Random- Foodie Post

Holly's Foods

Hi there, I'm Holly.
I am a huge foodie who loves to eat delicious foods and take pretty pictures of them.

I always take pictures of my food and post them on my social media pages (instagram and twitter).
I decided that it would be nice to show you guys some of the "instagram worthy" food places around the area and tell you a little about them and my experience there.

California Donuts

This donut shop is extremely Instagram worthy. I honestly don't think they are that delicious, but they are very cute! They're open 24/7 so when you're craving donuts, you can head over here. They are about $2 for a specialty donut and is mostly over hyped. They have green tea, panda(cookies and cream), blueberry with cinnamon toast crunch, strawberry, lucky charms, and fruity pebbles are all worth a try! They're pretty much just regular round donuts with different icing, toppings, and decorations.

Factory Tea Bar 

I'm a dessert person and I have to say that, hands down, FTB's milo brick toast is my all time favorite. It comes with a good amount of ice cream so you don't have to pay extra for it (like other places). Their prices are reasonable for their portions I've also had their honey milk green tea and it was pretty good. The atmosphere is very chill. Come here and study or just chill with friends. It's kinda dark though and they have very comfy couches. 

Milk Bar

I am a huge rice crispy fan so I fell in love with the fruity pebble rice crispy. Not a huge fan of their ice cream/ flavors but it's great for the Instagram. All together I felt like this was WAY too sweet for me. I felt so sick and fat after I finished this. I also tried the green thai tea, which I have never had anywhere else before. They give you a cute little bottle with the Milk Bar sticker on it so I guess that was cool. The tea was too thick and milky for me. Overall, good for the IG but will probably not be back.

Komodo Cafe 

Lastly, I want to give you guys an actual food place, rather than dessert. Komodo Cafe is this small hipster restaurant that specializes in fusion tacos. Although, I'm not a huge fan of their tacos I am, in fact, a fan of their Nasi Goreng (Indonesian fried rice). It's extremely flavorful and has a special texture to it that's different from regular rice. There's still so many things that I have yet to try from here. I will definitely be back.

Growing a Farmer pt 2

I think that I am going to say that I did sort of enjoy this book. Kurt Timmermeister had a very interesting life and it was nice reading about how "yolo" he was with buying the land and becoming a farmer. It was interesting to read about the bad luck he got like when the poor lamb lost its eyes from the crows. That kind of stuff was just interesting to me (even though I cringed), because I never thought of things like that actually happening.

Overall the book was an easy read. It was hard to get past the chapters about slaughtering and killing the animals. I could almost picture the poor things in my head when I read it. I really appreciate the way he organized his book. How each chapter was about something interesting about the farm and had an interesting title. In the end, Kurt seemed satisfied with what he had accomplished about his farm and how he can serve people good food. It makes me food good reading this because, like I said I wanted to start my own business, Kurt makes the impossible seem possible. If you didn't know how the story was going to go, right off the bat you would assume that Kurt would fail. But in the end, he actually did it so hopefully with a good start for me I will be able to do that too.

Arcasia

The Guide of "things to do" in the City of Arcadia 

Heard of the famous City of Arcadia and always wanted to visit, but never quite knew what there was to do? Arcadia is this lovely city, located in the San Gabriel Valley. With large, beautiful homes laid out on each block, this city could also be known as the “Asian Beverly Hills.” This city may seem like an average residential area, however, there are so many more things to do than you could ever think. Here, I have created a list of things to do and see in this lovely city for anyone wanting to visit. From places to go and things to eat, I will show you all the places you need to cover in a visit to the wonderful city of Arcadia.

With a 60% Asian population, Arcadia can sometimes be referred to as Arcasia (a mix of Arcadia and Asia). Arcadia has been named as one of the "Best Places to Raise your Kids: 2010" by Bloomberg Businessweek. Just this year, 3 students from Arcadia High School scored a perfect 2400 on their SAT scores.

If you're interested in moving here, or just coming to visit, take a look at my list for some recommendations on things and places to check out!

Santa Anita Race Track 

Image: Courtesy of santaanita.com

If you're a fan of gambling and horse races or just big events in general you definitively need to visit the Santa Anita Race Track. During the winter and spring, the Santa Anita Race track offers some of the most prominent racing events. The race track holds a number of well known races, including the Santa Anita Derby, the Santa Anita Handicap and the Breeders' Cup. Aside from horse racing and gambling, the racetrack holds other interesting events as well.

Image: Courtesy of Chasinghiromi.com

If you ever been to Asia than you probably know about the night markets that are there; and if you haven't than you need to go to the 626 Night Market to get a feel of it. The 626 Night Market is the largest Asian themed night market in the United States. With hundreds of food vendors, games, merchandise and even music and entertainment attraction this event is great for anyone. Just by attending  you will even get the chance of trying crazy, exotic foods that you would probably wouldn't be able to find anywhere else.

 

 

 Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden 

Image: Courtesy of lacounty.org

 A lovely place to visit listed by Trip Advisor is The Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden. The 127-acre historical site located in the heart of Arcadia includes a botanical garden. The gardens include Native American, Rancho Period, and late 19th century treasures ("Plants Collections").  Along with hosting activities and events, the Arboretum also hold concerts and tours that cater to every audience. With an admissions fee, you have access to all of their 10 different gardens, their various plant and biographical collections and more. There have been 232 different species of birds sighted at the Arboretum and there are always peacocks walking around every since the late 1800's when Lucky Baldwin introduced them to the city.  The Arboretum is a beautiful place to take photos and even host weddings and other special occasions.

Admission: 
 Adults: $9.00
Students with ID and seniors age 62 and older: $6.00
Children Ages 5-12: $4.00
Children under 5: free

Din Tai Fung Dumpling House 

Image: Courtesy of Holly Vuong

In 1958, Din Tai Fung was founded in Taipei, Taiwan and in 1972, it finally transitioned into a restaurant specializing in soup dumplings and noodles (Din Tai Fung USA). The restaurant became very popular and when they finally opened in Arcadia, California people were coming from all over the states to try it. This is a must, if you happen to be in the area or even if you are driving by. According to Forbes, Din Tai Fung serves "the world's greatest dumplings." The restaurant draws such a large swarm of people that they even opened another location right behind the original and are currently building the third Din Tai Fung restaurant in Arcadia's Westfield Santa Anita mall. The most famous item on their menu would be the Pork XiaoLongBao. It is basically a dumpling with soup on the inside.

Image: Courtesy of Tumblr.com

AU 79 

Lastly, don't forget to stop by AU 79 for a quick drink. AU 79 is one of Arcadia's many boba shops.  From fruity drinks, to creamy milk teas, to bitter traditional teas, they have every type to quench your thirst or satisfy any cravings. You can even add on any toppings like boba, lychee jelly, aloe or pudding and many more. Whats different about AU 79 is that they have PINK boba! I'm not aware of any other tea shops with pink boba. So definitely stop by to grab a drink. It's Instagram worthy ;)

Work Cited

"Best Places to Raise Your Kids: 2010." Bloomberg. Web. 9 Feb. 2016. <http://www.bloomberg.com>.

Din Tai Fung USA. Web. 10 Feb. 2016. <http://dintaifungusa.com/>.

"The History of Santa Anita Park." Santa Anita. Web. 9 Feb. 2016. <http://www.santaanita.com>.

"Population Demographics for Arcadia, California in 2016 and 2015." Suburban Stats. 2016. Web. 10 Feb. 2016. <https://suburbanstats.org>.

"Plants Collections." The Arboretum. Web. 10 Feb. 2016. <http://www.arboretum.org/>.

"The Top 10 Things to Do in Arcadia." Trip Advisor. Web. 10 Feb. 2016. <http://www.tripadvisor.com>.

Growing a Farmer Review

 I'm still deciding whether I like this book or not. I do enjoy how it is an easy read and it's great that he makes a book about farming not as dry as you would expect. What I found interesting about his story is how he had his own restaurant and was not even able to eat his own food. This makes me question how many other restaurant owners are like that. I wonder if McDonald's franchise owners are willing to eat their own food after knowing how everything is cooked etc.
Timmermeister took a huge risk randomly buying that 4 acre plot of land and not really knowing what he wanted to do with it. It did take him a couple months to finally seal the deal but I feel like it was a pretty impulsive decision. As he wanted to learn more about farming to be able to eat his own food, it surprises me how he does things so impulsively and then later learns how to use them. For example buying the tractor even though his little farm didn't really need one, but he kind of just wanted it because he "wanted to be taken seriously." When he said "Farmers have tractors, right?" I thought that was pretty funny. Also, buying the sheep and not even knowing how to raise it and being surprised that the sheep lived.

I like how his writing style is such an easy read and he's really funny at the same time. It really helps since I have no interest in farms at all.