J and J Restaurant

Posted by Hirono

I had the opportunity to hang out with friends Jaime and Mike this morning! Kevin and I met them through Tiffany a few years ago, and we tagged along when Tiffany and Jesse went out to meet them. They are such good people! Jaime and Mike are expecting twins due in a few weeks and we had a blast sharing our pregnancy stories and other mommy stuff over a box full of pastries and potato balls we picked up from Porto’s! Jaime is one of the seven friends who are currently pregnant. 🙂

On our way home, Kevin and I stopped by Jin Jian (J and J) Restaurant in Alhambra for quick noodle and dumpling lunch.

I ordered the vermicelli noodle with fried tofu – warm and light, perfect for the cold weather.

Kevin ordered this noodle bowl with sweet pork chunks – sweet and although a bit oily, it was much lighter than ramen.

We shared an order of soup dumplings …

… and pan-fried pork dumplings (we actually ordered the vegetarian version but got these instead) .

We shared a large round table with another couple, who looked like they were on their third date because they couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other!

Wow, this was a weekend of pure fun and gluttony … and loved every minute of it!

Joe’s Shanghai Restaurant in Chinatown NYC

Posted by Hirono

I was craving some good Chinese food while in NYC, which was a little odd because I seldom crave it. Chinese food is not particularly my favorite cuisine and it’s only when I’m lazy and don’t want to cook that I turn to my neighborhood Chinese delivery place for a quick bite. Maybe it was because it was dark and raining outside on this particular day. There’s nothing more appropriate than comfort food in weather like this.

Shannon and I ventured out to Chinatown for some soup dumplings at Joe’s Shanghai Restaurant, a mere 10-minute walk from the hotel in SoHo. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to us when we left the hotel, that it was pouring outside and we literally had to swim to get there! We were so glad that the soup dumplings were good enough to make us feel that the swim was worth it.

Happy and dry Shannon!

Joe’s Shanghai Restaurant
9 Pell Street
New York, New York 10013
★★★★☆

Great Hump Day

Posted by Hirono

Breakfast (9:30 a.m.): I made a potato frittata for breakfast during the 30 minutes I had between two morning meetings. I used up eggs and a potato that were about to go bad. Accompanying frittata is a spinach and arugula salad, dressed in Pasadena blend olive oil and blood orange-flavored balsamic vinegar from Beyond Olives, an awesome olive oil shoppe in Pasadena. And a cup of coffee.

Lunch (2:00 p.m.): Spinach, arugula and shrimp salad, with homemade Caesar dressing (sans egg yolks). I wasn’t going to eat another piece of frittata but couldn’t resist … so I just cut myself a very small piece. The dressing was amazing. I made it with garlic, anchovies, olive oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper. I also had a glass of orange juice, by squeezing five medium oranges.

Snack (5:00 p.m.): Two pieces of tiny chocolate before the workout. Carb load, baby!

Dinner (8:30 p.m.): Had a tough but great workout with Saori (more core work today). We ordered Kung Pao chicken from a neighborhood Chinese join and watched Japanese TV shows after the workout and relaxed over oolong teas.

Currently debating if I should give up something for Lent, although I’m not Catholic. I gave up meat a few years ago and went meatless for almost 6 months …

It was a great hump day!　明日もがんばるんば。