Shin-Sen-Gumi Hakata Ramen - Rosemead, CA
The area of Los Angeles that I’m from is called the San Gabriel Valley. One of its claims to fame is that we have the largest Chinese community in the U.S. That equals the best Chinese food in the country, not just in terms of quality but also sheer breadth of variety. The Atlantic Monthly had a great article on this phenomenon — even though it was written a decade ago, everything in the report still holds true. Perhaps our unique situation is even more exaggerated these days, since the community has only grown larger over the past decade.
My point in bringing this up is that despite the amazing Chinese food, our Japanese restaurants in the area are comparatively lacking. We have our fair share of good places, but most would agree that the standouts are located in the Gardena / Torrance area or near Little Tokyo in downtown L.A., both quite substantial drives from the SGV. The Shin-Sen-Gumi restaurant empire, known for its authentic Japanese cuisine, operates mostly in Gardena. I only recently learned that they had opened a hakata ramen shop in Rosemead, CA (quite a bit closer to home) so I jumped at the chance to try out their ramen.
A Bathing Ape shark clan
I’ve been in love with the A Bathing Ape label ever since my first trip to Japan. Their shark hoodies are my favorite and among Bape’s most desired products. Most were created in very limited quantities, adding to their mystique. Due to their rarity, I’ve been patiently hunting for my favorite sharks over the past few years. I finally tracked down the green Shibuya city camo shark for a reasonable price and have completed my collection!
Top row starting from left: Aoyama; Shibuya; Harajuku; Taipei (all city camo series)
Bottom row starting from left: Black/red exclusive to Bape club members; Salmon PONR shark; Navy blue knit wool shark; standard Bape crewneck
Of course, there’s a few dozen other sharks that have been made, but unless I can get any of them super cheap (not going to happen), my shark collection is essentially complete. Unlike some Bape diehards, who seem to be solely collectors and keep all their goods tucked away in the original plastic bags, I actually like to wear my hoodies out and about. I’m still waiting for the first day when I bump into another shark-wearing fan. Probably won’t happen unless I’m in Tokyo.
In case you were wondering what the shark hoody looks like when worn, here’s a photo from last summer when I visited my brother at Harvard. Putting the Harajuku white camo to good use and blending into the marble! It’s impossible to see through the shark face, so zipping the hoody up all the way is purely just for effect. Couple more photos of the Taipei shark hoody.
Julian Serrano - Las Vegas, NV
Ever since Las Vegas firmly established itself as a powerhouse city in the restaurant world, every new casino opening has proudly boasted a line-up of marquee chefs. Julian Serrano is the eponymous tapas restaurant by the chef who created Bellagio’s Picasso, one of the groundbreaking restaurants in Vegas dining. Although I do not have much experience with Spanish food, I was eager to visit Serrano, hyped by accounts that this was the highlight of the whole Aria casino. I found the food adequate but not especially impressive. Unfortunately, the experience was marred by new restaurant opening woes that left us displeased.
Las Vegas 2009 trip - Photo wrapup
My last visit to Las Vegas was in December 2007. Besides CityCenter, there have been two major grand openings on the Strip since then: Palazzo and Encore. Although both are gigantic luxury hotel and casino resorts in their own right, functionally they are expansions of pre-existing properties (Venetian and Wynn Las Vegas, respectively). They don’t carry the same level of intrigue as a brand new resort like CityCenter, but nevertheless I had fun wandering around and checking everything out.
This photoset will wrap up my coverage of the trip. I want to take a quick moment to thank WET Design, the company that developed the Fountains of Bellagio and the CityCenter water features, for publishing my blog on the press section of their website. I’m assuming they liked my photos of their CityCenter projects, and I’m giddy that my post is listed in the company of articles from The New Yorker and Los Angeles Times. Probably the coolest moment for this blog since I started it!
Las Vegas 2009 trip - Vdara
Vdara was the first property to open in the Las Vegas megacomplex of CityCenter. Although it was originally designed to be a condo-hotel with residential suites available for sale, the downturn of the economy forced Vdara to be converted into a standard hotel. I stayed 2 nights at Vdara for my Vegas trip last month. Contrary to negative testimonials I’ve read, I had a mostly pleasant experience with Vdara.
Don’t expect your typical extravagant Vegas hotel/casino here. In fact, there’s no casino anywhere in the building. Vdara has a professional, business-hotel atmosphere. Its contemporary feel matches well with the entire CityCenter project, but is that really what the typical Vegas visitor wants?
Las Vegas 2009 trip - CityCenter
Las Vegas is an easy vacation destination for Los Angeles residents, a brisk 3.5 hour drive away. As a L.A. native, I’ve been to Vegas every 1-2 years ever since I was a kid. Even though I couldn’t gamble, there were always new shows to see and new resort-casinos to visit. The trend in recent years has been a shift from theme casinos (Mirage, New York New York, Venetian, etc.) to modern sophistication and luxury like Wynn. Nowhere is this more evident than the tragedy of Treasure Island, which lost its pirate theme and became rebranded as TI.
CityCenter recently opened in December 2009 as the most ambitious project in Las Vegas yet. The largest privately funded construction project in U.S. history, it represents a paradigm shift in Vegas resort design. Like Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills and other similar urban complexes, CityCenter is meant to be a city within a city where residents can live, dine, shop, work and play without leaving the complex. While CityCenter doesn’t have any office spaces, it features thousands of condominium residences and hotel rooms spread across multiple high-rises along with a large shopping-entertainment district that will house a future grocery store.
Visiting CityCenter was to be my highlight of this trip, and while the scope and design of the facility are impressive, I was unfortunately underwhelmed.
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