Huntington Library,Good Eats, and more

It was another full weekend, starting with a trip to the Huntington Library and Gardens.   It's been about ten years since I was there last, and as always, it is such a beautiful place to visit.   The Chinese Garden and the Children's Garden were new additions, which I saw for the first time.   The Chinese Garden really did remind me of some of the places I had visited in China.   Once all the construction is completed, it truly would be a serene place to enjoy the view of the garden and lake amidst the architecture and sculptures.  The Children's garden had some nice "tunnels" and passageways I could imagine children exploring; but, it was such a beautiful garden that any adult would also enjoy it.  It's always nice to see the usual favorites:   Sculpture Garden, Rose Garden, Main House (esp. the Library and Blue Boy painting), Japanese Garden, etc. And, the Stained Glass wall in a part of the main house that seemed almost like a chapel area was absolutely beautiful and evokes feelings of reverance and stillness.   Even though it was part of the Main House, I had never remembered seeing this before, so I don't know whether it was newly put in.

We also had Tea at the Huntington Tea Room.   The tea was excellent; the freshly baked scones with the cream and marmalade were good.   There was a wide variety of sandwiches, though the best one to me, was actually the Egg Salad; rather than any of the other more "exotic" ones.  There was also a wide variety of salads, cheeses, and desserts; as well as some caviar.  Overall, it truly was a pleasant and special day - a good way to celebrate a birthday.   Just to note, considering the prices ($20 for weekday admission; and ~$30 for the Tea), outings like this would be for just special occasions rather than common everyday occurrences.  And, the glass enclosed eating area for the Tea House at the Chinese Garden would really be a nice place for a special celebration, for the view of the lake and garden is gorgeous.

Afterwards, I hosted a violin-piano rehearsal.   For dinner, we had Singapore noodles, Chinese noodles, and orange chicken over broccoli and brown rice.   The Chinese noodles probably would've been even better had I pan fried and browned them first.  But, the rest of the ingredients worked well together - mock abalone, baby corn, straw mushroom, snow peas, and carrots with broth.

For my parent's anniversary and brother's birthday celebration, I was pleasantly surprised by the Hibachi Grill buffet in Norwalk.  The food was really quite good - the Korean BBQ grilled-to-order, the crepes made-to-order, the Mongolian BBQ station, and the variety of sushi that was actually made quite well.   There was also the usual fare you would find in a Chinese buffet; and, there wasn't anything I tried that I didn't like.  A few of the desserts were also quite good - a coffee mousse-like cake, lychee jello, and chocolate cream in a chocolate crust.   Seating was actually fine as well, so all-in-all, it turned out well.    There is even a $2 theater of that same towne center, for those who want to see a movie afterwards or before.

Yesterday, I did some additional cooking, using all the leftover ingredients from hosting the rehearsal.   The Pad Thai looked good, but the sauce was spicy.  So, next time, I would just use a different sauce and put crushed peanuts on top.   Everything else looked and tasted about right; and I would definitely do it again, since it was not so difficult - boil the noodles (medium rice stick) and then mix with sauce; pan fry eggs with bean sprouts, tofu (or meat, like shrimp), and shredded carrots; then combine with the noodles and top with toasted sesame seeds and crushed peanuts.  I also made a cabbage and carrot stir fry with sesame oil and soy sauce.  It was quite good; and probably could even be eaten cold as a salad (though the sesame oil is a little heavy when cold).  All the other dishes were pretty typical; but, the variety will be nice for food this week.