friends

Failed bikeride

by
We had plans to go for a bike ride down to the South Bay today but my friend had a rough night and wasn’t feeling so hot so we only made it to the park when we decided to take a brake and give up the whole South Bay idea.

Later on in the day we found out Winnie was cooking so we headed over there to get fed. Delicious!

Yakitori night

by
We had yakitori for dinner, basically stuff on a stick that you can put on a grill, Japanese style.

I brought paneer, because I love paneer!

Camera Obscura

by
There’s a huge free camera obscura by the ocean front in Santa Monica, I’ve heard about it a lot but never actually been there until today. It’s really cool, it’s like watching a live 8mm film. They should trim down some trees though so we could get a better view of the beach.

Had lunch out on the Santa Monica Pier and tried to catch a glimpse of some dolphins.

Making the last days count

by
It’s doesn’t feel like they’ve been here for 2.5 weeks, but the swedes are going back home tomorrow. There were a couple of spots we had to visit before I could release them, like Hermosa Beach and dinner at Samosa House.

Plans failed

by
It rained a bunch over night so we woke up to a message that the road over to Yosemite was closed due to bad snow conditions. That’s a bit of a bummer, we were all super excited to go. I was happy to see some snow in the morning though. A few weeks from now we’ll be skiing again!

We decided to make the best out of it and drive around Mammoth and June Lake for a bit before heading back home to LA.

We stopped by the hot springs on the way home, they were super warm and awesome!

Mammoth bound

by

We decided last minute to go for Mammoth for the night and then continue to Yosemite tomorrow.

Usually when I drive up to Mammoth it’s after work and I wanna get there as quick as possible but this time we had some time to explore so we stopped by the Old Desert Cafe in Mojave.
 It was very empty and charming.

Once in Mammoth, we headed out to the Mammoth Brewing Company. The Yosemite Pale Ale was fantastic!

Sriracha factory visit

by
It’s just a hot sauce to me but the Sriracha sauce has a cult following. Huy Fong Foods has free tours of their factory in Azusa east of Los Angeles, so you can see how it’s made.

The people living around the factory doesn’t like it so much because it polluts the air with spice and it makes your eyes dry up and sting. I could feel a little tickle as soon as I stepped out of the car, it was kind of a cool experience, but I can see how it gets old quick if you live around it.

We showed up at the factory and got seated in a big room in front of a small TV with crappy audio. It felt a bit like a fail, but the tour was free, so who am I to complain?

Soon a lady came around to showed us out to the shuttle and drive us around the factory. They had a lot of chillies.

As we walked through this room of crushed pepper I really had difficulties breathing, I don’t understand how the workers does it every day.

I love this kind of thing so much! I should probably work in a factory so I can watch things being made every day.

I didn’t know, but Huy Fong Foods are super cool and really eco friendly. They buy from local farms, makes everything in house (even the printing on the bottles) and try to reuse and recycle as much as possible. The wholesale price of the sauce has never changed either in 35 years!

Went for Hai Di Lao hot pot after, thought we should stock to the asian theme.

Paradise Cove

by
We had plans to go camping this weekend, but the Swedes has turned into a couple of sicklings so we did a day trip to Santa Barbara yesterday and stayed local today. It’s 100 degrees out so we had to hit the beach. 

Bar hopping

by
Like always, my guests got sick right away when they got here so we took it mellow yesterday. Today however they met up with me so we could do the classic bar hopping on the way home. It’s good for them to see a different side of Los Angeles, not just fancy hipster bars.

Bikeride

by
The Swedes bought two really cool bicycles to have when they’re here. They look just the same, just different colors, so now they’re like a married couple.