8779 miles

I usually don't dab. But for this photo I made an exception. Standing: Me- Pei Squatting (Left-Right): Tori, Janine, Sara

The white star is my favorite balloon. Valerie wrote it and I love it so much. "My name is Pei & it's my B'day!"

Tbh, I really like this picture but it never got posted because it was too dark. Left-Right: Janine, Tori, Sara, Pei, Leanna

Like literally, just this month, I've taken so many photos with my friends. It was great. With the P.E. squad, just Janine and Tori. I took so many pictures. I never knew that taking pictures would be so much fun HAHAH. I honestly like the candid photos instead of the pictures that we would pose and be ready for. The candid ones look so much more carefree and fun.

Aye P.E. squad Back (Left- Right): Emily, Leanna, Ashlynn, Janice Front (Left-Right): Pei, Janine, Sara

1 more day left for Ashlynn until she's done with high school ! Left-Right: Pei, Ashlynn, Tori

Tori's height is great for me to hug her tbh.

Oh just Janine and I thinking of what to do for our picture. And me flaunting my luscious locks (jk. My hair is not great)

This was also candid and it's my favorite picture of all time. I captioned it "When bae doesn't notice you" on my instagram. Honestly, this picture sums up our relationship.

I couldnt choose which was was best so, I just made the good ones into a collage :)

ISN'T HE JUST ADORABLE??!! This was taken when he was just born.

I'm so happy hehehe. It's been 8 days since his birth but we're still thinking about the name. My brother called me at 6 in the morning while I was still sleeping and he asked me what his English name should be. If you're not sure how this name thing works for us is, you can have an 'english' name then you're 'chinese' name. For example, an English name would be John and you would have a Chinese name (for example), Xi Yuan, and definitely your last name (for example), Wong. So your full name written out would be John Wong Yi Xuan. That's technically who it works in a nutshell. So while my mom and my sister-in-law were thinking of the Chinese name, my brother and I were discussing the English names. I wrote a 3 page long list and we short-listed them to 3 names for now. We have Caspar, with an A; Wesley, because it suits Chai really well. Like Wesley Chai; or Jasper, because Caspar means treasure but Jasper means King of Treasure and my brother likes names that have connection to kings. But I honestly like Wesley over Caspar though Caspar is a really cute name. My brother said if we do end up naming him Caspar, his 'full moon' party would be Casper the Friendly ghost themed. I thought that was really cute.

WHAT KIND OF BABY IS THAT PHOTOGENIC ONCE THEY ARE BORN?? I'M NOT BIAS OR ANYTHING BUT HE IS REALLY CUTE.

This makes me so happy. Every time, I would call my brother just to look at the baby. He's really really cute. I really can't wait. I've been saying 'really' too many times. But that's how excited I am heheh.

It has literallly been more than a month since I've posted anything. I feel sooo bad. But honestly, I've been pretty busy lately. Even more busy now since my mom has left me and I have to be an independant person. *cries* I really neeed to get my schedules organized because I don't actually have a proper time when I do things. For example posting on this blog. When I just started, I used to post every Tuesday but look where's that gone HAHA. In a nutshell, I need to get my life straight.

Okay, I'm not even joking but like I've been saving up so many things to just type up this post. And since I take pictures on my phone, my gallery is literally packed with all the photos for this blog post. AND I'M REALLY EXCITED FOR THIS BLOG POST TOO BECAUSE IT IS MY FAVORITE THING TO TALK ABOUT. It's not anime or any other type of series or what not.

If you have read my other posts, you may know that my mother has travelled 8000+ miles to visit me here in the US of the A. Coming with my mother tags along food. LOTS OF FOOD. Homemade and also discoveries of new restaurants because YEY. Or sometimes maybe even restaurants that we've been before but love so much that we go there several times again.

Before I start with the actual content of this blog post, for restaurants that I will be talking about, the business cards will be posted down below WAYYY at the bottom and if you prefer maps instead, feel free to comment and suggest that to me because I think that would be awesome.

I really need to go ALL the way back to like a few months ago because THERE IS A LOT OF FOOD. There are some food that would be new to you and mostly are Malaysian or Chinese because yey food. Sorry if anyone would like to attempt that making these because there isn't any recipe but I WILL ADD IN RECIPES LATER ON FOR OTHER DISHES IN THE FUTURE.

MALAYSIAN CURRY LAKSA

So technically its a spicy curry broth with noodles topped with char siu which is kind of like sweet carboiled pork, fried tofu, and bean sprouts. Curry laksa is a traditional Malaysian dish typically sold by the Chinese. Obviously, there can be more ingredients and a much larger variety of ingredients but my mom did not take the liberty to make so much. As you can see there is a sprig of mint but I honestly just put it there to make it look pretty. Some people do enjoy eating the mint in the curry not that is just not my preference. It is quite spicy so, people who can't handle spice are warned. But, if you do want to try, be my guest! It does taste delicious so burning your tongue would probably be worth it. Curry laksa is really easily found around Malaysia. What I mean by that is, YOU CAN LITERALLY FIND IT EVERYWHERE. Most hawker stalls would definitely sell Curry Laksa. But if you're living in California, like me, but you don't have a mom who knows how to cook this, I suggest going to PappaRich. They have pretty authentic tasting curry laksa and if I'm not wrong, you are able to choose the level of spice.

CURRY LAKSA BROTH

This is what the broth or soup looks like, and it's honestly much spicier than it looks. Though it already looks pretty spicy. My mom likes making things hot. And also as you can see there is A LOT OF OIL. So, when you are scooping for the broth, you have to kind of avoid the oil(?) if you get what I mean.

NEXT THING. TBH THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE RESTAURANTS EVER. IF YOU LOVE RAMEN AND JAPANESE FOOD LIKE I DO, PLEASE CHECK THIS PLACE OUT. It's a ramen place called Foo Foo Tei in Hacienda Heights. AND THE RAMEN HERE IS SO GOOD IM NOT EVEN JOKING.

Yakisoba kind of ramen (which is my favorite ramen there). I forgot what's it called but if you do want to order it, its #31.

Honestly, I've never tasted ramen as good as the ramen in Foo Foo Tei. But be warned, you have to be there early because there is definitely going to be a line. If I'm not mistaken, it opens at 6 or 7pm for dinner time and you have to be there by 5:40 to check in your name. They WILL NOT seat if you if your entire party isn't here yet. THE RAMEN IS WORTH IT THO.

MISO RAMEN @ FOOFOOTEI

My mom loves their Miso Ramen, and it's one of the most basic ramens they have. So, if it is your first time trying ramen, I suggest you try Miso, Shoyu or Shio Ramen first. Kind of like your gateway drug. If you are a small (somehow) eater like I am, one bowl of ramen is A LOT. But there are options to choose a larger serving if you do think it isn't enough. There is also another option to change the ramen to udon if you prefer it that way for $0.50. I've never tried it with udon because I like ramen the way it is.

ONLY SHRIMP TEMPURA @ FOOFOOTEI

BROILED SQUID @ FOOFOOTEI

If ramen isn't enough for you, they have a lot (I mean a lot) of sides that you can order. I usually go for the tempura, only shrimp or maybe mixed vegetables and shrimp and also the broiled squid. There is another side called the deep fried monkfish that we do usually order but unfortunately I do not have a picture of it. Foo Foo Tei is one of my favorite restaurant of all time and I feel like more people should try it because it is amazing. They do have 2 locations, one in Hacienda Heights and one I think in Alhambra.

DUCK NECK APPETIZER

They start you of with this duck neck appetizer thing which i personally do not like. They literally give it to you once you sit down and before you order anything at all.

BEIJING DUCK

That's the actual Beijing Duck, and the black plate at the top left is the skin stuff that i was talking about earlier. So how you eat this is you get the thin tortilla, lay on some of the shiny, crispy duck skin, some duck meat (that brown heap in the middle) , cucumber and spring onions, and then lastly that dark brown sweet sauce that is the furthest in the picture. Then you just wrap it up like a burrito or eat it like a taco WHATEVER YOU PREFER. It is great.

COLD CHICKEN AND PORK WITH SEAWEED SALAD

DUCK BONE SOUP WITH CABBAGE AND TOFU

These are the things that come with the Beijing Duck. So what that means is, once you order the Beijing Duck, the cold dish and the soup comes along with it included in the price. IT IS GREAT.

CURRY CHEE CHEONG FUN WITH YONG TAU FOO

Okay, It might not look appetizing at all but TRUST ME. IT IS AMAZING. As, you can tell, it is curry again and also homemade. My mom made it TEEHEE. This is also a traditional Malaysian dish. Usually it isn'y curry but a sticky brown, sweet sauce kind of similar to the sauce for the duck, and there isn't that many toppings or ingredients. What Cheong Fun is is a rice flour noodle type of thing and is rolled up into a tube shape. If you have eaten DimSum, you probably know what Cheong Fun is but with no shrimp or pork stuff inside it. Just the plane white stuff. In recent years, Cheong Fun with curry is a trend now and most Malaysian may prefer the curry Cheong Fun over the regular one with the brown sauce. Also, Yong Tau Foo is a traditional Chinese Dish, which is technically vegetables, stuffed or wrapped in meat more commonly pork and fish then deep fried. My mom made many varieties of Yong Tau Foo like, eggplant, tofu, bittergourd, and beancurd skin. I don't think you can find it here in the US but there may be places that I don't know of. And of course topped off with a lot of sesame seeds. Again, I do not have a recipe for this but maybe in the near future I will :).

THE MENU FOR THE MYEONG-DONG TOFU HOUSE