I just hung up after speaking with my parents, and here I am sitting on my new desk, sipping on a fresh-brewed cup of Vanilla-biscotti coffee, and relishing the first few moments of the start to my life as an independent college student…

My dad’s last “sermon” to me is still ringing clear in my mind: “Just be happy today, each day. Because whatever circumstances and situation you are in, it is the perfect moment God has arranged for you, and that moment will never come back. So just enjoy every single moment!”

And then he ended with the usual “I love you, call often, eat well, bye bye.”

I’ll miss my parents. I’ll miss them a freaking lot. But now is the beginning of a new chapter in my life, and just like my dad said, I shall enjoy each and every single moment of it, the good and the bad.

The last four days with my parents have been amazing, though. My parents love my campus, and my new room, so much that for the past two nights we’ve just been cooking dinner in my apartment. Mostly oatmeal and eggs, because after all the fast food and heavy food both my parents and I start craving a good ol’ bowl of oats in the evening.

I feel rather bad, because for the past few days my parents have practically become my chauffeur and maid. I’ve been dragging them around the city everywhere to buy all my essentials and to stock up my kitchen, and spending so much money! Yesterday I wanted my parents to just go off by themselves to have their own little “vacation” but they refused and insisted on spending the whole day with me again. Awww…Of course I gladly accepted, because hey, I want to enjoy being pampered for as long as I can get!

So these are the places we’ve shopped in during the last couple of days:

• Korean supermarket
• Walmart
• Costco
• Trader Joe’s
• Whole Foods
• Japanese market
• Grand Central Market (DEFINITELY visiting again!)
• K-Mart (It SUCKS! NEVER go there ever ever ever!)
• Ross
• Dollar-Dollar Bargain Center

Phew! I’ve certainly been on a rapid shopping spree! But even now, my kitchen is still seriously under-stocked, and there’s still some supplies I need to get for my room. I had no idea there are so freaking many necessities one needs! Humans are fussy creatures!

My room is still unorganized, but I’ll update you with pictures once my roommate moves in (tomorrow) and we are both settled in.

So, what have we been eating to fuel up? Well, tons of fast food…But it’s been some great training for me…I sure can’t be a picky food snob anymore when I’m a poor college student! Besides…fast food is pretty damn tasty (Shh! Don’t tell anyone I said that)!

Anyway, the day before we finally managed to wake up early enough for some McDonald’s breakfast:
Sausage McMuffin with Egg. Too freaking yummy. Darn that MSG and artificial crap that makes food taste good!

For some reason I wasn’t craving pancakes that morning, so I had the McMuffin instead. But come afternoon, our minds were screaming heresy for not ordering the hotcakes in McDonald’s, so we had lunch at IHOP.

I ordered the Harvest Grains ‘N Nuts Pancakes Healthy Combo:
Pancakes made with hearty grains, wholesome oats, almonds, English walnuts, and blueberries. Topped with bananas. With 2 poached eggs.
This actually comes with scrambled eggs, but I substituted poached eggs because as you know, I love my runny yolks!
If you ever go to IHOP, GET THIS because it is freaking awesome! Drizzle on that syrup, and you’ve got one wholesome, sweet and savory meal!

But of course, we didn’t subsist only on chain restaurants. What is the fun of that? Knowing my obsession for European-Japanese cuisine, one of my dearest friends who is a former USC student recommended a little restaurant in Little Tokyo called Curry House:
It’s situated in Weller Court Shopping Centre, a little hub of Japanese stores. I let my parents take a look at the menu, and I swear I’ve never seen them so excited!

The place is really chic and modern with bright colors, and most of the servers were Japanese.

My dad, the ultimate seafood and pasta lover, of course ordered the Seafood & Wiener Jambalaya Style Curry:
Brimming with scallops, shrimp, squid, white fish, wiener & vegetables in a rich tomato stock. Made extra-extra-extra hot per request, of couse, and the rice was substituted with spaghetti.
Holy shit. It was SO freaking GOOD!!! For those of you who have never tried Japanese curry, it is a lot different from the Indian or Thai kind. Theirs is really thick, and more sweet than spicy. But this curry, though it retained the Japanese curry characteristics, was ramped up with Cajun spices. YUM holy YUM!

My mom took a long time deciding because she wanted everything (tsk, tsk) but finally she chose the Keema Curry:
Ground beef with onion, Shimeji mushroom, carrots, potatoes, garlic, red chili and soft-boiled egg. Served with brown rice.
I loved that they have brown rice options! This dish was really delicious too, though it was not as spicy and a tad bit sweeter than my dad’s dish. And I love how the Japanese like to top a lot of their dishes with a soft-boiled egg! Yum!

As for me, I went for something totally unexpected by ordered the Tarako Mayo:
Onions and Shimeji mushrooms with cod roe and mayonnaise sauce in spaghetti.
I’m not usually a big fan of mayonnaise, but Japanese mayo is just…fabulous. And the sauce in this was SO awesome! It was so rich and creamy, but not cloying at all because of the tang of the mayonnaise.
And LOVE the cod roe in there! It’s got a gritty texture, sort of like cornmeal for some crunch factor, but much softer, and when you bite into it, it releases sweet juices into your mouth and OH EM GI! You’ll have total gastronomic orgasm!
There was also a pot of some kind of red Japanese pickles which was sweet and crunchy and sour at the same time:
The three of us were greedy and actually finished the whole pot! Oops!

I was stuffed to the brim after finishing my dish (and stealing huge bites from my parents’ plates) because the serving size was way too generous, but we still ordered a dessert because nothing is better than Japanese desserts. We got the Sweet Potato Cake with Ice Cream:
If you’re wondering why it is yellow in color that’s because Japanese sweet potatoes aren’t orange. They’re yellow, and a million times superior in taste to the normal orange ones. They’ve got a deep, intense flavor, like roasted chestnuts.
The cake was actually more like a thick, dense, pureed sweet potato! I couldn’t taste the flour, and it was rich and creamy in my mouth. So good! The ice cream was just your basic vanilla. It was okay. Too sweet, in my opinion.

Oh, and did you know they also have another Curry House in that same shopping centre?
It’s a small To-Go place though, for those in a rush or for the cheapskates who don’t wanna pay tip (that might be me in the future).

I was ecstatic to find that there is a bus that comes here from my school. I shall most definitely visit again, preferably with friends!

Okay, one more thing I want to share and then I’ll shut up and be done. Anyone in LA been to the Grand Central Market?
Apparently it is LA’s largest and oldest open-air market. There are over 38 merchants selling all sorts of produce, delicacies, and unique specialty items…and the prices are SO cheap! A whole container of figs and strawberries for a freaking $1!! And grapes for 99 cents per 2 pounds! YAHOO!!
There were also lots of food vendors selling delicious-smelling foods like burritos, chicken rotisserie, frozen yogurt, Korean-Mexican fusion, Japanese teriyaki, overstuffed pupusas, etc…It was a pity I was too stuffed to eat anything, though I did consider getting the froyo. Well, there’s always a next time!

Okay, I’m running out of time…Gotta run again for Welcome Week stuff…My posts may be sporadic for a while, but I promise to return to blog as often as I can. I hope to be able to work out a schedule as I get adjusted to my weekly routine.

Till I return, please take care and remember to enjoy every moment of your life!

P.S. Take a look at this article on orthorexia…It’s scary.

Related posts:

1. Nothing like Family
2. A Little Tokyo Day Trip
3. The Bunny’s Fat Spoon
4. I’m a Cow, Hear Me Moo
5. My Parents’ Hometown

Tagged as: banana, cake, curry, eggs, farmer's market, fast food, fear food, fruits, hotdogs, ice-cream, Japanese, mayonnaise, muffins, mushrooms, onions, pancakes, pasta, pickles, seafood, sweet potato