notes from a dentist's office

1.) ucla trained dentist >> usc trained dentist
ucla trained dentist did not know i was a medical student, yet still pre-empted all my medical related questions. he somehow read my fears of unnecessary x-ray radiation and infection spreading through my premolars into my sinuses and ultimately, brain (i'm not sure how common these fears are in the general public) and humored me with a quite lengthy discussion on the chances of my developing endocarditis. he also hooked it up with analgesics. YUM.

2.) after seeing my x-rays i could hear the aforementioned ucla-trained dentist discussing my case with the x-ray technician through the door...

"how old is she?" (i thought this was because my teeth looked like the teeth of 99 year old homo habilis (i spose that is an oxymoron--i don't think they lived that long)--but really it was because my age would implicate his recommendation on whether i should get dentures or not (sad!))

*pause*
response: "18 or 19 or i think..."

18 or 19!!! holymacaronis!!! i have tiny female asian classmates who pay for expensive haircuts to try to make themselves look older to gain more credibility with patients. i never really worried about this since i'm large and in charge and have a hyperactive stress response that ages me...so this response was quite pleasing.

after my visit i walked across the street to cash in my painkillers to double my dose of joy for the day.

^__^

davin!

davin came to visit and wanted to try roscoe's chicken and waffles. i thought...niice...a visitOR who knows what he wants...i am here to pleeease! who knew his request would be so challenging...it took three...THREE...attempts (and who knows how much gasoline) to finally get those chicken and waffles and satisfied (and soon to be satiated) smile on/in davin's face. the first two times there were 90324802934832 waiting outside to get in so we had johnnie's pastrami sandwiches and umami burger, respectively and not too shabbily, instead. finally-ultimately we were able to breeze into the hollywood location (which has a kind of upscale wooden lodgey feel to it that i like better than the boothy-diner ambiance on pico) for lunch. davin got his coveted (and somewhat elusive) chicken and gravy with waffles and i had fried liver and waffles...mmmmmm livaaaahh

we did a lot while davin was visiting...here are some (but not all) of the highlights:

1. eating out of boxes:

empanadas from empanadas place and donuts from spudnuts (that chocolate chip donut competes with stan's peanut butter and jelly donut for top donut--i'll have to do a side-by-side taste test sometime (yay!)) i know the chili cheese fries from johnnie's pastrami look gross but i love how it comes in a cake box (though...i spose i would love anything that comes in a cake box)

2. having supersized asian food:

taro boba in a STEIN!

giant bing sooo 

hope you had fun davin and that you come again soon =)

prob why i love LA

Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, Animal
from their interview in food&wine, best chefs of 2009 

On the L.A. food scene:
Vinny: “People out here eat like kids: hamburgers, hot dogs, doughnuts. You can tell: So much fast food started out here.”

Advice to future cooks:
Jon: Eat out. “When we were 22, 23, we went to see our accountant, and he said we’d spent $150,000 on dining. Imagine, 22-year-old kids spending that much money eating out. It’s worth it—you can’t imagine what products you’ll get turned on by.”

I wish I could justify that(!)

i thought this was funny but apt:

"It's hard to get worked up over a piece of chicken after you've been in the game for 20 years. The girl with a blog and a digital camera for whom every cutlet is a new adventure spreads excitement, while her jaded rival serves up mostly ennui."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1972335,00.html#ixzz0iPGNeim2

2 posts in one day...i must really not want to catch-up on my arrhythmia lectures o_O

im very fortunate to live in a pretty foodie friendly neighborhood in LA. here are a few places i noshed at last week (all within 2 miles of my (very) humble casa)

my favorite thing about samosa house (other than that its SO CLOSE BY!) is the jackfruit curry (upper middle box, in between raita and eggplant); its so fresh and so clean, and the three times i've been so far the lady at the counter has been so cute and given me (huge) samples of 3/4 of the dishes they have out for the day. i haven't had the chaat yet, but the cycling dishes are enough to keep me busy (when is the lotus coming baaack!?)

this was my breakfast last thursday. empanadas: pollo, beef, and my fave guava and queso (my spanglish is pretty awful i know)+cuatro leches cake---soggy creamy milky heaven

the best thing about this place are the millions of miniature plastic toy-things they have lining the walls: shelf to shelf to ceiling(!)--all shapes and characters you can custom order to have dancing on top of your cake...the next time i need a cake i will have a battle of disney princesses and transformers last samurai style on a giant sheet cake painted like a football field (complete with plastic goal posts)

an old favorite of course, recently been neglected due to all the other desserts that i want to (and do consume)....however yogurtland never fails...now they have red velvet flavored yogurt (oh my!) but they were out of it so i settled with the yuzu (also new...and very tangy). i almost always get the same thing...bunches of fruits then almond slivers, cookie dough and chocolate sprinkles....my birthday twin...who i had the pleasure of sharing this yogurtland visit with, always ends with a sour gummi worm for palate cleansing purposes...or so he purports...

then we waited for the kogi truck to appear. that truck always makes me smile...even when it makes me wait in line for 2 hours in flip flops (on an unusually chilly los angeles midnite). even seeing the long ass line, still as long and as hungry as ever, makes me happy...good business, inspiration, and ghrelin in action..

the kalbi short rib taco 3/99 take that jgold ;) 
Samosa House East

10700 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232

(310) 559-6350 

www.samosahouse.net

Coppelia's Bakery & Cafe

10825 Venice Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90034

(310) 838-0375

Yogurtland

3817 Overland Avenue
Culver City, CA 90232

(310) 202-7900

www.yogurt-land.com/

 

Kogi Truck (twitter it...obvs)

Los Angeles, CA

(714) 697-4683

www.kogibbq.com

bludso's, true compton bbq

it took quite a commitment...especially battling the traffic on the way back from long beach after lunch...on a friday...in la...on the 405 (barf barf bleh bleh exclamation exclamation!) but it was WORTH it!

this is the brisket (check dos since the beginning of this blog off the 99 things to eat in la before i die (or to cause my death possibly) +beef ribs + mac and cheese, baked beans and corn bread (which i was one of the few in my party lucky enough to score). i had a really hard time deciding among the sides (i really suck with choices) but had to go with mac and cheese (since thats like my thing...in case you didnt know...i'm a mac and cheese FIEND). the mac and cheese was actually a little disappointing...martha stewart definitely makes better, but the beans and briskets were fingerlickN GOOD...

we found a park near an elementary school nearby..bludso's is just a tiny lil joint with barred windows and a few bar stools facing a cracked and dingy white plastered wall (this picture doesnt really capture its hole-in-the-wall in a kinda rough neighborhood charm but it does manage, despite its tiny-ness to capture my massive chipmunk cheeks)...anyways the park was a good choice (it was called kelly's park adjacent to kelly's elementary school)--there were swings and slides and picnic benches and overall a pretty awesome place to eat bbq on a sunny friday afternoon

as a bonus i got to throw my bone to this dog which really made my day since i always see dogs eat meat off bones in cartoons, but rarely in real mundane life...

 

dessert was banana pudding (made with nilla wafers); the cap off this styrofoam cup got blown off the picnic table by the wind and landed on someone's polo shirt. it made him smell very very delicious ;)

goodbye compton! you're awesome bc you had 7 donut shops within ONE intersection...

Bludso's BBQ

811 S Long Beach Blvd
Compton, CA 90221

(310) 637-1342

www.bludsosbbqandcatering.com

the best burger of my life until proven otherwise

-in n out originated in LA (baldwin park)
-carl's jr was once carl's drive-in bbq (numerous foodstands throughout LA)
-mcD's (and fast food for that matter) was born in san bernadino
-fatburger was founded in LA in 1947 by lovie yancey (during a time when there were few african american and women business owners like her)

basically there's a long legacy of hamburger's where i live. some people rave about the F.O. burger...others go to in n out at all hours to get their fix (apparently this is true for wolverine--which absolutely adds credibility to the inNout cult(!!!))...many prefer to create their own burger masterpiece at the counter...i've heard word of mouth about hanano's burger in venice...and the nytimes coined comme ca's burger "the perfect burger in all its parts"

 though i have yet to try hanano's and comme ca, i've tried a lot of the aforementioned burgers (multiple times), plus the lamb burger at golden state, the hickory burger at apple pan (one of jgold's picks), the hodad's bacon burger (featured on diners drive-ins and dives--love that show!) etc...etc...

but for me, the best burger of my life up until now has been the el diablo at umami burger. it has srirachi in it. nuff said. the first time i went to umami burger i had the triple pork burger (amazingness also self-explanatory)--which was the best burger of my life until the el diablo came along....

see how happy it made us before we even took a bite (the residual burger grease fumes in the restaurant were enough to get the endorphins going sky high---hehe)!!! i love the soft pillowy bun and the way each bite is so smooth and juicy (and with the el diablo....caliente!!!). there are no borders between bun, meat, condiments, it all just melts together into the perfect burger experience. when umami sets up base on the westside...the elasticity of my arteries will deteriorate rapidly...but my tastebuds will be tantalized and my big bOT(to)M will be (even more) large and in charge ^__^

views from a cesna 182 and el fuerte

sand dunes!

The waiting room at the clinic

 

the pharmacy

 

this is the el fuerte airport....a skinny landing strip+many machine guns

 

a painting in our hotel room that i LOVE

si hay carne asada!

over the weekend i took a cesna 182 (i'll post more fotos of the plane and flight later) to el fuerte, a city in sinaloa, mexico with an amazing eye clinic and the house that zorro grew up in. during our hunt for our last meal in el fuerte before flying back to the states, i was sitting in the back of a pick-up truck when i smelled something glorious....we followed our noses to this man standing on the corner of a street---this is probably my favorite photo of the entire trip---si hay carne asada..OH HELL YES!

the steaks you see here were weighed and made to order--ALL FOR US!

 

i don't know if you can see the plate on the left but there are six count them...SEIS steaks!!! for one of these giant steaks and unlimited fresh, grilled flour tortillas (i was able to make 3 giant juicy wraps out of one steak), salsa and lime, i gave the man 2$ US dollars and OVERPAID!!! you can almost see the two hot ladies who i flew to el fuerte and roomed with in this foto. they were the most awesome grubbing partners in crime..huge hearts and huge appetites <3

 

the night before we found this taco stand...

 

carne asada, pork, and pork tripas tacos (greasy and crunchy and chewy)--my new favorite, with a savory umami aftertaste that will for sure haunt me as i continue my hunt for the perfect neighborhood taqueria back in LA...

 

this is where they made fresh hot baby churros...the white contraption on the left squeezed out the freshly mixed dough into fingerling globs...they were fried in that big bucket behind and then rolled in sugar and cinnamon...

 

this foto was taken in a rush and so it doesnt do justice to the crispy sweet fried batter. i gave the man $1 US dollar and got this bag full of churro-fries that was enough to feed 6 people and make us protest the last one--for fear and guilt that diabetes would catch up to us...

as you can probably tell i'm quite pleased with my weekend. more musings on the clinic (the REAL reason i was in el fuerte), cesnas, and going through customs (on our way back in calexico, the US customs officials wanted to 'test' their drug hound so they planted fake MDMA in our plane o_O !) coming soon...

big bOTM

*bOTM= burger of the month

naysayers think i will max out at 6 posts and then abandon this blog...but they have no idea how prolific and committed i was back in the days of xanga, angst (XANGST!!), raging hormones, and youth...

i definitely think i still have it in me...my greatest obstacle, especially to the self-declared noshing focus of this blog, is my poor photog skills. i'm not going to lie, i consume many (calories, but thats besides the point) food blogs, but rarely read the text except to acquire essential factoids regarding parking, ambiance, decor, potential for celebrity chef sightings...ultimately, its all about the photogs. and this blog (which will hopefully surpass 6 posts) will probably be lacking in that aspect...but oh well...i'm writing for a happy audience of moi right now anyhows and my taste buds and (painfully) full belly serve a better reminder of my noshings than my verbiage.

as promised i had burgers for dinner! the hickory burger from j gold's 99 things to eat in LA before you die...with tillamook cheddar, fries, and finished up with apple and boysenberry cream pie that i shared with a friend. a liL crew of us went and all the reviews and background research i did on apple pan (cutest place ever) did not prepare me for the true ambiance and decor...

its old school to the core---one room with a window into the pie baking room (ahhhh cannot help but simultaneously drool and sigh with glistening eyes) then a U-shaped counter that seats ~25. the servers are old men with those paper hats that in n out knocks off (but this is the real deal) and they use antiquated cash registers (with buttons for keys!) its very norman rockwellian.

for a place called apple pan i had to get the apple pie with house whipped cream (awesome!)---but the boysenberry cream pie reminded me of a certain blueberry pie that was baked for me last year for my birthday (see top photo)....and will likely become my go-to comfort food when i'm feeling solo (ala ayaz) and homesick...
then we got free peach tea lattes from coffee bean. cheers!

nosh nosh nerd

so i'm in my second year of medical school and in the back of my mind i keep wanting to start writing again. just random logorrhea-wordnerdding...like i did in college, but trying to keep it authentic and self-reflective while keeping it angst-lite...with maybe a touch on my medschool experiences without violating hipaa or boring everyone with jargon and too much emphasis on stool or sphincters. i'm throwing the noshing in there as i'm hoping if i actually write about all the things i eat and think about eating (like, all the time), i'll feel like my fatass tendencies are contributing to food knowledge in the universe that might benefit someone, and not just to the greedy adipose in my aRse.

so today i had class followed by preceptorship at X hospital...where the views from the 8th floor rival a beachfront penthouse..on a clear day its shiny sea and palm trees as far as the eye can see....sometimes i love preceptorship because i get close contact with hospital goings-ons and patients with interesting histories, textbook lab results, ah-ha moments...sometimes i get scared and frustrated because their drug lists, list of diseases, psychosocial hurdles are innumerable, exacerbate each other in a vicious cycle so that i don't know where the beginning meets the end and i look at the labs and radiographs and dictations and don't even know where to start. sometimes i feel like i....we can't do anything...i often leave dissatisfied, i have no diagnosis, or if i have a diagnosis, i have no treatment, or if i have a treatment, its palliative...its times like this that i'm cynical of medicine, and patients, and doctors, and tests, and hospitals, and the cold hard world out there. but most often this dissatisfaction adds to my list of things that i may have a hand in changing...a list of potential questions to research, social issues that i add to my list of priorities. its frustrating but exciting because there are things that can be better and i'm in a place in my training where i haven't yet swallowed and digested the status quo but can ruminate and decide to spit it out...

spAT.

today was also a good day because i tried the fruit from the mongo man for the first time. the mongo man is a name coined by a family medicine physician who mentored me during orientation to describe the men chopping fruit behind a makeshift fruit stand. they are adept at chopping...mangoes, pineapples, jicama, cucumber, coconut, cantelope, watermelon....more fruit than an unconscious medical student like me eats in a week...and then somehow manages to fit it in a plastic bag that somehow manages to NOT leak fruit juice....and then squishes three (i counted) limes-juices into the bag and shakes and bakes it with this red hot magical powder. ive never actually eaten fresh coconut until today. my mongo man concoction was really amazing...and my preceptor partner and i shared a bag on our way into the hospital.....

after preceptor i was raving about some thing that happened at the hospital that reminded me of some injustice to rave about (kinda typical). my preceptor partner suggested getting a burger---maybe to console me, maybe to shut me up and distract me....but i suggested tacos por favor instead. eventually my blog will become fancy with links to reviews and websites and have shiny glossy delicious photogs...but for now my writing that i ate a spicy and delicious carne asada burrito and mahi mahi taco and was very satisfied will have to do...

burgers will be for tomorrow....nosh nosh....and now it is time to nerd....