weekend diary:: river tracing, antique/modernism fair, frogtown, summer sun
good morning! its monday morning, and I’m drinking a matcha latte while sitting at the teak kitchen table. the morning started with taeko ohnuki on vinyl, so cheerful! this past weekend was amazing, so I thought to document it briefly while drinking my matcha before starting the day.
friday :: during the day time, I went to a quaint cafe in silverlake, and my old friend who now lives in the pacific northwest called me out of the blue. it made me so happy to hear about their journey in a new town and upcoming work travel to alaska! they also gave me encouragement that was truly needed at the moment to get through my exam studying. after a hojichat latter there, I decided to migrate and stop by a new cafe adjacent to the LA river that I’d passed by the previous weekend while biking. It was so relaxing there! not many people around, a beautiful outdoor deck arranged in “camping” rustic style, delicious coffee served out of a retro camper van, and blissful music rippling through the space. I chatted with the owner a bit about the origins of the cafe (they had just opened) and it was so lovely to hear their genesis story of a group of artists and performers who started a “performance” coffee cart at various music festivals. he encouraged me to stop by the new outdoor goods store next door on my way out, so I made a pitstop and picked up a limited edition deep electric blue la river crewneck and stone grey frogtown “forgotten” tote bag. I really love the area surrounding the LA river, it has such a fresh, down to earth, and unique energy that thrives at the fringe. I feel very lucky to live nearby!
I headed home to take a call in preparation for a radio show interview that I’m excited to be hosted on in the coming months. in the evening, my partner returned home we mostly relaxed and watched jordan peele’s film “nope.” it was my second time watching it and my partner’s first, and the artistry of the film really struck me even the second time around. such a delicious balance of horror, humor, suspense, and quirkiness.
saturday :: woke up to the feeling of a vibrant summer day! I made my version of the matcha einspanner, but with cinnamon and espresso instead topped with whipped coconut cream, and oooooffff it made my taste buds sing. we left the house around noon, stopped by the outdoor equipment store so I could buy a pair of chaco’s I needed for… honestly, the past five years since my last pair was stolen… and some hiking provisions. we then drove to millard falls at the base of the los angeles national forest, had a quick snack of cured white mackerel with lemon and capers on crackers on a large flat rock in the riverbed, then made our way up to the waterfall. it felt amazing to go river tracing again, it really is one of my favorite activities and it feels like heaven on my feet to have proper equipment to safely wade through the rocks with my new chacos! once we got to the waterfall, we were excited because it looked like there were a few rock climbing routes dispersed around the cliffs adjacent to the waterfall. I waded up to the stream of gushing water and felt the mist on my face, just as the sun emerged from the clouds. ahhhhhh there really is no other feeling like it!
after sun drying our feet in the back of my trunk, lazing around in the forest shade, we took a peaceful drive through the tree lined, lush streets of pasadena while listening to fujii kaze npr performance to san gabriel valley. singing the whole way there, our appetites were expanded just in time as we arrived at the ayce yakiniku spot we wanted to eat at for our anniversary dinner! we killed an hour wait time by taking a stroll around the neighborhood, stopping by kee wah bakery to pick up a pastry, osmanthus jade tea, and failed a few attempts at an arcade machine claw game, then returned for our feast. holyyyyy it was one of the best meals I have had in my life!
after returning home and digesting for a bit, we decided to set up our new at home karaoke machine and ended up spending the next three hours karaoke-ing with blue dream hehe. it feels so good to sing your heart out!
sunday :: we met up with our friends atsu and rentaro at the modernism furniture fair in downtown LA. they brought their extremely cute newborn baby!!! and their friend! we spent a few hours strolling through the furniture displays in the summer sun, and enjoyed looking at, touching, feeling all the curious objects artistically crafted from another time. some of the objects reminded me of pieces I saw at a vintage flea market I visited in fano, italy a few summers ago. h chan and I spotted a beautiful mid century modern teak wood side table with mosaic accents on the surface that reminded me of a place between a mediterranean landscape and a californian desert, and so we decided to buy it after bargaining the with owner! we also picked up a cute and strong sprouting coconut palm plant, which reminded me of fond memories in the taitung city art village.
afterwards, we grabbed lunch on the patio of afuri, and my favorite waiter was there to serve our table! he is so sweet, he always finds a way to gift me some complimentary dish. this time, he brought us a plate of vegan tofu donuts with yuzu curd, which was the perfect dessert after a delicious meal of yuzu tsuyu tsukune, cashew vegan gyoza, nasu don, and yuzu limeade! after eating, I held and sang to kahn-eh chan for a bit and it made his parents very happy~ on the way back to the car, we stopped by “the good liver” and I picked up a beautifully scented hand creme with notes of hinoki and rosewood.
after returning home, we spent an hour doing our usual house cleaning, arranged our new furniture and plants (h chan also got a huge california map we put up in the office, I put up a mong tong calligraphy on the wall), and I had some new ideas about how I’d like to inlay mosaics and silver into the bengali architecturally inspired terracotta sculpture that I would like to make. I worked for a while then went to bed, but suddenly realized I forgot to submit an art application for an exhibition, so I got back out of bed and stayed up til midnight finishing it just on time.
all in all, a very jam packed and eventful summer like weekend, filled with nature, friends, amazing food, vintage shopping, and happiness!
until next time~