Los Angeles Chinatown Herbs for Thousands of Dollars #California

We were in Chinatown in Los Angeles and stopped by a high end store. I've been hearing there are many wealthy Chinese in Southern California, and it must be true because some of the items for sale were incredibly expensive.

The picture below shows herbs in a box priced at $1,288; above there are two boxes at $3,500 and $3,300 a piece.

I saw ginseng, mushrooms, seahorse skeletons, dried parts of a deer, and many other mysterious things. I just hope they didn't have parts of endangered animals in there -- rhino or tiger. This would be too sad (not to mention illegal).

Review: Chiles en Nogada a Dish with History at Mexicano Restaurant, Los Angeles

Chiles en Nogada is one of my favorite Mexican dishes. Surprisingly, despite the great number of Mexican restaurants in Los Angeles, this dish is not easy to find.  In fact, until last night, I haven't eaten this in LA, but only in Mexico City and San Miguel Allende in Mexico.

Last night, however, I had Chiles en Nogada at Mexicano Restaurant in Baldwin Hills Mall in Crenshaw, and it was pretty good.  The walnut sauce was warm and tasty, the chile stuffed with pork was very good. It was, in fact, one of the best Chiles en Nogada that I've had.

Review: Keith & Margo's Murder Mystery Dinner #losangeles #entertainment

Cecilia, Andrew, Lauren, Swapna

We went to Keith and Margo's Murder Mystery Dinner at Matteo's in Westwood, Los Angeles.

I've read about such murder mystery dinners but had never attended one; this was my first one.

What happened at the dinner?

Los Angeles: It Rained in Southern California!

It might as well be a News Flash -- it rained last night through most of this morning! In Santa Monica, we had 1.74 inches of rain. Downtown Los Angeles had 1.70 inches. That's a lot of rain for us.

Southern California is in it's fourth consecutive year of drought and rain like this is welcome even though it causes floods and some havoc.

LA, California: Opinion Re Los Angeles Mobility Plan 2035

The City Council of Los Angeles approved a Mobility Plan 2035, which would reshape the streetscape of Los Angeles, "adding hundreds of miles of bicycle lanes, bus-only lanes and pedestrical safety features as part of an effort to nudge drivers out from behind the wheel" according to a New York Times article.

The following is an Opinion article written by Alex Brainard, a Los Angeles resident, stating his reasons why he disapproves of the Mobility Plan 2035:

Five Reasons why Los Angeles’s Mobility Plan 2035 will not work:  

1.      It will cause even more traffic than we already have.  The Mobility Plan 2035 will double the number of intersections where traffic crawls most slowly in Los Angeles according to city estimates.  Some of the streets which will lose lanes include Sunset Boulevard, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Van Nuys Boulevard , Sherman Way, Venice Boulevard, and Huntington Drive to name a few.  Doubling the bad intersections means it’s going to take twice as long to get anywhere. 

The Grand Central Market of Los Angeles, California

We visited the Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles which has been in continuous operation since 1917. It's been revamped in recent years and has become more gentrified. The high-energy place now attracts a huge crowd of people, some of them tourists, some office workers from the surrounding areas, and many other types of folk who were there for lunch or to shop for produce, meat, cheeses, and other food items.

Miguel Syjuco in Conversation with Cecilia Brainard

Reserve now for the event, Miguel Syjuco In Coversation with novelist Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, at the Central Library (Aloud) - Wednesday, May 5, 7 p.m., 213-228-7025, 630 W. Fifth St. LA 90071

http://www.lfla.org/event-detail/463/Miguel-Syjuco.

Syjuco’s daring debut novel opens with Crispin Salvador, lion of Philippine letters, dead in the Hudson River. Winner of the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize, Syjuco exposes the corruption behind the rich families who have ruled the Philippines for generations offering an unhindered view of a society caught between reckless decay and hopeful progress

Miguel Syjuco has a master’s degree from Columbia University and is completing his Ph.D. at the University of Adelaide, Australia. He received the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize and the Philippines’ highest literary honor, the Palanca Award, for the unpublished manuscript of Ilustrado. Born in 1976 into a political family in Manila, Syjuco left the Philippines to become a writer.

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard is the award-winning author of 6 books, including the novels, When the Rainbow Goddess Wept and Magdalena. She has edited several books including the collection of stories for young adults, Growing Up Filipino II: More Stories for Young Adults. She teaches at UCLA-Extension’s Writers Program.

HISTORIC FILIPINOTOWN, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

OK - it's Christmas time, so I'm seeing a number of old friends. Today I had lunch with Joselyn Geaga Rosenthal. Years ago, Joselyn and I were members of the Epic group that used to meet at UCLA; we discussed ancient Philippine epics. It was as a member of this Epic Group that I started retelling the epics, which I later wove into my first novel, When the Rainbow Goddess Wept.

Joselyn and I also share some friends in the Philippines; she had gone to STC Baguio, and attended one semester at Maryknoll Quezon City; I attended STC San Marcelino and Maryknoll Quezon City. She knew Perla Dumundun, Brenda Nuval, and other Maryknollers who had been my classmates.

We ate at the Bahay Kubo on Temple Street, and afterwards, she gave me a tour of Historic Filipinotown. For some reason I missed the story of the designation of Historic Filipinotown. Twenty years ago, the Filipino American community had already been already talking about this. There had been a lot of bickering, factions quarreling over which area should be given this name, and community groups split over issues. Some people wanted Carson or some other place to be Filipinotown, because there are more Filipino living there. The other ethnic groups in the area (now designated Historic Filipinotown) resisted the proposal. And on and on , until finally, with politicians on the right side, the designation was made. The area now designated is the same place that the Filipinos back in the 1920s congregated in. The famous writer, Carlos Bulosan, had used Temple Street as the setting of some of his stories.

Joselyn said that she was so excited when this happened that she invested in property on Temple Street. She lives in the area, and as she put it, why not make the commitment? The building she owns has three rental spaces; one is being developed, one is occupied by a 99 cent store; the other, she turned into an Art Gallery named Remy's on Temple (2126 W. Temple, Echo Park, tel: 213-484-2884), which is run by her son Jonathan Yap. The Gallery also sells some books and hosts book signings. Joselyn showed me the garden behind her building, and pointed out what she'd done to landscape the area - she has sampaguita, duhat, avocado, macopa, bandera espanola and other tropical plants.

Joselyn pointed out the banners on the street light poles, saying "Historic Filipinotown." She showed me the antique Filipino designs on some pedestrian's lanes in the area (one right on Hoover and Temple). She also pointed out the mural depicting the Filipino American pioneers.

It was refreshing to see Joselyn's excitement and commitment to Filipinotown in Los Angeles. It reminded me actually of my own enthusiasm about Old Cebu, and the attempts of some of my new friends there to get Old Cebu designated as a historic district. It's like this: even though the place is still gentrifying; we can already imagine the possibilities, and it's the vision that drives us. Joselyn refers to the work she is doing in her building as "playing" - an interesting term which I also use when I fix up the building I own in Old Cebu. When Joselyn speaks about Filipinotown, I know she can "see" something in her head.

I know I do when I think of Old Cebu - the area near the Cathedral, and Santo Nino Basilica - I see this place cleaned up; I see it spruced up so it looks like a Spanish Colonial place. I know this will take years to happen - but I'm willing to join those who have taken the first steps toward this vision - (I mean the Aboitiz's who developed Casa Gorordo; I mean Val Sandiego who put lots of money into fixing up his old house across the Fire Station, and who stages elaborate events several times a year in the Parian; I mean those responsible for building the Cathedral Museum; I am also referring to those who put up the historic signs in the area, and to others who have invested time and energy into Old Cebu.

Here's wishing Joselyn and her kindred spirits - lovers of old heritage sites - the best! (The pictures below show one street banner with "Historic Filipinotown" on it; the mural showing pioneer Filipino Americans (Helen Brown and Remy Geaga, among the figures), and the ancient Filipino design on the pedestrian's lane.)