THE TIME TRAVEL MART of ECHO PARK

The Time Travel Market is a convenience store for time travelers, of which all proceeds support 826LA.  I'd heard of this place years ago while watching this TED talk, so I was so surprised to stumble upon it!

MASA at ECHO PARK

Oh Masa, your pizza was worth the wait.

DOG CAFE

LA is full of oddities, one of which is the first Dog Cafe in the United States.  The Dog Cafe is less of a cafe and more of a dog playroom.  Keeping that in mind, it's a perfect place to get your dog-fix. There are 6-10 dogs out at a time.  Each of them are rescues and available for adoption.  Your $15 admittance fee goes to the shelter, a drink of choice, and an hour with the pups.

Andrew with Tango

The whole crew, only group shot I got.

Andrew's favorite.  He had no legs.

Andrew with Lady Gaga, the blind albino pup.

Dogs to my left, dogs to my right.

My face after Tango starts growling.

Bullet became my new friend. He was so scared at first.

But by the end of the hour, I think he felt really safe around me.

JAPANTOWN

There are only 3 nationally recognized Japantowns in the United States.  One is here in LA, another in SF, and somehow one in SJ.  I've officially been to all three.  Here's my most recent venture out with Eric and Andrew.  I've always been in love with the Japan aesthetics.  It's just the perfect balance of beauty and cute.

It was karaoke day on the stage. Very hit or miss.

For dinner we ate at Marugame Monzo, which specializes in Udon.  We were seated at the bar, right next to man hand-making all the noodle.  I ordered the Uni Udon, which was more like a pasta than a soup.  I could eat that every single day.

My handsome date ^^

UNI UDON THO

And of course, dessert brought to you by Honeymee.

JOY'S BABY SHOWER

My partner teacher is having a baby!  And right before her maternity leave our team threw her a baby shower.  The decorations were all hand made by our incredibly talented campus monitors.  They could seriously pull a side hussle planning birthdays and weddings.

The mother to be!

The AMLA Familia

WHIMSIC ALLEY

Whimsic Alley is a must-do for any nerd at heart living in LA.  Once you walk in the store you are transported into what literally looks like Diagon Alley.  Each little shopfront contains a different fandom from Game of Thrones to Harry Potter to Star Wars.

I absolutely LOVED the hall in the back, which contained art work for sale.

There were some DOPE GoT Art Nouveau pieces.

WEEKEND EATS

Never a shortage of restaurants to try in Los Angeles.

Noshi Sushi.  By far the best value for the quality of sushi.  And the interior decor takes you to 1970's Japan.  This is one of our regular spots.

Lao Tao.  On our multiple attempts to eat at Howlin' Rays, we've always given up on the wait.  There are so many delicious restaurants in the same complex anyway, like Lao Tao-- a super hip restaurant that serves Taiwanese street food.

Myung In Dumplings. This is another one of our go-to's.  This not so flashy hole-in-the-wall serves up the best dumplings.  You can taste the freshness.  And we always order more to take home and eat the next day.  One of their King Dumplings is enough for lunch!