Viva Las Vegas

View from our hotel room at the Wynn. It's pretty pimpin at the Wynn...it helps to be the newest hotel on the block. Oy and the spa....I could go on and on - so great that I couldn't say "no" to the hot tub and have since broken out with a case of exzema.

A couple of weekends ago, we hit up Vegas for the weekend...and spent the entire weekend - sleeping. I shit you not, we slept... for almost the entire time we were there. I was passed out by 11pm each night and then proceeded to take a variety of naps throughout the day. I ain't gonna lie, it was awesome!

Above and below are the only two pictures I remembered to take at Aureole.... I had a wonderful time there and thought the service and food were very lovely. I think Forrest is now ruined because has been to TFL and will proceed to judge everything against that standard. I also had a SUPER FANTASTIC coleslaw at Joe's Stone Crab in Cesar's and some great sushi in that same hotel/mall/mega-building.

Dinner at Orson

DUCK FAT FRENCH FRIES!!!

FOIE BON BON?!?!?!?

BLOOD SAUSAGE WITH GRITS!!!

"INVISIBLE" The dessert! Can you guess what it all is up there? Meringues, white chocolate foam, bergamont sorbet, grated white truffle and covered in a white chocolate gelee.

The latest outpost of the Citizen Cake empire is bold...and by bold I mean - SUPER HIGH CONCEPT. This shit is very interesting. Not for the faint of heart but I could definitely see this as being too much for even a lot of SF foodies. I liked it quite a bit - but sat with my mouth agape at most of the dishes that came out. Everything tasted delicious, but was crazy!

Adult Braces

Were does my new lisp come from? My adult braces courtesy of Invisalign.... Five more months of lispy, spitty Betty

Book Review: The Man Who Ate Everything

The lone book I was able to complete on the plane. "The Man Who Ate Everything" is written by Jeffrey Steingarten, the food critic for Vogue magazine. Apparently he is feared and revered or something. I didn't know that but have only seen him as the pretentious judge on Iron Chef America.

This book is awesome. It's kind of like the civilian version of Anthony Bourdain's books. Kind of in between Bourdain and that "Jules and Julia" writer. Steingarten has decided he is launching an attack against his food phobias that include kim chee, anything Greek, curry and loads of other things. I have to give it to him for making an effort and trying and then actually ending up enjoying some of those foods.

I really enjoyed the chapters where he will focus on a single thing like pies and then experiment with every version of pie crust known to man. He even gets the lady who wrote the "Fannie Farmer Cookbook" to come over to show him how to make the best pie.

This book is part food adventure, ingredient analysis and cookbook....loads of fun.

Dinner at Maverick

As a welcome home dinner date, Forrest made reservations at Maverick in the Mission. Touted as all American fare, it did not disappoint. After a week of Asian food primarily focusing on the ocean variety, I was excited to eat something that previously had hooves and will bleed when medium rare.

We had the Rapini soup and Asparagus Salad for starters. Holy crap the salad was so amazing! A slice of buffalo mozarella layered with sliced asparagus and topped with a poached egg and microgreens!!! This is going to be replicated at home for sure.

Main courses were Fried Chicken and Waygu Sirloin - can't go wrong with either :)

Dessert was a strawberry pie and profiteroles filled with caramel ice cream and a side of chocolate sauce. The pie...I could go on about the pie. It was in a tart shell and had reduced balsamic vinegar drizzled on the top making it a tart and tangy filling to balance out the shortbread-esque crust.

Around Town in Singapore

I wonder how they expect the cars to navigate the crooked roads...lol. This crooked road line was conveniently located on a street packed with bars and clubs. These are just some pics of Singapore as Lissa and I hoofed it around on Monday afternoon. We found this cute little section of town in between the financial center and Orchard Road that had streets of these old colonial style buildings. It's funny to see these 2-3 story quaint buildings housing 7-Elevens, spas while sandwiched in between shiny new high rises.

Edible Treats in Singapore

These pics are from the Lau Pa Sat Market in the financial district of Singapore. It's an open air food court of sorts and is filled with every imaginable edible asian item in these stalls. When we stopped by it was too early for lunch and we were still too full from our breakfast buffet. Didn't quite make it out there again during the rest of the week -- will have to hit it up the next time I am out there.

I LOVE DRAGONFRUIT!!! I can't get enough of that stuff and can't seem to find it here in the states either - so alas, I am all full of this yummy fruit as I leave Singapore but will be going through withdrawl for the next few weeks.

Overall the cuisine wasn't earth shatteringly new to me. Growing up in a Korean household exposed me to some smells, flavors and ingredients that would seem strange to a western palate but when in Asia, my palate almost seems to vanilla. This place is bubbling over with all kinds of Asian food - I am at this point ready for a good american style pizza and hamburger to balance out all the seafood, rice and noodles I have consumed this week.

20 hour flights - movie time

I usually spend my flight time catching up on my reading but nay nay my friends...this time I caught up on my movie watching! With free on-demand movies on a 20 hour flight to Singapore, I could hardly contain myself and decided to watch as much as I could...it is amazing I got any sleep. Here's a list of the movies I watched on the plane...

1. Enchanted
2. Juno
3. P.S. I Love You
4. I Am Legend
5. We Own the Night
6. Golden Compass
   

Enchanted - SUPER CUTE is all I gotta say. Predictable in the way that "Disney" cartoon movies can be but the twist of having it take place with live people and clashing the Disney life with real live New York made for funny scenes.

Juno - Very witty writing bringing to life the intricacies of a few different families coming to grips with their current situation. Still totally love Jason Bateman even though he was a total douchebag in this movie.

P.S. I Love You - Gerard Butler is hot - hands down no question that he is a hottie. Hillary Swank should not be in any romantic comedy EVER AGAIN. Storyline was cute and the movie was entertaining, but sadly I couldn't get over how un-cute Hillary Swank was in the movie.

I Am Legend - I didn't really know what the movie was about when I decided to watch this and it was a poor decision on my part because this movie was fucking scary. Will Smith does a great job basically being the lone actor for most of the movie (reminded me of Castaway) but shit man, the subject matter was just too creepy for me. I kept turning down the sound and shielding my eyes.

We Own the Night - Overall great movie, very entertaining....but it opens with Eva Mendes lying on the couch with her hand in her panties. I will admit I was a little uncomfortable and hoping there would be more people in the movie. Thankfully Joaquin Phoenix entered the frame as well.

Golden Compass - Similar to Stardust...I only got to watch half of the movie and I liked it enough to watch to watch the rest of it. I totally did not get the anti-Jesus message in the movie. Maybe I am dense but I just didn't get it.

I think I watched another movie in there but I can't remember anymore.