March 1, 2016 · 6:24 am

My second uber ride (in LA..and A OK)

  My second uber ride – the first was about a year ago in DC – went well and seemed well worth the money. iT cost $44 to go from Burbank to the airport and took about an hour and 10 minutes, as we took alternative routes to avoid traffic on the 405. (I left at 3 pm and arrived at about 4:10 pm, an hour and 10 minutes before my flight.

tHe car was spotless and pleasant. my driver was a nice middle aged Filipino man whose other job is working as a caregiver for four disabled people who live in a group home. he had a hardworking immigrant striver’s tale that would put the leading republican presidential candidate to shame. pAst jobs included working as a baker in Saudi Arabia and then as a baker on a cruise ship operating out of Puerto Rico. He has three grown kids and his daughter has been turned down twice recently for a tourist visa to visit him, so he tries to go Back when he can but it’s expensive and it doesn’t sound like he has much vacation time or disposable income. He managed to buy a house somewhere on the outskirts of LA for $85,ooo that he thinks may fetch $110,000 some day. And all this on a $13 an hour salary plus his uber job. And these are the people we want to keep out of our country? Really? 

noW on a plane flying to Tucson to see my dad after a great visit with my brother and his family.

Leave a comment

Filed under California, Los Angeles

Tagged as ,

February 29, 2016 · 7:25 am

Daisy Mint Thai, cherry froyo, south Pasadena

image imageAnother day, another place to explore. This time Pasadena, which I last visited in sabout 1986. lUcy, mike, Dirck and I met scott tuft for Sunday lunch at Daisy Mint, a very good Thai restaurant and then went to Cherry, for frozen yoghurt.

 

We walked around the expensive shops in the pretty downtown, drove past some gorgeous Spanish style mansions and around the pretty little bungalows and interesting indie shops of south Pasadena (a place I could almost seeing us living in) and then thru the grentrifiying highland park back to Burbank (where we started the day with a steep hike up the hills for a,spectacular view from on high of the city.

Leave a comment

Filed under California, Los Angeles, Uncategorized

Tagged as , , ,

February 28, 2016 · 7:43 am

gRand central market, the last bookstore, cliftons cafeteria — downtown LA

 I am still not convinced that in a place as sunny, green and vibrantly landscaped as LA, with mountains and the ocean and beaches, it would be wise to live in the faded grandeur of downtown LA.

 bUt it does have its hipster outposts and it was fun to visit them today. First stop the jam packed Grand central Mrket where we had excellent falafel and corned beef sandwiches and of course overpriced espresso in a cavernous old warehouse.

 fRom there we walked past old facades and way too many homeless people along sidewalks with a faint smell of pee to another old cavernous building that houses “the last bookstore” another new hipster hotspot, packed with used and new books and people (mostly used, not new). The craziest place of all was Clifton’s cafeteria, a revived cafeteria style restaurant and bar and handout with three or four meandering floors and crazy western decor, a mock 3 story sequoia, a huge stuffed buffalo encased in glass, and old fashioned selection of cafeteria fare from Tuna salad in a plastic cup to  German sweet chocolate cake. It was a good place to drop,for a bit and sit in stand oversized chairs made of overly shellacked tree bark.

Leave a comment

Filed under California, Los Angeles, Uncategorized

Tagged as

February 27, 2016 · 7:02 am

Lucky llama, Carpenteria beach, Lilly’s tacos/the mission/Mcconnells ice cream: Santa Barbara 

     The last time I passed through Santa Barbara was in 1983 in a torrential downpour and it was all a blur. I vaguely remember Spanish arcades and palm trees. This time I got a much better look and it was lovely.

 We started about 15 miles south in the laid back beach town of Carpenteria, where as per my brothers recommendation, we stopped for coffee and an Acai bowl at a mellow coffee place called the lucky llama. Then onto the beach where we walked in the fog along what looked and felt like soft pristine sand until we returned to the car and realized our feet were coated with sticky tar that we first thought was from pine needles but later realized must be from the oil spill last year. I made the mistake of trying to scrape it off with my fingers which then got coated. pIty the poor wildlife that had to deal with this sticky stuff.

 bUt on we went to lovely Santa Barbara where the Spanish style architecture , the giant palm trees, the bourganvilla was enchanting. Reminded me at times of Santa Fe, Naples (Florida) and even the plaza in Kansas City. We had good humble tacos at Lilly’s taqueria and explore the shops nearby, then we toured the pretty old stone mission (shades of Peru and Tucson), walked to the end of the wharf for a dazzling view back across the water past the Spanish white buildings and the mountains beyond., drove around some of the neighborhoods with pretty old craftsman and mission style houses, ate some ice cream at McConnell’s (since 1949) and drove back to la via orange and lemon gloves and strawberry stands to Burbank.

Leave a comment

Filed under California, Uncategorized

Tagged as ,

February 26, 2016 · 7:41 am

cOmmisary, Toro sushi and poke house, larchmont Blvd., salt and straw –an LA day!

  wHat a great day in LA. perfect weather, blue sky, sunshine, greenery, pink cherry blossoms, red and purple bourganvilla, makes my Midwestern winter weary soul explode with joy. Best of all is my adorable niece Lucy, who we got lots of quality time with at the start and end of the day.

iN between, we had coffee at the Commissary which really does make Burbank feel like an industry town. Outside on the patio, everyone except us was talking show is. Some guys were discussing the script for a horror film, a woman was talking about her commercials. Later we met mike for excellent poke, my favorite Hawaiian food which is now in LA as well as NYC. We ate outside at Toro sushi and poke house on Burbank’s main drag.

  nExt stop, larchmont Blvd where we went to a great walk through an elegant neighborhood full of Spanish and Tudor mansions, all beautifully landscapes, many now with drought resistant plantings. We stopped at salt and straw for some artisanal ice cream (skipping the too weird flavored with ingredients like salt, avocado and figs, for some delicious “chocolate gooey brownie” and bought some sanders at the village shoe store near by.

love being here and being with my family here!

Leave a comment

Filed under California, Los Angeles

Tagged as ,

February 22, 2016 · 4:41 pm

Balmy February day, Van Gogh bedrooms: chicago

We got lucky during a quick trip to Chicago to celebrate my sister’s 50th birthday last weekend (feb. 20). The temperature was near 60 degrees.  Runners along the lakefront wore sleeveless tops and t-shirts. Bicylicists were out in force. Along Michigan Avenue, many strollers, including me, had their puffy down coats tied around their waists.  A year ago when we drove to Chicago, our car temperature gauge kept sinking lower and lower below zero.

This trip we met family at Cafecito on E. Congress for some good and fast Cuban food (Cuban sandwich, roasted pork platter) and then on to the Art Institute where we had advance tickets to the Van Gogh “Bedrooms” show, the highlight of which were the artist’s three yellow bedroom paintings, usually found in three different museums, far apart. It was really interesting to compare the three side by side. Reminded me of a few things: a painting we have at home that is two different versions of the same scene (different light and perspective); how my mother’s paintings changed as her dementia advanced; and the People mag. feature where you pick out the differences in two versions of the same photo. I spent a lot of time starring over the shoulders of fellow museum-goers starring at the three paintings before moving onto to find a very cool film that made this exercise much easier – with a screen split into three segments so you could do a close comparison of different aspects of the paintings, for example the three different versions of the bednight table. They also had a fun option where we could put ourselves inside a Van Gogh painting. (see below)…add it to our collection (which includes posing as Grant Wood’s American Gothic couple outside the Iowa house where he set the painting.chicagopix2

Leave a comment

Filed under Chicago, THE ARTS

Tagged as ,

February 6, 2016 · 6:00 pm

A little Hawaii in NYC – Poke!

hawaii-2012-0891I first fell for Poke in – where else – Hawaii and haven’t had it since our trip there several years ago. So I was pleased to see a story this week in the NYTimes about the new Poke places popping up in Manhattan. Some of the Poke is a little too orange and creamy for my taste – k raw salmon slathered with orange midwestern salad dressing (but is actually chile aoili and quite good. spicy too.)

The kind I really fell for in Hawaii is red chunks of raw ahi tuna in a sesame oil/ salty soy sauce (the japanese version, Shoyu) with maybe some shredded carrots or seaweed or avocado.)

I first spotted it in the Big Island (see photo above!) when a hipster surfer guy staying at our bed & breakfast was eating some from a plastic takeaway carton. Had to try it – and it was delicious. Then I found it in odd places, including a little hole-in-the-wall natural foods place (Ruffage) restaurant off Waikiki Beach in Honululu; a very upscale version at the elegant Alan Wong’s (Obama’s favorite Honolulu restaurant)  and then on the side of a two-lane highway, being sold out of the back of a parked white pickup by a guy with two Styrofoam coolers full of the stuff. I lived to tell the tale (I was a little concerned about food poisoning but it was delicious.) Short of another trip to Hawaii (some day, I hope!), I’ll now look for it in NYC. – best spot according to the NYTimes is Sons of Thunder in Murray Hill.

Sons of Thunder

  • American
  • $$
  • 204 East 38th Street, Murray Hill
  • 646-863-2212

Pokéworks

  • American
  • $$
  • 63 West 37th Street, Midtown South
  • 212-575-8881

Wisefish Poké

  • American
  • $$
  • 263 West 19th Street, Chelsea
  • 212-367-7653

East Coast Poké

  • American
  • $$
  • 186 West 4th Street, West Village
  • 718-887-6902

Hungry City

By LIGAYA MISHAN FEB. 4, 2016

Leave a comment

Filed under DINING, Hawaii, New York City

Tagged as , ,

January 31, 2016 · 9:05 pm

Trying out Roka on Court Avenue in downtown Des Moines

With all the caucuses craziness going on, I neglected to report on our recent visit to the restaurant Roka on Court Avenue in Des Moines.  The place was packed with young, attractive 30-somethings (who are these people?) when we visited on a Saturday night in January – and it was a good place for our group of seven to have drinks and share some “small plates” – highlights including pork belly tacos,  flatbread with mushrooms and goat cheese, Asian lettuce wraps and pork sliders.  I had to sit NOT facing the giant television screen behind our table or else I would have found myself completely distracted by the classic film, “Casablanca” which was on view. With all the commotion going on – when dozens of people crowd into a small cozy brick-walled bar – who needs TV screens alight with movies and ball games ( although mine is a minority opinion…)pixtoprintpatti

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Des Moines, DINING

Tagged as ,

January 24, 2016 · 8:14 pm

Oriental theater/beautiful, RH 3 arts cafe…Chicago

 

RH 3 arts club

RH 3 arts club

How smart of the production of the Carole king musical “beautiful” to invite the audience to sing during the cast bows. I couldn’t have been the only middle aged woman dying to sing songs I still know from heart and used to sing soulfully at the top of my lungs as a kid. needless to say, I loved the musical (thank you MAT) and it was also a treat to see it in the stunningly ornate Oriental theater downtown.

At RH

At RH

We had an excellent lunch today in the elegant Gold Coast brick mansion that used to house art students and is now home to RH, aka Restoration Hardware but unlike any RH I’ve ever been to. You can wander around five elegant floors with oversized dramatic furnishings, massive chandeliers, beds, sofas, art work, topi arises. I gather its a designer showroom, not your every day retail store. The 3 arts club is a lovely restaurant in a glass topped atrium of a two story brick courtyard. It reminded me of the courtyard at the DIA (Detroit Institute of ARt) which was the height of elegance when I was a kid. Good food here too – burgers, a fresh roasted root vegetable and grains salad. It happens to be around the corner from my aunt’s house. I will definitely be back.

Beautiful oriental theater

Beautiful oriental theater

Leave a comment

Filed under Chicago

Tagged as , ,

January 20, 2016 · 6:47 pm

good hospital dining cont’d: this time at Chicago’s Northwestern Hospital

imageI learned a few years ago at Beaumont Hospital in suburban Detroit that hospital food ain’t what it used to be. Beaumont had some great options, including a farmers market!image

Now here we are at Chicago’s Northwestern hospital and my aunt dined on healthy fare (the el verde bowl with grains, corn, avocado, chicken) from Protein Bar (akin to Juice Press in NYC) and I had a plate with chicken kebab plate with hummus, feta, tatsiki, etc from Greek Kitchen, also good. other options include Vietnamese food, au Bon pain (with fresher looking pastries than I’ve seen at other locations), Starbucks and dunkin donuts. We also gave a very nice private room with a bed, couch and desk overlooking a large window with a view of snowy Lake Michigan. very nice, especially since we are here for 5 hours.

Leave a comment

Filed under Chicago, DINING

Tagged as ,