Something's Fishy - My First Try at Frying

On the morning of December 31, 2016, my mom put forth a propostition: "一人一菜"。Basically, for dinner, every family member was to make a dish for dinner. While my parents already had some pig feet going, my sister took the easy route and assembled (not made) a strawberry and whip cream dessert. Which left me with a main dish.

Man, what was I gonna do?

I Got Baked in San Francisco - SF Day Trip Part 1 with @winnie.fried

Future employers please disregard title

Winnie and I got baked in San Francisco

This past Monday, I went on a trip to San Francisco with my friends Winnie and Jenny - Winnie also has a food-focused Instagram page, you can follow her at @winnie.fried. So beforehand, we made a plan to visit two bakeries/cafes - Mr. Holmes and Belly Good - and left the lunch option open. Like Miles and Lia, Winnie and Jenny are friends from my time at the Carleton Summer Computer Science Institute, and this is the first time we've met since the trip despite living in the same area. So anyway, our first stop was at Mr. Holmes, which had a deceptively long line. The actual area for customers is small, possibly to force them out into the cold (just kidding), and even though we got there bright and early at 10am, it seemed that their stock of cruffins had either been depleted or not even made yet (you can check this on their website).

Live Your Lyfe: Lyfe Kitchen - Cupertino,CA

Note the abundance of avocadoes

Trendy healthy restaurants are everywhere in the Bay Area. Whole Foods, Sprouts - name the healthy restaurant/market, we've got it. Some of these are great, but some aren't. Luckily, LYFE isn't one of the latter. It's located in the new Main Street plaza near Vallco in Cupertino, and this place is amazing at night. As we enter the holiday season, the plaza has got lights on almost every tree. Even the tall palms are lit up by amber lights snaking all the way to the top. But enough about the plaza, let's talk about LYFE.

Bonchon: The Real K(orean)FC - San Mateo, CA

Lia!!!

A little back story on some of my friends - most of my friends that live outside of California I met during a summer program at Carleton College. It was their Summer Computer Science Institute summer program, and I spent three weeks stuck in the middle of nowhere (Northfield, MN) with a bunch of other teenagers. Here, I met some of the best friends of I've ever made (hanging out 24/7 around someone will do that), and every so often one of them will come visit California BECAUSE WE'RE THE BEST STATE YEAH.

Torchy's Tacos - Pure Bliss and Pain in Houston, TX

*Continuing my story from last post*
So I eventually made my way to Houston by Megabus (super cheap guys, it's worth it!) and ate at this fabulous restaurant that I'll talk about later. Anyway I toured Rice while I was there and found that it was amazing. The neighborhood Rice is in is right at the border of shiny high rise buildings and a quaint suburban area that really reminds me of Palo Alto and Los Altos. I got a new AirBnb that was actually closer to Rice than my other one, and boy am I glad for that. In the morning, I got to go for a run around the rice campus (~3.3 miles if anyone is curious) and that really helped me get a sense of the campus. Also, being able to walk to my information session from my AirBnb helped me acquaint myself with the campus and surrounding area before my tour. Back to the school though: rice is amazing.My tour guide was filled with energy and led my group through the surprisingly big campus located right in Houston. For my friends from Carleton, the campus was easily two or three times the size of Carleton even when you put in the big grassy patch with the hill and tree.

Isalia's - Authentic Tex Mex in Austin, TX

Bill and Melinda Gates Computer Science Complex
at UT Austin

So I was supposed to go to Houston yesterday. Keyword supposed to. Airbnb glitched out on me and cancelled my reservation so I decided to stay in Austin last night and miss my connecting flight. Buuuuut that turned into a whole other thing where Southwest just decided to cancel my flight entirely so now I have no idea how to get back to California (which is okay cuz Texas is AWESOME). But I did get the chance to walk around UT Austin and here are a few of my observations:

1. The shorts are short - for guys and girls. Most of the college age people I saw walking around were wearing shorts - whether it be boy or girl short shorts were the dress code. So short I decided to roll up my comparatively long khaki shorts.

2. Are you wearing Burnt Orange? No? Okay you're weird. Literally SO MUCH Burnt Orange clothing! (For those of you unfamiliar with college color schemes Burnt Orange is the official color of UT Austin) It's one of those things that slowly creeps into your vision, and when you start looking at people walking on the street you start to slowly see Burn Orange creep into your vision. Okay maybe it's not that bad but you couldn't walk down Speedway without seeing at least three longhorn logo or pieces of Burnt Orange.

3. Please eat Tex Mex food when you're in Texas. It's called Tex Mex for a reason - and hopefully Donald Trump doesn't take away the second part. Speaking of awesome Tex-Mex, check out Isalia's Tex-Mex when you're walking down Guadalupe!

Meet Fresh - Cupertino, CA

Great shaved ice spot with modern design, but length of line approaches infinity.

I remember the first time I saw shaved ice - was five, visiting Taipei with my parents. And as we turned the corner, I saw it: the marvelous mango shaved ice. With one glance at the bowl the size of my head filled with about as much shaved ice, cream and mangoes you could pile in it, I fell in love.

Hard.

Hello!

Hey everybody! Welcome to my blog!

Due to an overwhelming number of people asking if I have a food blog or Yelp account in Religion class, I decided to take the plunge and start one! I'll post a review probably a few days after I've eaten there, and I'll be sure to include some pictures of the food and restaurant! Also, you can find me on Instagram as @stumpyeatsfood and on yelp at theplumpcat.yelp.com. If you've got a restaurant recommendation or even a recipe that you think I should try, send it to me at ryanjchen2@gmail.com!

Thank you for reading!