626 Asian Night Market Pasadena

When I heard about the first ever Asian Night Market in Southern California, I was so excited. We talked about the type of food vendors that we might encounter - stinky tofu, fried squid balls, and all.

The drive from Irvine to Pasadena is not near but sixty miles one way. Consider the price of gas ($1 - 5 miles) now, we spent $24 for round trip gas. We didn't mind about that at all. We didn't even care that we paid $5 for parking and to walk 5 blocks to the event. Not until when we arrived at 1 North Oakland Avenue.

I'll let the pictures below continue the story:

The crowd was like a wave of ants. I didn't even know what vendors were there because couldn't see them. The street was narrow and short. We had to navigate through this crowd to get to the other end where the food area was. One thing came to my mind when I saw the crazy long lines for each food stalls - "Oh, Man! There goes the stinky tofu!" Well, first thing first, I couldn't even get into that area. That's the biggest disappointment I had.

There were probably some good food vendors, but we didn't get to try any. We walked away and left the place.

The event wasn't ready for such a big crowd. I've heard the turn out could be as many as 8000 people. The area probably can fit 500-800 comfortably. Street and parking were out of control. We saw several drivers running through red lights and stopping in the middle of an intersection because the traffic wasn't moving.

I personally think the organizers can do so much better than this. The event area was too small to handle this. Parking was not enough on top of the regular Saturday night crowd at downtown Pasadena. A note to the organizer - good idea to have an Asian Night Market but next time, have it in a bigger arena with more control on parking and traffic. Looking forward to the next one!

Grand Opening Daiso Irvine

Arrived at Heritage Plaza at 9:45am and there was a long line along the sidewalk up to the CVS Pharmacy. I joined the line at the end, but I wasn't the last because no longer than 1 minute later, more people came to join the que.



This was the line to enter Daiso Japan new store in Irvine. There were 200 giveaways available for the first 200 customers who bought something. And there was a raffle as well, prizes include a bit 40" TV, iPad2 and more. A couple of customers in front of me asked a security guard how long the line was. He replied that they were probably between the 240-250 customers. I think I will have a chance to grab a giveaway. My tactic would be going in, grab 1 item and go line up to pay.

By the time I got in to the store, it wasn't crowded at all. I couldn't imagine there was more than 200 people inside. There was a long line to pay. Quickly, I grabbed a two compartment container and went to the line to pay. After paying, I walked out the store and a girl passed me a bag filled with food goodies after she scribbled my receipt. It felt like Halloween in spring. Here are the stuff found in the bag.
 

Will have to return to the store tomorrow to find out the winner for the raffle.

Paul Frank Toddler / Kids Underwear from Target

When I woke up this morning, one of the first things I did was going through the newspaper. The first section I picked up was the Target flyer. I screened through it briefly and this item caught my attention - Paul Frank 5-pk licensed underwear, on sale for $7 a pack. Regular price on this is $10.99. A $4 discount, I think is a good deal.

Fortunately, I was able to get out the house alone in the early afternoon to visit Target. I was afraid that they might have sold out. But luck was on my side. They have many stocks available. I bought 2 packs of size 4 and a pack of size 6. Here they are.

Paul Frank Target licensed Boys Underwear $7/5-pk

Pumpkin Patch Transport Boy's Briefs Set

My boy is now 5, and needs a new set of briefs. He has been wearing Pumpkin Patch and I find them fitting for him. So I thought I would buy them again. They are rather expensive without sales.

This time, I visited the Pumpkin Patch retail store at Los Cerritos Mall. There are not many Pumpkin Patch retails around LA area. We were on our way up to Culver City and this is one of the mall that is just off the 605 freeway. It was not on sale, and the price listed on this Transport boy's briefs size 4-6yrs is $14.95 for 5-pk. I bought it because I like their style, the transportation design and not-so-bright color.

Pumpkin Patch Transport Briefs $14.95/5-pk

Trader Joe's Low Fat Milk up in price

Another increase in price. I've always purchase Trader Joe's 1% low fat milk for my son. He is the only person who needs to drink milk in our family. Usually I buy the 1/2 gallon bottle.

I remember the price I paid for this was $1.59 a few months ago when we began buying our milk selection from TJ's. A few weeks ago, it went up to $1.79. I thought to myself, wow a 20 cents increase. I thought it may be because of the increase in gasoline. And today, when I went to buy it, it was $1.99 for the 1/2 gallon bottle. WOW! Another 20 cents increase. I should have ask the employee what is the reason to this increase, but I didn't. I am guessing, if our gasoline keeps going up in price, so will our food!

French's Pastry Bakery @ Walnut Village Center

This is the place I go when I have a sudden craving for a sweet goodies. It is the French's Pastry Bakery @ Walnut Village Center in Irvine.

Firstly I like to visit this bakery because they have special deals from Mon to Thurs. Their bakery items are delicious too. I love their rich buttery flavored cookies and I only get them on Thursday when they are discounted $2 per dozen.

Here are their Daily Specials:

Monday
$10 off our famous real whipped cream cakes.
Choose from Fresh Strawberry, Fresh Banana, Cherry Rum and Fudge!

Tuesday
$1 off any loaf of our freshly baked breads.
Choose from a large selection.

Wednesday
Our own recipe bread pudding and traditional round cinnamon coffee cakes for only $4.98

Thursday
COOKIE SPECIAL
$2 off any dozen cookies

French's Pastry Bakery @ Walnut Village Center
14443 Culver Drive Unit C
Irvine, CA
Phone Number: (949) 262-9270
Hours: Monday - Friday: 7 to 6; Sat: 7 to 5; Sun: Closed

Trader Joe's Irvine @ Walnut Village Center

I love shopping at Trader Joe's. It is very convenient to me as there are two stores located in Irvine, not too far from my home. What do I buy from Trader Joe's? All kind of food items including but not limited to - pasta, milk, eggs, some fruits, packaged salad, peanut butter, granola bars, dried fruits/nuts, and more.

This is not a regular grocery place, they have limited choices and most of them are their store brand. They do carry many varieties of local wine and their prices are very reasonable too. If you haven't been to or shop at Trader Joe's, you should drop in at least once to check them out. They have stores all over United States now.

Trader Joe's @ Walnut Village Center
14443 Culver Drive
Irvine, CA 92604
Phone Number: (949) 857-8108
Trading Hours: 8:00 am - 9:00 pm