There are so very few things in life that are guaranteed to bring a smile to my face. The following video makes me beam with sheer delight. (Set the volume to mute, as the sound is quite loud and unnecessary.)
Archive for December, 2007
This series of articles, complete with photos, provides a fascinating look into the lives of North Koreans. I felt compelled to post a link. I wonder when that damn obstinant country and its brainwashed citizenry will be assimilated back into South Korea. By the way, I found it quite amusing that China was deemed quite filthy. Why does that not surprise me?
As I was riding up the elevator today, a random rant popped into my mind — one that I should have written down a long time ago. I would like people to know that FTD absolutely sucks at ever level of service and that people should eschew using FTD for anything horticultural.
A few years ago, I had flowers delivered to my mother through FTD for Mother’s Day. When I called her later that evening to ask if she had indeed received them, my mother thanked me, but asked me not to send flowers to her anymore. That’s quite a statement to make, and, of course, I inquired as to why. She told me that the damn flowers didn’t look fresh. What does that mean? Most of the time, I can’t tell the difference between a day old bouquet and a two day old bouquet in vase. Can you? For someone to tell me that flowers ostensibly do not look fresh suggests to me that the flowers are unacceptably aged. So much for fresh and beautiful.
Now, sending flowers is a ridiculously overpriced proposition. God knows that the mark up on roses is insane, let alone the delivery fee. So, naturally, I was incensed that my investment had wilted. I called FTD’s customer service line and I copiously expressed my dissatisfaction. Their remedy? Nothing. Not a discount. Not fresh replacement flowers. Not a coupon for future business. Not even a freaking apology. Not a damn thing. Needless to say, I don’t use FTD anymore. I’m sure they don’t miss my parsimonious business, but I hope you — reader — will also decline the use of their services as well. Such practices should not be rewarded with repeat business.
Would that I could lead a thousand lives. I would spend one just trying to ruin FTD.
1108 South Baldwin Avenue
Arcadia, California 91007
People rave about this place. Lets go ahead and discard the commentary from non-Asians. Like I always say, people who grow up eating macaroni and cheese and hamburgers don’t have the experience, authority, or credibility to review food — particularly Asian food. This leaves the Asians and specifically the Chinese. They line up to eat here in patient queues the likes of which even red China has never seen. The wait time used to be close to an hour before the restaurant expanded to a separate dining room in the adjacent mini mall with Wells Fargo as its anchor tenant. Including tonight, I’ve tried this restaurant three or four times.
Din Tai Fung is located in Arcadia, closer to the 210 than the 10. With no traffic, it takes close to 30 minutes to get there from downtown. Tonight, it took an hour from Koreatown. So, are the dumplings that incredible? Are they worth the time, energy, and gasoline? In a word… no. They’re just dumplings for god sakes.
Some people swear by the juicy pork dumplings, where the thin dumpling skin encloses not just the ball of pork but a small amount of greasy pork juices. Phenomenal? No. But, not bad. Sit in the restaurant and watch as people dip all the varieties of dumplings into the same vinegar and ginger sauce before consumption. The dipping sauce overwhelms the subtleties of the constituent ingredients leaving you with the experience of eating the same universal dumpling, regardless of what is actually supposed to be inside. So, only a patron who eats a dumpling without vinegar and ginger is likely to truly be able to appreciate the minor differences in texture or flavor between the various dumplings. However, as most customers ostensibly douse their dumplings, these restaurant goers are not eating to savor anything in particular. They simply dine here for the sake of eating dumplings in a popular dumpling restaurant in an area where dumpling restaurants don’t abound.
The rest of the non-dumpling entrees at Din Tai Fung are quite mediocre. The seasonal vegetables are simply steamed or fried with garlic. The fried rice is flavorless filler. And, the soups are quite vapid. I guarantee that you will better appreciate an evening at home with steamed supermarket dumplings and without the hassle.
Still, if curiosity has you in its unrelenting grasps, go once and check out the hype for yourself. Its nothing but hot steam. And, when they inevitably cool down, the dumplings return to their actual, ordinary nature.
