elitejean.blogspot.com


all about JEAN

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Web Name:eliteJEAN
Nicknames: Jean, Peach, Momo..
Birthday: October 12
Yahoo ID: ryiennetheelite
Email: elitejean@gmail.com

Hey guys, it's Jean!! most people online know me as "kwuintesence" or "eLiTe_Jean" Anyway, welcome to my blog!! Feel Free to browse around. (current lovely layout/skin is not mine! i'm too lazy to make my own! i did however move and switch stuff around!!)

Oh, I forgot...I'm suppose to tell you a bit more about myself. Well, for starters..im a crazy little (i'm only 5'1) girl in a seriously messed up but fun world. (I hope that made sense.) As for my current location, it's in Los Angeles, CA (but I would prefer "LaLaLand!!" from the figment of my imagination) I love to make graphics and read graphic novels!! I love watching movies, asian dramas and animes!! I also love to listen to some music while singing and dancing like an idiot (whether someone is looking or not!!) If I'm not at home you would most likely find me at Korea Town doing "purikura" or at Little Tokyo eating chocolate filled cream puff's at "beard papa's". I'm a HUGE shopping addict, i shop and shop until i have not a cent left on my being. I like to read fanfics on my free time. Lately I've been listening to tons of korean, japanese and taiwanese music. Also, I have a huge weakness for cute things!! I don't cook too often but I think I'm pretty decent at it, since no one has died eating the food I made...yet! I usually hang out in Korea Town (cause i live near there), Little Tokyo (they have so much interesting stuff there), China Town (because the food is cheap there), LA's Fashion District (because i work there). Most likely this blog will be a dump of sorts..from my graphics to ramblings. Anyhooot, that's about it. This thing is getting longer and longer. I'll take off for now my loves. Happy days guys and I hope to get along well with all of you.If you want to get to know me more, just talk to me!! you can e-mail me anytime. Enjoy my blog and happy days :]



Music



Links and Stuff^^
Arranged in no particular order. I just think it's a waste of time alphabetizing them (:

my myspace page ♥ please do add me!! my multiply ♥ my deviantart ♥ my livejournal ♥ kristin & kayla ♥ summer yu's blog ♥ princess emily ♥ superniknok's blog ♥ kaye's blog ♥ huay wen of Support FRH ♥ weiting of ITIF ♥ edgar'sblog ♥

other unworldly places

past entries

layout credit
* étoile filante
inspiration/colours: mintyapple
icons: cablelines
reference: x / x

title: Yay! Recent Happenings...
date: Sunday, February 5, 2012
time:2:42 PM
Happy Sunday
Updating because it's been a loooong time
Hope everyone is having or had a wonderful weekend

I'm actually just going to do a personal update this time. I think I have a few of you added on my twitter & facebook accounts so those people most likely saw these already I'm sharing them anyway because people like Kin-chan (social media hater? lol)...wanted to see them specially a recent pic of myself so I'll add a couple to this post
Again, it's mostly going to be food. Hahaha!

BOTTEGA LOUIE (DTLA)



Popular because of their patisserie...specially their macarrons I think I posted about them before. I usually get the "earl grey" one they have there with some gold leaf. They are just so pretty and tasty I usually get my macarrons from this place, if not then Lette's or Little Next Door



Lots of other yummy desserts to choose from I love their chocolate souffle Not pictured here but you can order it at their restaurant though there's a 15 minute wait for it. It's worth it though because they bring out the souffle all nice and warm and oh so yummy



So...went here with my cousin Karen and my best-friend Meredith to have late lunch and just chit-chat. Since it's a few blocks away from my office I sometimes go here for either lunch or dinner. I come by for their sweets too when there's ArtWalk and stuff



Green Tea Mojito! My fave drink at BL

Lately, all I've been drinking are mojito's I ask for them in almost every restaurant I go to lately specially if they have a bar. I don't really know why though. I thought I'd be more into wine since I started going to wine bars with Syl. I dunno...I'm just weird I guess. Hahaha



Gourmet Pizza We got them half & half. The left side is BURRATA: burrata, grana parmesan, rapini, garlic, extra virgin olive oil & prosciutto di parma. The one on the right is MUSHROOM: Fontina cheese, fresh mozzarella, crème fraîche, shiitake mushrooms, garlic & Italian parsley. Delish



My cousin Karen is not just a patbingsoo lover but also a seafood pasta addict so we ordered this too. It's "clam linguini". They used surf clams, some roasted garlic, garden herbs, italian parsley & white wine broth. The pasta is nice and smooth and it smells really nice. I can't resist that combo...



What I ordered...it's BL's beef short ribs It's braised and they serve it with some lardon ragù, white polenta, sage & ricotta. It's tender and creamy I had them grate so much cheese into this Grated cheese on top of melted cheese. Hahaha!

My cousin Karen had to rush home after that so Meredith and I decided to get some cocktails
We headed to a nice rooftop bar near Pershing Square that I frequent.

PERCH (DTLA Pershing Square)



Meredith had the "My Fair Lady" (Left) it's french cosmo w/ fair quinoa vodka, cranberry, fresh lime & crème de peche. I settled for the "Jacques Collins" (Right) it's boudier saffron gin, fresh lemon juice, simple splash of soda & saffron. We were probably there for an hour or so just chatting and enjoying the night view. Meredith isn't much of a drinker so in the end I drank hers too I decided to take pics with my phone but they're mostly crappy I'm going to post them anyway XD








Crappy pictures are crappy. The view is fantastic though.

An hour later Karen contacts us and tells us she's downstairs and to hurry so we rushed down and surely enough she was there...in her car, stopped in the middle of the road and it's a green light Hahaha! Meredith and I start laughing like crazy again We drove to Xai after all that where Nathaniel (manager of Basic Pizza Lounge at San Diego) is waiting


Xai Verandah Lounge (LA's Sunset)

I come here for brunch sometimes and lunch but it was my first time having dinner there At night it looks and feels like such a different place. When I come here during the day it's more laid-back but at night they are completely packed which I didn't really expect


Haha! Mojito again This one from Xai is made with mint, sugar, ginger, lemon & soda water. I didn't like their mojito that much It's more into the ginger side. I kinda wished I ordered Lassi instead


Even though I already had short ribs at BL a few hours ago I decided to get short ribs again at this place Xai's is called "Braised Short Ribs with Moroccan Seven Spice". It's served with whipped yukon gold potatoes, carrots & broccolini with plum wine reduction It's very tender much more than BL's but there are certain parts of the meat that tasted vinegary specially the once with that jelly like thing (like tendons I guess). Very yummy though


Karen tried their "Grilled Pacific Salmon" It came with some couscous with sauteed squash, preserved lemon, grilled veggies and the salmon had a moroccan bbq glaze. I didn't get to try hers but she said that it's quite good



Meredith ordered a delicious sandwich with chicken and it came with fries. For dessert she got their traditional baklava. They're quite tasty I like how their flaky and the nuts are really good too



Karen got a crepe I don't remember what was in it though She split it with Nathaniel. I had a traditional dessert that had rose water in it but I can't remember the name I snapped a pic but it was dark in there so it was blurry as hell Hahaha! Nathaniel ordered some lamb for dinner that night at Xai

Meredith's boyfriend Nep picked her up after dinner so Karen and I drove to Korea Town with Nathaniel following us in his car. We ended up at "Yellow House Cafe" again



I think Karen had hazelnut latte, Nathaniel got what I recommended which was the sweet potato latte. I settled for some hot fruity pomegranate tea. We just chatted about work, and the things we've been up to lately...we parted ways around 1AM I think

The next day Karen and I hung-out again The plan was to have lunch at Santa Monica Beach then dinner at Beverly Hills. I made the reservations so Karen doesn't know where we're having lunch although I did tell her about our dinner plans.For lunch I took her to Huntley Hotel's The Penthouse...and she loves it

The Penthouse
(Huntley Hotel - Santa Monica)

My friends introduced me to this place late last year for my surprise post birthday brunch. Been here a couple times after that for their sunset hour Even though they don't usually sit 2-people in a private cabana (because they usually reserve them for groups of 4 or more) they let us...we had to wait 30 minutes though but it's fine cause Karen was still doing her make-up anyway So instead of waiting outside we decided to wait in the bathroom (yeah, cause the cousin is doing her make-up). Bathroom is nice and clean and the last stall boasts a lovely ocean view









(The four images above are not mine. I wanted to show how our cabana looked. It's the one on the first pic)

The private cabana's are darling and there's a cute little chandelier too and the view is amazing Went here on a Sunday afternoon so we got clear blue skies and a fantastic view of the ocean and surrounding buildings









Above is the view from our cabana.
Below is the table setting and the food!





CRAB CAKE ♥
Smoked Tomato & Shaved Celery Hearts



CRISPY SKIN SALMON ♥
Sautéed Spinach, Ratatouille, & Tomato Saffron Broth



PROFITEROLES ♥
Warm Pastry, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream & Hot Fudge Sauce
also,
MOLTEN LAVA CAKE ♥

First it was the "crab cake" (I always get these when I go there). It was crispy outside and juicy inside and...NOT imitation crab. That makes me happy Because there's grapefruit on it the crab cake doesn't taste oily and is actually rather refreshing and light We ordered the "Crispy Skin Salmon" after. The salmon itself was just average but the sauce that went with it was great For some unknown reason I can taste mangoes although I don't think they used any For dessert we had the profiteroles (another item I always get here) and molten lava cake. The molten lava cake was very chocolatey and good but the profiteroles are definitely so much better for me The ice-cream between the crispy puff pastry was cold, creamy and rich yet not super sweet There was some chocolate drizzled on top but they actually give you more in this little container (hot fudge sauce) so you can drizzle as much chocolate as you want The chocolate was just the right amount of sweetness and has a bit of bitterness which goes along really well with the vanilla ice cream





After lunch we hung around at the lounge We were thinking of staying for sunset hour at the bar but we had to go because we had another reservation waiting for us (The Bazaar by Jose Andres). Here's a pic of me waiting at the lobby



After looking at the view from their windows we couldn't help but go to the beach after and watch the sunset Karen and I decided to brave it The hotel is just a block away from the beach anyway



Karen and I are too overdressed for the beach



Haha! It was hard trying to find space to write XD
There was so much footprints by humans, dogs and birds!



This wandering seaweed is bigger than me XD












Took the pics with my phone (as always).
My hair was a wild mess after that XD
After watching the sunset we drove to Beverly Hills!

The Bazaar by Jose Andres
(SLS Beverly Hills Hotel)












(The six images above are not mine. I wanted to show how it looks inside. We sat at the "table for two" on the right side of the last pic.)

Definitely best to come here maybe once in a year that way the magic doesn't wear off. I have an SBE card so I usually visit Cleo (including The Library Bar), The Bazaar and some of their other establishments. Don't know if it's because of the card but service there is always great The waiters also know the menu very well so they're able to explain the dishes properly to the guests specially first-time visitors This is one of the places where the bill usually amounts to $900...seriously and tip would be around $120-$130



Food & Wine Menu


View on my left side.


The table next to us.

Service is quick We were promptly seated in a nice quiet little space just as I requested Because I've been there a quite few times before somehow I got used to how the place looks and the food too I guess. It was Karen's first time there though so everything was amazing to her from the decor and ambiance to the food


That evening we ordered the following:




(Left) Philly Cheesesteak: Air bread so Karen was really surprised Wagyu on top and warm melted cheese on the bottom. The wagyu was tender and flavorful. I always get this and the other cheesesteak on the right. (Right) Hilly Cheesesteak: Air bread too and almost the same as the other cheesesteak but instead of the wagyu it's mushrooms. I love mushrooms so I always get this The cheese and mushroom go really well together. It's light and a good way to start the meal






Embutidos Platter: This comes with "Catalan Style Toasted Bread with Tomato" I'm not sure how other people eat theirs but whenever I get this or their other hams I always put them on the bread There are 3 different kinds of sliced cured meats.




Mediterranean Mussels: "latas y conservas" Vinegar-y. Interesting cause it's served in a can. I use it as a palette cleanser It's a little oily but the mussels are yummy




Japanese Tacos: Taco Style Unagi Sushi. The unagi is soft and the chicharon is crispy The cucumber has a nice texture too so eating this is fun specially for people who love texture play in their mouth




Sauteed Shrimp: The shrimp at least is not very tiny. It's got a nice texture and smell to it. Must be the garlic. Karen loves this dish




Croquettas de Pollo: Don't let this get cold! Eat this while it's still warm! That's the best way to enjoy this dish. Inside it's nice, warm and creamy My mom and sister love this one It's somewhat homey too




Grilled Wagyu Flank Steak: Very good Well, that's all there is to it.






Magic Mojito: Ordered this because I figured Karen would enjoy the little cotton candy show She did and she loves this drink It's good but I've had better mojitos elsewhere


After all that we were escorted to the Patisserie.









Charming space
They have a lot of little sweets to choose from
It's around $3 & up a piece


Traditional Spanish Flan: Love theirs cause the taste is closer to the flan I'm used to eating when I was younger so eating theirs makes me a bit nostalgic It's one of the tastes I grew up with from my childhood The flan is not like the usual smooth (watered down) one you find at most restaurants.This flan is heavier also richer It's sweet but not sickeningly sweet. I'm not sure if it's the milk their using but this flan is definitely delicious That's why I always get this flan whenever I go there!

The servings are small but since there's a lot of different ones you get pretty full It's interesting because the dishes are creative and unique The decor is great. Pretty lights, beautiful furniture and a very attentive staff As usual, the manager that evening dropped by our table about 3 times. The first one when we were having our meal at the dining room to welcome us, the second time was when we were waiting for dessert at the patisserie..she wanted to check if everything was alright. The third time was also at the patisserie and it was just to chit-chat

After dessert we looked around their little gallery/shop then we hung-out a bit at Bar Centro Love the built-in TV on the long table that plays old Hollywood movies I noticed that a lot of couples sat at that area




We were at The Bazaar from 6PM all the way to 11:30PM
Here's a pic of me again at the patisserie with my "beaten by the ocean" hair



Anyway, it's back to work Monday tomorrow
I'm off to catch up on animes, dramas and some manga
Do tell me what you've been up to
Til my next post! Happy Days

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