"The Raw Egg Goes In The Soup"
[Music Jenny Hyun, "Jenny Hyun Sophisticated"]
Whenever anyone goes out with their friends, they're hoping to create memories which last. They can't force things to happen for the sake of imprinting them in history; they just have to let things occur as they do.
Last night was one of those times. It was memorable to the extreme (<- that's bad wording, but oh well).
Originally, Helen, Ali, and I planned to dine out at Benihana's or The Cheesecake Factory. It was going to be a simple dinner with good food and conversation. It was sort of our parting with summer before our second college year comes around. I'm leaving in a week so it was fitting to finally find a night when the three of us were free.
As time would have it, we got out of the door around 8 p.m. It was way too late to try to get a seat at the Cheesecake Factory (packed like always). Soda Jerks didn't seem fitting and it was too early in the night to settle on that. Thankfully, Helen suggested we go to Korean town. I would've thought the place was closed, but it wasn't. I had to even call up my mom to make sure we got the right directions to get there from the Pasadena FWY.
When we got to the shopping center, only the market in the mall was opened. In the parking lot, a chica gave us one nasty glare for almost backing out into her. Ali backed up and parked right next to her. We sorta glared right back. Rude, but oh yeah, it felt good.
It was hilarious when someone (no names) wiped out the white board. A sushi platter for $11.95 soon become $1.95 and eventually $.95.
By then, it was late and our tummies were growling. Where to in Korean town? In the back of my mind, I hoped we wouldn't have to drive back and settle on Noodle World or Planet. That would be gross.
It was like a sign. We parked in a random parking lot and found the 24 hour BCD Tofu House. So clean, so hip, so off-da-hook, so kewl, so good. That place just plain rocks because we had no idea what to do.
First off, they have these little buzzer things on the table. The waiteress said something to use in Korean and pointed to the button. We had no idea what she said or what it was. I said it might be a buzzer to settle the waiteress to come to our table; sort of like airplane service. Ali gave me a "No way!" and pushed the button like mad, "Service! service! service!" Our mouths formed a wide "O" when we heard the bell sound and the waiteress zoomed to our table ready to take our order. We couldn't stop laughing when we told her we weren't ready. On top of this awkward situation, she just handled our menus like 5 seconds before we pressed the button. :-)
Anyway, I ordered the seaweed soju tofu or something. I got "Spicy 1" or something.. I had no idea. I asked if there was meat in it and the lady said "...medium spicy, spicy 1" and I said, confused, "Spicy." Helen and Ali ordered a chicken combination and a tofu and vegetable salad combination, respectfully. Within a minute, our appetizers, cabbages and raw eggs, were delivered to our tables. We weren't sure what the raw eggs were for. At first, we even thought they were boiled eggs but smart Helen did this spinning thing with them and explained that boiled eggs don't spin. News to me!
Our hot rice bowls were also delivered. This was the funniest moment of the night. We laughed so hard after our mistake our bellies hurt and the whole restaurant must've been looking at us and the table ajoining us were probably like "Are these kids drunk?" I lifted the top of a rice pot and ouch! I dropped it right back, it was caliente! Then, we started moving the HOT rice pots around so each was in front of us. They were heavy, hot, and dangerous. We started saying that maybe we were suppose to crack the eggs over the steaming rice. Ali and Helen even used their napkins to lift the HOT rice pot top. At the moment, the waiter saw us and rushed right back and took the rice pots away from in front of us! It was dangerous and the restaurant didn't want to be slapped with a lawsuit cos dumb kids like us didn't know how to eat it!
After our rice was scooped (is that the right verb?) for us, the lady came with a pitcher of water. Helen thought it was to refill her glass of ice water so she said "Thank you!" Instead, the lady poured the water into the hot rice pots. We were like "eh..?"
New food and bowls were delivered to our table and we were dumbfounded. We kept waiting until Helen asked "This is all the food?" just to make sure were weren't eating it wrong with their ultra thin, but oh-so-cool, metal chopsticks. We didn't know what the eggs were for. The waiter finally told us we could crack an egg into our spicy tofu soups if we wanted to. My tofu soup was near cold by then but I still cracked one in! It cooked well because it was still very hot underneath the surface.
After like 15 minutes, the waiteress came back and scooped out the watered soaked rice pots. Helen and Ali used the extra bowls they gave us for sharing salad. Honestly, we had no idea what those extra tin bowls were for except for eating appetizers or sharing food. Instead, we found out they were for putting the "congee"-like now-sticky rice. The lady had to bring us two extra clean bowls and she didn't laugh at us either! hehe.. We were so out of place that you could see the words "culture shock" written around our foreheads. By then, we were full so we couldn't eat the "congee"-like rice even though it was good and had a nice texture.
This night was so extreme because everything was so new to us. The food and service was good.. and the place had a great vibe. It was one of the best nights I'd had in ages. It was so extreme, so crazy, so new, so fresh, so exciting, so funny, I felt I was on a nature high.
Oh yeah, I must not forget the waiter gave us our check early because the "shift change." It was kinda weird, but we paid nonetheless. We weren't sure if they thought us loud laughing teens wouldn't pay or if this was part of their culture. Later, we found out the place was opened 24 hours! Crazy. This is definitely a place I would return to with friends.
Since I forgot my digital camera and we all wanted pictures, Helen suggested we go to those photo booths. Surprisingly, the old Life Plaza photo booth place was still open as late as 10:30pm. We got some wacky poses and pictures. Those machines are in Japanese so we always mess up. On one pic, we had the just ONE name written on the bottom; "Ken." That was kinda embarassing, but the photo came out lovely. The other pictures had good poses but we screwed around with designing it. Helen designed and colored me into an albino prostitute in one pic.. it was sooooo weird! White skin, weird pose, and ruby red lips. I looked soooooo "hott" as Ali put it. ;-)
So this was a great night. This is what friends are for. Just this one night made my summer at home worth it. Thank you, fine friends.
Oh yeah -- before I forget, I got a haircut yesterday too. I got Felicia to cut my hair again and she works wonders. The way she cuts my hair and styles it really gives me confidence. Even if others don't like it, I like it and that's the bottom line. From now on, she's the only stylist I trust. Shame I'll have to let someone else handle my hair up at college!
Well, that's all. Peace and good night!
[Music Jenny Hyun, "Jenny Hyun Sophisticated"]
Whenever anyone goes out with their friends, they're hoping to create memories which last. They can't force things to happen for the sake of imprinting them in history; they just have to let things occur as they do.
Last night was one of those times. It was memorable to the extreme (<- that's bad wording, but oh well).
Originally, Helen, Ali, and I planned to dine out at Benihana's or The Cheesecake Factory. It was going to be a simple dinner with good food and conversation. It was sort of our parting with summer before our second college year comes around. I'm leaving in a week so it was fitting to finally find a night when the three of us were free.
As time would have it, we got out of the door around 8 p.m. It was way too late to try to get a seat at the Cheesecake Factory (packed like always). Soda Jerks didn't seem fitting and it was too early in the night to settle on that. Thankfully, Helen suggested we go to Korean town. I would've thought the place was closed, but it wasn't. I had to even call up my mom to make sure we got the right directions to get there from the Pasadena FWY.
When we got to the shopping center, only the market in the mall was opened. In the parking lot, a chica gave us one nasty glare for almost backing out into her. Ali backed up and parked right next to her. We sorta glared right back. Rude, but oh yeah, it felt good.
It was hilarious when someone (no names) wiped out the white board. A sushi platter for $11.95 soon become $1.95 and eventually $.95.
By then, it was late and our tummies were growling. Where to in Korean town? In the back of my mind, I hoped we wouldn't have to drive back and settle on Noodle World or Planet. That would be gross.
It was like a sign. We parked in a random parking lot and found the 24 hour BCD Tofu House. So clean, so hip, so off-da-hook, so kewl, so good. That place just plain rocks because we had no idea what to do.
First off, they have these little buzzer things on the table. The waiteress said something to use in Korean and pointed to the button. We had no idea what she said or what it was. I said it might be a buzzer to settle the waiteress to come to our table; sort of like airplane service. Ali gave me a "No way!" and pushed the button like mad, "Service! service! service!" Our mouths formed a wide "O" when we heard the bell sound and the waiteress zoomed to our table ready to take our order. We couldn't stop laughing when we told her we weren't ready. On top of this awkward situation, she just handled our menus like 5 seconds before we pressed the button. :-)
Anyway, I ordered the seaweed soju tofu or something. I got "Spicy 1" or something.. I had no idea. I asked if there was meat in it and the lady said "...medium spicy, spicy 1" and I said, confused, "Spicy." Helen and Ali ordered a chicken combination and a tofu and vegetable salad combination, respectfully. Within a minute, our appetizers, cabbages and raw eggs, were delivered to our tables. We weren't sure what the raw eggs were for. At first, we even thought they were boiled eggs but smart Helen did this spinning thing with them and explained that boiled eggs don't spin. News to me!
Our hot rice bowls were also delivered. This was the funniest moment of the night. We laughed so hard after our mistake our bellies hurt and the whole restaurant must've been looking at us and the table ajoining us were probably like "Are these kids drunk?" I lifted the top of a rice pot and ouch! I dropped it right back, it was caliente! Then, we started moving the HOT rice pots around so each was in front of us. They were heavy, hot, and dangerous. We started saying that maybe we were suppose to crack the eggs over the steaming rice. Ali and Helen even used their napkins to lift the HOT rice pot top. At the moment, the waiter saw us and rushed right back and took the rice pots away from in front of us! It was dangerous and the restaurant didn't want to be slapped with a lawsuit cos dumb kids like us didn't know how to eat it!
After our rice was scooped (is that the right verb?) for us, the lady came with a pitcher of water. Helen thought it was to refill her glass of ice water so she said "Thank you!" Instead, the lady poured the water into the hot rice pots. We were like "eh..?"
New food and bowls were delivered to our table and we were dumbfounded. We kept waiting until Helen asked "This is all the food?" just to make sure were weren't eating it wrong with their ultra thin, but oh-so-cool, metal chopsticks. We didn't know what the eggs were for. The waiter finally told us we could crack an egg into our spicy tofu soups if we wanted to. My tofu soup was near cold by then but I still cracked one in! It cooked well because it was still very hot underneath the surface.
After like 15 minutes, the waiteress came back and scooped out the watered soaked rice pots. Helen and Ali used the extra bowls they gave us for sharing salad. Honestly, we had no idea what those extra tin bowls were for except for eating appetizers or sharing food. Instead, we found out they were for putting the "congee"-like now-sticky rice. The lady had to bring us two extra clean bowls and she didn't laugh at us either! hehe.. We were so out of place that you could see the words "culture shock" written around our foreheads. By then, we were full so we couldn't eat the "congee"-like rice even though it was good and had a nice texture.
This night was so extreme because everything was so new to us. The food and service was good.. and the place had a great vibe. It was one of the best nights I'd had in ages. It was so extreme, so crazy, so new, so fresh, so exciting, so funny, I felt I was on a nature high.
Oh yeah, I must not forget the waiter gave us our check early because the "shift change." It was kinda weird, but we paid nonetheless. We weren't sure if they thought us loud laughing teens wouldn't pay or if this was part of their culture. Later, we found out the place was opened 24 hours! Crazy. This is definitely a place I would return to with friends.
Since I forgot my digital camera and we all wanted pictures, Helen suggested we go to those photo booths. Surprisingly, the old Life Plaza photo booth place was still open as late as 10:30pm. We got some wacky poses and pictures. Those machines are in Japanese so we always mess up. On one pic, we had the just ONE name written on the bottom; "Ken." That was kinda embarassing, but the photo came out lovely. The other pictures had good poses but we screwed around with designing it. Helen designed and colored me into an albino prostitute in one pic.. it was sooooo weird! White skin, weird pose, and ruby red lips. I looked soooooo "hott" as Ali put it. ;-)
So this was a great night. This is what friends are for. Just this one night made my summer at home worth it. Thank you, fine friends.
Oh yeah -- before I forget, I got a haircut yesterday too. I got Felicia to cut my hair again and she works wonders. The way she cuts my hair and styles it really gives me confidence. Even if others don't like it, I like it and that's the bottom line. From now on, she's the only stylist I trust. Shame I'll have to let someone else handle my hair up at college!
Well, that's all. Peace and good night!
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