Anto Arrives, Carnival Really Begins, and Bucket List #'s 8, 9, 10, & 11

The morning after my last day of work, I picked Anto up at the airport. She was the first of a small procession of visitors that would come through before my take off to Australia.

If the rest of the summer seemed like a party, now with no work and friends in town, Carnival had begun.

That afternoon we had planned a picnic to celebrate both G's and my birthdays. (Our birthdays are exactly one month apart, so we often pick a date in between on which to have a combined celebration.) Given Anto's arrival and the fact that I'd finished at my job the day before, a celebration seemed particularly in order.

As I've mentioned in the past, we are big fans of tasting area at Malibu Family WInes. This spot requires no Bucket List, as it is one of our favorite spots in the Los Angeles area. As is our tradition, we brought a picnic and hunkered down with a couple bottles of wine for the afternoon. A rather random hodgepodge of friends from various areas of our lives showed up this afternoon— very few knew each other — but somehow it all resulted in a delightful afternoon.

The next morning, we managed to get ourselves up and out to Elite Restaurant in Monterey park for Dim Sum — Bucket List Item #8. I think Dim Sum is a must do in LA.

You can head downtown to the usual haunts like Empress Pavilion, but the lines are insane and driving a few more minutes on the freeway to Monterey Park or Alhambra will get you better food with a shorter wait time. Jesse is kind of an expert of Dim Sum in LA, as he's always finding the best new places to go, and he turned us on Elite a while back. This place has the most amazing soup dumplings. Well, honestly, I've never had soup dumplings anywhere else, so I don't know how these compare, but I think they're DELICIOUS. They come served in a little cup a little bit of pipping hot broth, and as you bite into the dumpling soup pours out into you mouth. MMMMM! But be careful because they are hot. We had lovely Sunday morning party with Heather and Kevin, Marc made an appearance, and we brought Kate who is going to be our roommate in Sydney.

A lovely morning, but a full tummy and the cumulative effect of the afternoon of wine the day before, kind of knocked me out for rest afternoon. I was pretty useless until it was time for us all to the Mad Men Party Jesse was throwing. Luckily, Anto needed a nap too, so I wasn't being toooooo bad a host.

A lazy afternoon, but we were plenty busy over the next few days. We explored Abbot Kinney, and picked up a few things here and there. I think this could be a very dangerous area for me, as the BoHo chic vibe is exactly the type by which I can be easily tempted. Of course, usually BoHo Chic comes at a premium, but there were a few store here and there with reasonable prices. Anto found many baubles to tempt her on that afternoon. Well, the excuse was that she was purchasing gifts for her mom and sister, but whether the necklaces she chose for them actually made it to them, I do not know.

(This Amazonian Barbie has nothing to do with anything, I just saw her in a store window and thought she was cool.)

We hit up the beach a few times. We just strolled up and down Venice Beach taking in the sights and the very eclectic mix of people. It's totally crazy and colorful. We each even decided to get henna tattoos. Anto got a Tiger and I got a Pheonix. I felt it was appropriately symbolic for my current position, moving from one chapter of life to another.

Of course we ate and drank A LOT. On the Monday night of her visit, G had to work late, so the two of us had a dinner date. We ventured into Hollywood to Loteria Grill, a place I'd been wanting to try forever, and therefor Bucket List Item #9. The family that owns this place has a stand in the Farmers Market at the Grove and they make some awesome mole sauce. A while back they opened up this Hollywood location, which is still casual, but the food is presented in a more upscale way befitting the new sit-down atmosphere. It's loud, bustling joint, with a industrial vibe, that still manages to be warm and inviting. They have some interesting things going on in the drink department. In addition to margaritas and such, they also have Micheladas. I first tried versions of these beer cocktails in Colombia, and where they prepare them with lemon or lime juice and salt. They had a similar version here, so I got one as I think they're extremely refreshing. They also have versions involving hot sauces, but I'll have to try those another day. As per usual, we ordered WAY too much food. We started with chicharron de queso. If you ever make grilled cheese sandwiches or quesdaillas, you'll know that when the cheese spills out onto the grill or pan is sizzles up and often becomes crispy. (If doesn't simply burn, of course.) If you can imagine that same idea, but the cheese is somehow spread out on the grill, almost like a crepe, and once removed the sheet of cheese is folded over and crisps up in the meantime so it manages to stand freely on it's own and served with various sauces. Ultimately, what you're eating is a giant cheese chip, but the presentation is quite beautiful. We also has a jicama salad which is not for the faint of heart -- or palate. It is spicy! I have a pretty high tolerance and my eyes were watering. As main courses we ordered the Chiles Rellenos, which has chiles 2 ways and a serving of the most delicious picadilloon the side, and the Probaditas - a large sampler plater including mini version all 12 taco varieties they offer. I love to nibble and sample, so you know this was right up my alley. The host took a liking to us and brought us a complementary dessert. I think it might be something new they're trying out , as I can't find it on the menu and can't recall the name, but involves ice cream soaked in liquor. Whatever it was it was delish!

The next night, when G was available, we hit up Han Yang, which is Bucket List Item #10, and G's and my favorite place for Korean BBQ. Sadly, we didn't get any pictures of this, but just know it's a delicious feast of meat. I think we usually order brisket and marinated rib meat, but the menu does take a bit of deciphering so I'm never completely sure. G has the order more memorized. WIth Korean BBQ, the meat is brought out to table raw and it's cooked on a very hot skillet/plate/grill at the center of your table. They also bring out a large array of small dishes to accompany all the meat — my favorite is the pot of boiled scrambled eggs. It's a very simple dish, but I think a broth with green onion is added, and the result is sooo tasty. I find it kind of funny, but it seems that they don't trust non-Koreans to turn the meat for themselves. Whenever the waitstaff sees us so much as picking up the tongs to flip over the meat, they rush right over to do it for us. They don't flinch when the rest of their Korean patrons take this liberty. However, the quality is great and when you factor in the amount of food they serve you and all the sides they bring you, it's an astounding value for the price. (About $60 gets you a feast big enough to feed 3 to 5 people, maybe even 6.)

Anto is lover of cocktails. She's a student of the art of mixology and well on her way to becoming a connoisseur. She even mixed up a few Raspberry Rose Mojitos poolside as we hung out Alyson and some of her friends and all basked in our lack of employment. (I may feel different about this once I return from Australia and find myself jobless, but I'll enjoy it in the meantime.) Given this appreciation for the art of mixing, I HAD to take her to a couple of my favorite cocktail spots around town. First up, was The Bazaar by Jose Andre, Bucket List Item #11. There menu mixes traditional tapas and more avant garde creations employing molecular gastronomy techniques (although they don't particularly like this term we were told.) I had wanted to come here for ages, and finally got the chance when G's mom brought us here for dinner to celebrate my birthday, so I actually got two doses of this item. We had an glorious feast here that night, and among the most notable items are some of the cocktails. There is a margarita that is topped with salt foam that flavors the cocktail perfectly and mojito that begins with a cloud of flavorless cotton candy in your glass and dissolves into your drink as the rest is poured into you glass. The show stopper, however, is the Nitro Caipirinha —- which does not appear on the menu in the main restaurant area. A waitress arrives with a large cart and blends a traditional caipirinha, but then she begins to pour in the liquid nitrogen which engulfs the cart in plumes of icy smoke. She blends and blends, and the result is velvety smooth frozen cocktail, that isn't at all watered down by ice. When I saw this, I knew I'd have to bring Anto. She opted for a more classic cocktail — honestly, I can't recall which one, but it involved passion fruit and ginger — and I ordered up the caipirinha show. We each paired our cocktails with a caviar canape

On Anto's final night in town, we had our second cocktail excursion, at where else, The Edison. The storng, classic cocktails were right up her alley, and of course the ambiance wasn't too shabby either. She loved it too.

Before, we headed to cocktails though, we caught Spamalot. The Ahmanson Theatre has a great deal in which you can get tickets to their shows for $20 through their Hot Tix program. Of course, the seats are far up in the highest balcony section, but honestly, we had a great view of the stage. Anto and I used to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail constantly when we were in high school in Venezuela. We'd recite the lines from memory, like proper nerds. When I found out she was coming to town, I knew I had to see it with her. Jo came to the theatre as well, although she called it a night before we went for drinks. The show was all kinds of ridiculously stupid fun, boasting such poignant lyrics as, “this is the song that goes like this.” It was everything we'd hoped for.

We finally went home and called it a night, but not before she mixed up one more cocktail — a Cranberry Balalaika — and toasted to fabulous trip full of fun and memories!