Eat. Travel. Eat!

NOTE: Cheval Bistro is CLOSED as of May 2014-- This restaurant has been replaced with the White Horse Lounge . --- I wanted to try a cuisine that I haven't had in years--French--so recently, we visited Cheval Bistro in Pasadena, California, to check out what traditional French dining in the United States was like. Yes, Cheval Bistro is operated by the Smith Brothers, a restaurant group that primarily offers American cuisine, but this experience was quite French. Though Cheval Bistro is conveniently located right next door to a parking structure, inside the restaurant, all thoughts of parking were removed. Instead, we saw a classy, dark wood interior, with fine dinnerware and plenty of french paintings/ magazine cover posters on the walls. Our seating, unlike what you see in the photo, was bright, with plenty of light right above the table. Look for the booster seats to the right of you as you enter the restaurants if you want those seats!

I've written about Sesame Grill probably too many times, each time discussing a new iteration or feature. Yet never did I expect that it would veer off its successful path that it has been taking for many, many years. There may have been the Chinese dishes, Japanese ramen , American burger experiments, yet time again they would revert back, perhaps improve upon, their old dishes. So it was definitely a shocker when Sesame Grill completely changed itself and became "S.G. Cajun Seafood" for about the first half of 2013. Sure, Japanese ramen may have been different (it came from a Japanese chef exchanging cooking techniques with Sesame Grill's executive chef), but Cajun seafood a la Boiling Crab? Other than the burgeoning Cajun seafood scene around the San Gabriel Valley, there was little context. A revamped interior, environment, and clientele replaced the old, but unfortunately, the changes didn't bring success, with middling reviews coming in from new custome...

Back in May, I attended the UC Irvine Undergraduate Research Symposium , an annual symposium featuring undergraduate research. Although I only attended the afternoon session, there was still much to see and to learn--I was unable to visit all the presenters' posters or oral presentations! This research symposium featured undergraduate research from the entire university, meaning that one could find research in computer science, engineering, humanities, biological sciences, and more in the same spot! There were also two parts: oral sessions, where presenters discussed their projects with projected presentation slides to a small audience in one room, and poster displays, where presenters discussed their projects next to their posters outside. The research was quite diverse; a few of these topics discussed at the symposium include home automation, car security, dorm design, autism, solar stove, literature, autism, chemically powered modeled cars, solar airplanes, and rockets...