TBA
Fooding
BMW: Power of Choice's stop at Westfield Century City was pretty disappointing. Just a street drive-- which was expected-- but they didn't seem to have many cars. Felt like exactly one 340i, as an example, which meant, even with a relatively short street drive, still amounted to a ~15 minute cycle time. Three people in front meant a 45 minute wait. Ugh.
Did only one drive-- the decidedly nice but forgettable 340i-- and then headed to lunch with Stanley, Christina, Ender, Rebecca, and Emily afterwards at Kim Kee Noodle Cafe in Monterey Park. They bring back echos of the old Tung Kee chain from childhood, but minus the MSG and overall a similar experience. Not sure I'd go back given the umami didn't exactly happen for me here, but they were still a solid place to visit given how much they've blown up on social media lately.
Over to San Gabriel after, where the plaza that 99 Ranch sits in has gotten a modest glow-up. Stanley and Christina highly recommend Guiji Tea, and it was so good that Emily had to go back for secons. 33 Kings oolong milk tea is indeed very good, as is the apple hongxuan black tea (according to Emily), and the peach oolong also held its own. Also new to the same plaza is MINISO, with a decently sized store, and also the much larger The Best Shop, which is a combination of cosmetics, home goods, and electronics. Quite good to see Focus Plaza (now Tawa Gateway) be revitalized, as they had gotten pretty sad the past few years.