Hangin' w/ the L.A. homeys

I just got back from another sun-filled trip to L.A. I think I broke a record for the number of neighborhoods I visited. In six days, I went to: West L.A., Torrance, Whittier, Pasadena, Downtown L.A. garment district, Arcadia, Chinatown, Santa Monica, Los Feliz, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and Ventura. Good thing my VW Bug is fun to drive around, and the traffic was surprisingly not bad!

I visited my brothers & other relatives, and finally got to meet my 3-month-old nephew, who is super cute. Here are the other trip highlights:

• KT introduced me to "Dark Angel," featuring my favorite soap/sci-fi actor, Jensen Ackles. We also had a dvd fest of "Entourage" Season 3 to kick off my L.A. mood.


• Shopping score #1: Macy's friends/family sale. I picked up a Tokidoki gray/black shirt and a leSportsac tote with a summer print involving: skyscrapers, poodles, convertibles, and flowers. How perfect is that!?


• A delicious Japanese-fusion-tapas sort of meal at Orris on Sawtelle, where this funny old guy on a date, at the next table, gave KT and me the rest of his bottle of wine. And when he saw us photographing our food, he made us take a picture of him. His date was very good-humored about it.


• Shopping score #2: Angie took me to a new little outlet store on Sawtelle where I got TWO Members-Only-styled jackets -- but cuter, for about TWENTY DOLLARS.


• Pinkberry: the fruit-topped fro-yo cup of heaven that has taken L.A. & N.Y. by storm. I could eat it everyday. I had it on Sawtelle one day and the next day in Los Feliz... as we saw Griffith Park go up in flames in the distance. It was a surreal moment.
  


• Shopping score #3: At the Beverly Center, I discovered Heritage, which is like a slightly nicer Forever 21. I bought a super cute green jumper with heart-shaped buttons. This continues my tradition of buying a sun-dress every time I visit L.A.
  


• Private-room karaoke at Yuu Yuu, on Sawtelle, where Jo sang a heartfelt Boys II Men love ballad, KT did Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable" as we danced backup, Angie wailed Def Leppard, and I ambitiously tested my rap skillz on "Fergalicious."


• Shopping score #4: Also at the Beverly Center, I went to Momoberry, the Hello Kitty boutique for "grown-ups." No, I did not buy the Kimora Lee Simmons diamond-encrusted Hello Kitty ring. But I did buy the dumpling-headed Hello Kitty phone charm.


• Shopping score #5: I went to Chinatown, in search of a cheongsam. The first one I tried on was a perfect fit!


• Public karaoke at the Gaslite, where I tried to ignore the guy who couldn't stop spitting when he talked to me. KT did a Fleetwood Mac number, and then I improvised my way through the Lisa Lisa Cult Jam classic, "Lost in Emotion."


• Catching up with old college friends at Montana Restaurant and Lounge, in Santa Monica, for Olivia's 30th b-day dinner. It was a very L.A. restaurant, where they had drinks like jalapeno martinis and yummy kobe burgers. But best of all, the waiters (and waitresses) are smokin'. They looked like they could have been stars from the CW (formerly known as the WB). I hear it's gonna close in 5 weeks, so check it out while you can!


• I wore the cheongsam to a Wong Kar Wai-themed closing party for an Asian Film Festival, which was surprisingly packed! The ladies were looking lovely in their vintage dresses. It was partly an outdoor party, on a warm night, and they had good mojitos. A guy was hitting on me, but I told him the sad truth: it was my last night in L.A., I live in S.F., and I'm moving to NYC. So I told him it'd be like a true Wong Kar Wai movie: nothing was going to happen.