Unsuspectingly, an ANA flight turns 130 degrees to the left ... and perhaps this is a good reason to wear your seat belt at all times...

According to the WSJ, a "co-pilot hit the wrong button while trying to open the cockpit door for the plane’s captain, returning from the restroom" and the All Nippon Airways Co. (ANA) airplane " tipped more than 130 degrees to the left at one point and dived about 1,900 meters in 30 seconds during a flight from Naha on the southern island of Okinawa to Tokyo." Woo wee... I feel sorry for those passengers who were not buckled in, but now it makes sense when you hear the pilot on any airplane flight suggest that you should have your seat-belt on at all times.

If you want to see a computer generated simulation of what happened, click here.

Link to video: http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2011/09/29/wrong-button-sends-ana-jet-upside-down/
Link to wsj article: http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2011/09/29/wrong-button-sends-ana-jet-upside-down/

Be safe on your airplane travels and remember to buckle up!

Day trip from Barcelona to Figueres to see Dali's Theatre Museum and Jewels Exhibit

Do you recognize this photo? Its Salvador Dali's 'Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea, which if viewed 18 meters away, is an image of Abraham Lincoln. I was recently reminded of this painting in the Dali Theatre Museum in Figueres, Spain when I read about Jim Campbell's Scattered Light exhibit in New York City that was partially inspired by this painting. Not to date myself, but I remember seeing this oil painting on a day trip I took to Salvador Dali's museum in 2000 (or was it 2006?)!

I loved this museum because it was fun -- its not one of those museums where you walk in one circle and you're done, rather, all of his work are on multi-levels -- you walk up the stairs to see one piece, and down another set of stairs to see an entirely different type of work. From a viewer's perspective, its very interactive -- I mean, just look at my descriptions of the Abraham Lincoln and Mae West exhibits below. I encourage you to make this trip, that is, if you're interested in Dali's work. If you're not a fan of Dali's, you will be after this trip! I guarantee you won't be disappointed -- it is a trip not to be missed!

Here are a few of my favorite pieces and in my opinion, should NOT BE MISSED at the museum.

• Abraham Lincoln - this was my absolute favorite! it made me chuckle just seeing this because its one of those "optical illusions" where you stare at an image and then it becomes something else! "its not what it all seems!" info: Gala Nude Watching the Sea which, at a Distance of 20 meters, Turns Into the Portrait of Abraham Lincoln (Hommage to Rothko), 1976
• Mae West Room - you walk into this room and you think its randomly decorated with the famous "lips" couch, two eye paintings... and then they ask you to walk up a small series of stairs to view it from above ... and wallah, its a view of Mae West -- it's absolutely wild and fun!

• Museum's central patio -- there is a cadillac outside and up above in the "windows" you'll see Oscar-like statues of people. You just have to be there to witness the ornateness of the place.
• The Car-Naval - this is the cadillac that is sitting in the patio. If i remember correctly, you can see some crazy things inside the car as well ; can't remember if you were allowed to sit it in or not; info: Installation with a Cadillac, tire column, reproduction of the slave by Michelangelo, and Gala's boat, together with the Esther Queen by Ernst Fuchs and a reproduction of a marble bust by François Girardon.
• Unknown Piece - I don't recall the name of the piece, but there will be a LOT of PEOPLE staring at the small tiny piece. its encased in a black space, and if you look at it in various directions, you'll see something different. Oh, what was the name! If you go, please send me an email to tell me if you saw it!
  

In addition to these, there are several other pieces that he is known for, including the bending clocks, the oil paintings that if you look more closely there are miniature people walking, and even a solemn portrait of a girl looking out the window onto the river/ocean (which i believe is also here, or may be a portrait hung at his house in Portlligat Beach.

So start planning your trip! Make sure its open on the day you want to go and I suggest leaving Barcelona EARLY in the morning so you have enough time to see the theater exhibit and the Jewels exhibit (you're there, might as well!) ... and enough time to catch the last train back to Barcelona.

Its relatively easy to get here, all you have to do is take the train to Figueres and walk 12 minutes to the museum. For more information on planning your trip to Figueres, click here to plan your trip.

If you want to spend more than a day here, you can also visit Dali's house in Portlligat Beach; however, you must make reservations to visit the house PRIOR to your arrival. For more information, click here to plan your trip.

side note: A random thought. When I saw the W. Eugene Smith exhibit at the New York Library of Performing Arts last year, there was a photo of Salvador Dali at the exhibit. Think he was with someone "hanging" out around the Jazz performers! Small world!

DIM SUM - East Gourmet Seafood Restaurant, Elite Restaurant and Lunasia Chinese Cuisine - IN SAN GABRIEL VALLEY, LOS ANGELES

(L) Chicken Feet, (R) Sticky Rice Wrap
taken with iphone

Dim Sum is popularly known as a Cantonese dining experience associated with Chinese tea and small food dishes served during brunch-like hours. Dim Sum originated in southern China (the Guangdong province and Hong Kong) as a Cantonese tradition and its history is rooted with traditional tea houses found along the roadsides where many tired travelers and rural farmers would stop and rest. These tea houses initially only served tea, but expanded its offerings to include small snacks, which today has popularized into dim sum. For this reason, the words "yum cha", which literally means "drink tea", are words used synonymously with dim sum. (note: dim sum literally translates to "touch the heart"). Many Chinese families have dim sum on Sundays and use it as a way to get the family together. The traditional dim sum dishes include Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gau), Pork Dumpings, (Siu Mai), Steamed Roast Pork Buns (Cha Siu Bau), Fried Turnip Cake, Chicken Feet and Sticky Rice Wrap (see photos above). Dim Sum service hours vary, but typically is served daily from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., though if you go towards the end you may end up with very limited food items.

Choosing a Dim Sum restaurant is not easy, especially with the proliferation of restaurants in the highly populated Asian areas of Monterey Park, Alhambra, San Gabriel, Rosemead in the San Gabriel Valley (and I'm not going to even mention Arcadia, Rowland Heights or Diamond Bar). But competition breeds better tasting foods and lower prices, which is what you should expect at Chinese restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley.

So how do you choose a good dim sum restaurant? Usually long lines outside a restaurant is a good barometer of how the food is, however, I found one restaurant that proved me wrong. So, when you're unsure, ask a few people who live there to get their opinions -- if you get the same answer from different people, you have your spot!

During my trip in Los Angeles, I visited three Dim Sum Restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley -- East Gourmet Seafood Restaurant, Elite Restaurant, and Lunasia Chinese Cuisine - and have provided my opinions on whether you should visit these places or if there are better neighboring restaurants nearby.

East Gourmet Seafood Restaurant - Rosemead, CA
8118 Garvey Avenue # A, (626) 288-9128
Dim Sum - 7 Days a week - 8:00 am - 3:00 pm

(L) Taro with meat covered with almonds, (R) Sticky Rice Wrap

I'm going to start this review by saying East Gourmet Seafood Restaurant was my favorite dim sum restaurant visit during this trip (and that's why the name of the restaurant is colored in green to indicate you should 'go'!). Why? The foods were tasty, in good portion size, and surprisingly priced inexpensively.

A few things to note:

1. Sticky Rice Wrap ($1.98) - ABSOLUTE MUST ORDER! I loved this dish and as you can tell in the photo above, I had to stop myself so I could take a photo of it. Two takeaways from this dish are -- very flavorful and an abundance of meat. Some places skimp on the meat and leave you with too much rice, but East Gourmet Seafood Restaurant balances it perfectly to give you meat and rice with every bite!
2. Staple items ($1.98) - Har Gao, Shiu May, Spare ribs with black bean sauce, Cha Siu Bau - all very good.
3. Porridge with 1,000 year old egg ($1.98) - Very very tasty and can split this item into three bowls.
4. Taro with meat covered with almonds ($1.98) - It looked good, but didn't taste as good as I thought it would. I would pass on this dish.

Sometimes I like to order a few special dishes with noodles to supplement the staple dim sum dishes (and is a good filler). At East Gourmet Seafood we decided to order the following...

$7.95 Lobster with Yee Mein Special ... "Wow, that's cheap!" was our reaction to this dish. The entree comes with one medium sized lobster cooked in garlic, scallions and yee mein. I had a similar dish in New York and this would easily cost $15 to $20 for one lobster with noodles, but you can order this for $7.95 in San Gabriel (why am I living in NYC again? haha). Since we thought it was a bargain, we ordered one for each of our tables and it turned out "just okay", which was a bit disappointing. The dish needed some more flavor - or salt ... But, the funny thing is, Chinese people can spot a deal when they see one, and that probably explains why I saw this special entree on every other table!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at East Gourmet Seafood Restaurant. All the dim sum dishes were $1.98, yes that is not a typo, $1.98 for all dim sum dishes -- shrimp rice rolls, har gau, shiu mai, stick rice wrap, char siu bau, etc -- all of it! Dim sum is served seven days a week and you can believe that there are lines outside this restaurant! Only negative I would add to this review is that parking is terrible here due to the supermarket and other restaurants in the plaza. But overall, I will revisit this restaurant during my next trip to Los Angeles.

Elite Restaurant - Monterey Park, California
700 S. Atlantic Blvd, (626) 292-9888
Dim Sum: Mon - Friday 10-3 pm , Saturday-Sunday - 9 to 3pm

(L) Deep fried bean curd skin wrap (taken with iphone)

My opinion on Elite Restaurant was okay. There is not too much memorable things to say about this restaurant, other than it has taken over the old Diho Supermarket space. The only dish I enjoyed there was the deep fried bean curd skin wrap. The other staple dishes were okay and not oily. Elite Restaurant would serve as a quick and easy place to go if you have a craving for dim sum and if don't have much time on your hands. I prefer NBC Seafood restaurant up the street.

Lunasia Chinese Cuisine - Alhambra, CA
500 W. Main Street, Suite A, (626) 308-3222
Dim Sum: Monday - Friday 10am - 3pm, Saturday, Sunday and Holidays 9am - 3pm

(L) Egg yolk bun, (R) Macao Roast Pork Belly - taken w/ iphone

Lunasia Chinese Cuisine was one of my least favorite dim sum spots during my trip (and I have colored it red to say "stop, don't go"). So I am wondering why there was a line outside? Is there only one dim sum restaurant on Main Street? That might be the reason since I thought most of the foods were saltier than usual, while other foods were tasteless! And to top it all off, the food was pricier than usual with small dishes at $2.38, medium dishes at $3.38, large dishes at $4.38, Speciality at $5.98 and KIT $6.98. If you didn't notice, the price increased incrementally by $1.00. For a look at the menu, click here.

Two interesting things to point out:

1. Egg-yolk buns ($3.38) - I usually love this dish, however, Lunasia's version of this stands out from its competitors, and not in a good way. The cream inside was 'wet' and the fluids started oozing out of the bun once it was opened -- which proved to be an extremely messy dish. Taste? Sweet as it should be, but again, the textures, or I should say fluids streaming out of the bun was a big distraction from the taste. I would not order this again.
2. Macao Roasted Pork Belly ($6.98) - Pork belly has become a trendy item to order and I would say this dish is similar to the roast pig orders from the Chinese bbq places. The crunchiness of the skin is great, however, the dish was over-salted and was too salty for my taste.

Overall, I would skip this restaurant if possible. The food does not justify the prices here. You're much better off traveling to Monterey Park for better dim sum options.

Side Notes: As I briefly mentioned above, there are a lot of Dim Sum Restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley and it is quite difficult to visit all of them during a trip. The aforementioned names are new restaurants that I tried, but in the past, there have been a few restaurants that have been good and I listed their names and addresses below.

1. NBC Seafood Restaurant - 404 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA, (626) 282-2323
2. Ocean Star Seafood - 145 N Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA, (626) 308-2128

Happy Eating in LA!

Eating my way through LA ... coming soon!

I figured since I was going to stay in Los Angeles for an extended period of time, I was bound to try the same genre of foods over and over again, so why not create a summary of the places I've been to and tell you which ones I've liked best among the restaurants I've tried. That way, its easier for YOU, as a traveler to best select which places you want to try while here; and easier for me to write about them in a category (or at least I think this would be easier than writing a daily journal - ahem notice the lack of daily journals since I was in LA?).

So my preliminary thinking is that I have enough ammo to cover DIM SUM, HOLE IN THE WALL PLACES, FAVORITE OLDIES BUT GOODIES and maybe just maybe tell you about some places I wished I had visited while there. Since LA is rather large, the areas I will mainly cover is a 30 mile radius from San Gabriel Valley.

I almost feel like this will be an episode of Man vs. Food, but its not -- I think it will be more like Anthony Bourdain, with the hopes of influencing thousands of people to try the foods that I eat. Ah, it would be a dream to be working with Anthony Bourdain ... but that is a lofty goal... so, until then, over the next few days, I will journal my "eating my way through LA " with the first installation centered around DIM SUM ... until then, as Julia Childs would say -- Bon Appetit!