[Travel] [Itinerary] [Theatre] [London, England] The Mousetrap (by Agatha Christie)

I’ve loved Agatha Christie since I was a child.  In fact, I’d say she (and my mother, for introducing me to her work) both sparked my love of mysteries and ruined me forever for them.  No one writes a mystery like Agatha Christie does—her books are as much studies in psychology and human / social relationships as they are mysteries.  In my view, her books remind us that, while there may only be one objective truth, subjective truth has many facets and many points of view, and the reasons people do anything are wide and varied.


The Mousetrap is a must-see for any Agatha Christie or theatre fan.  In its 66th year, it’s the longest-running show on West End.  Agatha Christie famously tightly controlled publication and publicity of the plot of the play.  I confess that, as an American, I read the play as a child—it was permitted to be published in select anthologies in the US, though not in the UK.  But I had forgotten nearly all of the plot (minus the nursery rhyme) by the time I made it to this theatre, and I highly recommend walking in as blind as the "Three Blind Mice."

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The Mousetrap (by Agatha Christie)

St. Martin’s Theatre

West Street, London, UK

Following tradition (and respecting Christie's own wishes!), I won't explain "whodunit."  But I will say that the production, and in particular the cast, were great.  You can't walk in expecting a grand song and dance with special effects, but the one set design is great and the storyline and acting riveting.


The Mousetrap no longer sells out like it used to; it's relatively easy to get last-minute tickets (as I did at LastMinute.com) now, and pick-up for those tickets is at the ticket office at the theatre.  However, if you'd like to buy much earlier, I've also linked to The Mousetrap's official website.

[Travel] [Restaurant Review] [San Francisco, CA] Milkbomb Ice Cream

Sometimes I'm skeptical of trendy food.  Yes, as much as I'm susceptible to it, #DidItForTheGram #AmIRight

It just seems like everyone is doing "hybrid" or "mash-up" food these days.  Or rainbow, glittery, or rose gold food.  Because #DidItForTheGram

But some hybrids and mash-ups are worth writing about.

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Milkbomb Ice Cream
1717 17th Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

Milkbomb is a small family-run and -operated ice cream store tucked behind a Philz Coffee in the San Francisco neighborhood of Potrero Hill.  It's relatively new, having opened in 2017.

Its most popular menu item is The Milkbomb Sandwich, which is a glazed donut bun filled with ice cream, toppings, and sauce, placed on a heat press and sealed.  Their Yelp page describes it perfectly: The MilkBomb Sandwich is "hot on the outside, cold on the inside, and delicious all over."

Each one of those steps is customizable: they've got different types of donuts, at least a dozen changing ice cream flavors (though there also seem to be some constant favorites, like taro, ube and creamy horchata), tons of toppings and sauces going far beyond tried-and-true sprinkles and hot fudge (think crushed cereals and sauces like ube and condensed milk).

We opted for The Milkbomb Sandwich with a glazed donut outside, a scoop of horchata ice cream and one of ube, topped with condensed milk and cinna-pebbles.  Didn't want to go too over-the-top with either ube or cinnamon, but they do have ube and cinnamon donuts, too.  Plus ube sauce.

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If The Milkbomb Sandwich is a bit much for you (I do recommend sharing it with a friend, family, or date), they also serve ice cream in cups or hand-rolled cones with flavors like matcha, birthday cake, red velvet, black sesame, etc.

The shop is tiny, so there isn't really any indoor seating, but there are several cute little cafe tables just outside Milkbomb, so you can still sit and enjoy (with the company of your dog, see Exhibit A).  There's also a public park a block away, or you can take the ice cream a few blocks away to Anchor Public Taps for a different kind of afternoon delight.

Rating:  8/10, would recommend for an afternoon snack.  But not a morning snack—they're not open until 2:00 PM and they close 7:00 or 8:00 PM (Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays).

[Travel] [Restaurant Review] [Bay Area, CA] Mokutanya

TIL ("Today I Learned"): yakitori is a Japanese word meaning "grilled" (yaki) "fowl" (tori), meaning it technically refers only to Japanese grilled / barbecued chicken skewers.  But, since most yakitori joints also serve plenty of other delicious grilled barbecue meats and veggies, my whole life, I've always (mistakenly) assumed the term referred to all Japanese grilled skewers.

While I was wrong about what, exactly, technically, yakitori is, I assure you I am not wrong that it is delicious.

The meat or veggies are cut into bite-sized pieces, skewered, then roasted over a (typically) charcoal grill.  There are primarily two ways yakitori is seasoned, either with salt and lemon juice or with tare sauce, which is a sweet sauce made from mirin, sake, soy sauce, and ginger.  Here in the U.S., I've almost exclusively had the kind with tare sauce.

My friends and I were in Burlingame, California for a convention a few weeks back and looking for a quick bite to eat.  There were a lot of very good options for Asian food in the area, according to Yelp, but we settled on Mokutanya, a Japanese spot serving ramen, yakitori, and other miscellaneous Japanese foods, like karage (Japanese fried chicken).

Mokutanya
1155 California Drive
Burlingame, CA 94010
(650) 348-9388

The decor of the restaurant is very adorable, almost romantic.  Each of the tables is in its own glass "room" and the chairs are sunken into the floor so that, to passersby, you look like you're sitting at a traditional Japanese kotatsu-style dining table—low to the ground, on cushions rather than chairs.  There's a cubby seating area outside each of the glass "rooms" for diners to leave their shoes.

Photo Credit: Thrillist

I failed to grab a good picture of my own, but here's one courtesy of Thrillist.  

We opted for a few appetizers to share: seaweed salad, karage (Japanese fried chicken), and fried Japanese yam chips.  We then each ordered the skewers we wanted.  My go-to yakitori, by the way, are chicken thigh (もも momo), chicken skin (とりかわ torikawa), wagyu beef, cartilage (sorry, I am Taiwanese and I love the texture), and various veggies, like shishito peppers, sweet potatoes / yams, and bacon-wrapped asparagus.

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For those more adventurous than I, Mokutanya has "exotic meat" night twice a week, on Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 6:00 PM to 2:00 AM.  According to their website, they serve such meat as peacock, iguana, venison, alligator, buffalo, wild boar, kangaroo, swan, and silkworms.  Online reviews suggest they often serve additional "exotic meat."  This isn't my cup of tea, personally, but just be aware that Wednesday and Thursday nights tend to be packed, so either avoid those nights if you're like me, or make a reservation in advance if you're "game."

Overall, Mokutanya's yakitori was pretty tasty and not too expensive.  We didn't try the ramen, so I can't offer an opinion.  If I had one complaint, it would be that the service was very slow and the food came out at a snail's pace, even though we were there around 2:00 PM and the place was far from full.  I don't mind leisurely service at times, but we were pretty hungry and they actually never brought us our rice (we wound up asking them to strike the charge), which is basically sacrilege.  GIVE ME THE CARBS PLEASE.

Rating:  7/10, would recommend for a leisurely date or night out with friends.  Be careful of "exotic" night.

[Travel] [Restaurant Review] [NYC] P.S. Kitchen

My friend Anne says that I "know" about food.  While I'm not quite as deserving of that declaration as she might think (though I'm certainly flattered), it is true that I love food—all kinds of food—and that I do try to stay on top of what's new and interesting.  And I always give bonus points for being a good deal—if we're friends (or if you follow me via this blog), you'll see that value and affordability will play a big part in my overall satisfaction.

One thing that has always surprised me is the lack of true vegetarian and/or vegan restaurants in NYC.  To be honest, even true vegetarian/vegan options at restaurants can leave a bit to be desired, with many restaurants having just one or two options on their (official) menu.  I'm 100% a carnivore, but I have friends who aren't, and since picking restaurants often falls to me, their pain becomes my pain.

With that in mind, I'm very excited to tell you about P.S. Kitchen, a fairly new restaurant (a few months old only) located in Midtown Manhattan.

P.S. Kitchen
246 West 48th Street
New York, NY 10036
(212) 651-7247

It's sophisticated vegan food, inspired by seasonal flavors from all around the world prepared in a "classic French technique."  They're open for brunch, lunch, and dinner every day of the week, and they serve lovely vegan coffees and teas (you can choose from almond milk, coconut milk, and I'm sure other milks that I am forgetting) as well as cocktails.

And best of all, 100% of their profits are donated to self-sustainable local and overseas charities.  As of this writing, the listed charities are ShareHope, Yunus Social Business, The Bowery Mission, DEFY Ventures, and The Doe Fund.  Updates may be made periodically to P.S. Kitchen's Mission page.

Anne and I had lunch reservations.  The decor is adorable and inviting—perhaps best described as French country chic.  I failed to get a decent picture of the place, but think white, aged window panes, beautiful chandeliers, and clean, white, wooden tables with fresh country bouquets and large water bottles with sprigs of mint.

We each ordered matcha lattes (with coconut milk) and decided to split the Fennel Tartine, which is caramelized fennel, spiced almonds, and orange suprême on toast, to start, in part because I consider tartine to be a bit too much work to make at home with any sort of regularity.

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I opted for the Colombian Potato Soup, which included cilantro puree, avocado, jalapeno, and radish, while Anne went for the Ginger Rice Congee with spinach and crispy yuba (holding the sauteed oyster mushrooms).

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Finally, we finished up our lunch with the Strawberry Short Cake, with strawberry-rhubarb compote, almond cream, and crunchy almond.  It turned out to be one of the best desserts I've had in a while, vegan or not.  It probably helps that I am a huge almond lover and that I prefer fruity desserts, but honestly, if all vegan desserts tasted like this one... 

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My experience at P.S. Kitchen can be summed up simply: I can't believe it's actually vegan (not butter, TM).
Rating:  8/10, would definitely recommend to both carnivores and herbivores.

[Travel] [Itinerary] The Museum of Ice Cream

I love social media.  And yet, at the same time, I kind of hate it.

Here's what I mean: Facebook has been a great way for me, personally, to "keep up" with friends, to see pictures of their new baby, their new house, or their new dog.  I've used it to reconnect with old friends.  I fairly regularly find interesting scientific, social, political, or even, frankly, fun and silly articles by scrolling through my newsfeed.  Occasionally, I even find weird or interesting events happening near me and wind up attending.  Instagram is something I use for both my actual social circle and to follow restaurants, fashion brands, travelbloggers, photographers, etc.  Twitter is something I use very rarely, but I follow quite a few comedians and celebrities.  These uses all fall under "love."

But let's flip the coin.  Studies have been done, and articles have been written, to the effect that the more someone uses social media, the more likely they are to be depressed (here's one from Forbes).  The theory is, according to the study quoted in the Forbes article, that exposure to "highly idealized representations of peers on social media elicits feelings of envy and the distorted belief that others lead happier, more successful lives." More than once, in fact, have I heard from a friend or co-worker a variant of, "How do you travel all the time?" or "Is your life really as awesome as Facebook suggests?"  And even though I don't consider myself a particularly jealous person, it's hard to look at the Instagram feed of someone like Jenny of Margo and Me and not dream of what it would be like to be her.

At the end of the day, social media is curated by most.  It's a collection of someone's best and happiest moments—and if there is pain, it is pain that the user has chosen to share.  It's not a lie, per se, but it's only a part of a whole.  For every gourmet homemade burger recipe I post, there are a hundred toasted (and, if we're being honest, slightly-burnt-around-the-edges) bagels with muenster or chive and onion cream cheese I haven't posted.  For every beautiful scenic view, there are a hundred streets and alleys, or of hours spent on the train or in traffic.  And for every decent picture of me that I actually share on social media, there are a hundred I hate in which my eyes are closed or I'm doing something else really awkward with my face.

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When I was last in LA, I visited the Museum of Ice Cream.  The Museum of Ice Cream is a pop-up "museum"—really, a collection of displays that are centered loosely around ice cream—and the brainchild of a Laguna Beach native, Maryellis Bunn.  The "museum" first opened for 45 days last summer in NYC and has been in LA since April 22, 2017.

Museum of Ice Cream
2018 E. 7th Place
Los Angeles, CA

Every room is highly Instagrammable: the very embodiment of the hashtag #DidItForTheGram.  Some of the rooms are fairly kitschy, but each of them is fun, with a few dessert samples "sprinkled" (see what I did there?) along the way.  Another unexpected surprise: many of the LA exhibits are different from the ones the NYC iteration featured last year.  One standout from NYC that was missing in LA was the room of dangling ice cream cone lights, paired with edible candy balloons (imagine that Instagram post!).  The equivalent in LA was probably the room of dangling bananas and swings, complete with scratch 'n' sniff walls.  (Sorry, a picture of this room won't be included in this post because I didn't take enough pictures to compensate for my natural and prevailing awkwardness in photographs.)

Attack of the Killer Ice Cream Cones, or modern art. At least this exhibit comes with a mini-cone of charcoal chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough. • • • Museum of Ice Cream 2018 E. 7th Place Los Angeles, CA • • • #icecream #icecreammuseum #weallscreamforicecream #sweets #dessert #art #modernart #edibleart #horror #noir #instaart #instatravel #instastyle #instalove #instagood #travelgram #travelblogger #photooftheday #picoftheday #the_tammiest

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Can this be the street where I live? (My Fair Lady, anyone?) • • • Write-up for the Museum of Ice Cream now up on the blog (link in profile ☝🏼) • • • Museum of Ice Cream 2018 E. 7th Place Los Angeles, CA • • • #icecream #icecreammuseum #weallscreamforicecream #sweets #dessert #art #modernart #edibleart #strawberry #strawberrydreams #pastel #myfairlady #instaart #instatravel #instastyle #instalove #instagood #myfairlady #travelgram #travelblogger #fashionblogger #photooftheday #picoftheday #the_tammiest

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Outfit details: J.O.A. striped one-shoulder peplum top (On Sale at Saks Off 5th) | kate spade new york Flavor of the Month Ice Cream Cone (Sold Out but check secondhand/consignment websites like Poshmark, Tradesy or eBay) | kate spade X KEDS kicks (Collection at KEDS)


One famous exhibit that showed up in both NYC and LA is the Sprinkle Pool, which is basically a pool, complete with a "diving" board (please don't dive off it, though) and pool toys and floaties, filled with, well, thousands of plastic sprinkles.  It's like an updated ball pit from your childhood, except clearly conceived of for social media (everyone in the pool was on Boomerang) and simultaneously softer and more bothersome: those sprinkles will get and stick everywhere, so be careful what you wear.  I went several weeks ago, and I literally found what I hope to be the very last of the plastic sprinkles only the other day.

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Unfortunately, LA tickets are currently sold out (although there are rumors that the Museum will stay a little longer in LA than originally anticipated), but the Museum of Ice Cream hopes to visit San Francisco and Miami this year and eventually open a flagship (and more permanent) location in NYC—so stay on the look-out for your chance to swim in the Sprinkle Pool.  You can sign up for their newsletter, which will provide these types of updates, here.