & Wine Fest – tried out several beers, some sangria, and then a little pear cider. The beers ranked from yucky horrible (I’m already not much of a beer fan.) to decent and drinkable. And finally on Sunday, we made it out to Multnomah Falls before the rain came in. Since I’m all jigglypuff-like, I’m feeling the pain several days after.

My flight back to Spokane was delayed for a bit, but I made it back in one piece. Half a week left for this trip! I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed again – even if just for a few weeks.

In preparation for the three weeks in Idaho, I’ve gotten my fill of various Asian cuisines that I love and know that I will miss. Friday, I had a sushi lunch with the sister. Gotta love the rolls! Friday night, a Chinese banquet sponsored by my company, followed by Coldstone’s. Today, a Korean feast at a new favorite restaurant of mine! And tonight, dinner at a local Malay, Singaporean, Thai place.

The tummy is VERY happy.

All this food, and of course, I’m still not even packed yet! Anyway, here’s the itinerary:

03/26-03/30: Idaho Falls, ID [work, work, and more work!]
03/30-04/01: Jackson, WY [nature time]
04/02-04/06: Coeur d’Alene, ID [work, work, work]
04/06-04/08: Portland, OR [Hanging out with Michelle, outlet shopping - YAY! Checking on the house for ants and cracks - NAY!]
04/08-04/13: Coeur d’Alene, ID [work]