Outfit conformed to the Portland Hipster!

Gitman Vintage x RRL Slim Jeans x Band of Outsiders Sperry x Oliver People Shades x No Hands “Wocka Wocka”.

Copped a new whip! thx to Crank PDX for these new 7 speed commuter V7 Public Bike. Rides pretty well and hoping to get through the hills in Seattle.  

Two racks of Xia Long Bao (soup dumplings)

Wrapping platinum dumplings

Soup goodness

Noodles with meat sauce

Spicy Wonton

Rice cakes with prawns

Shao Mai (shrimp on top, a little soup and pork at the bottom)

Din Tai Fung

This place is the real deal Holyfield. I love Din Tai Fung and glad that they chose Seattle (Bellevue) as their 2nd US location. My moms was kind enough to take the fam out to Din Tai Fun for my bday. Since my mom only eats asian food, she makes the decisions where to roll.

Words cannot express how much I love DTF……. xiao long bao (soup dumplings) and spicy wontons that is! I usually order two different kinds of soup dumplings, the pork and then the chicken & truffle. Also it’s a must to get two orders of spicy wontons as they could be Seattle’s best wontons. Balance the meal with some chinese broccoli and green beans. Instead of rice, it’s rice cakes with prawns. And you can’t have asian food without noodles, so got to go with the spicy noodles and the noodles with meat sauce. 

If there’s room, the shave ice desert with fruit and red bean hits. DTF is loaded with goodness, flavors, freshness, and quality. The downside are the lines and the $$$ status, so definitely not an everyday thing. DTF holds it down and I consider it a treat each time I visit. To note they have beer on asian beer on draft. 

Fried Chicken (regular & Korean style)

Bone Marrow

Wood grilled kalbi short ribs

Curry bacon fried rice

Brown butter mochi cake

Pumpkin shake

Ma’Ono Fried Chicken & Whisky (formally Springhill) 

Can’t express how much I love fried chicken. Ma’Ono is one of my go to friend chicken spots in Seattle and along with popeyes (don’t hate). Ma’Ono originated from the Springhill Monday pop up and then chef Mark Fuller converting to fried chicken and progressive Hawaiian/Asian inspired food full time. 

Ma’Ono serves their fried chicken three way and your choice of two - regular, korean (spicy), and chinese (sweet mild mustard). All of them are definitely cracking so I recommend going with original and asking for the other two sauces on the side (sampler style). The other dishes that also hit home were the woodfired kalbi short ribs, clams, bone morrow, and curry bacon fried rice. I have yet to make my way through the whole menu but I plan to. Also, the burger gets a lot of attention as one of the best in Seattle. Occasionally they will serve the red velvet shake which is money and can compete with any desert in town. 

To me the Ma’Ono concept of fried chicken and whisky theme is a perfect harmony. I’ll warm up with some whisky and close out with some draft beer. The hardest decision is not wanting to order everything.

bbq pork, bok choy, and shitake mushrooms

NY Steak and Banh Hoi

Bun Bo Hue with oxtail, brisket, and the pig hoof

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. For this special day I wanted to shoutout my moms joy for cooking Vietnamese food. Nothing beats moms cooking. My mom is so kind to put together dishes with my suggestions for components. 

Also, I did a mini mother’s day write-up on NW Asian Weekly on a memorable Mother’s Day experience. Love you moms!

Shirts on shirts on shirts! Getting ready for summer with some fly Gitman Vintage shirts!

“Everything is Purple” My Space Needle and Experience Music Project Photo Shootout (Seattle Center)

You already know the Space Needle is the most iconic architectural piece in Seattle. The structure rooted up in the 60s with a futuristic mid century swag. Long and behold, it remains futuristic with the mid century influence. I don’t care how touristy it gets, I love shooting it and have taken way too many instagrams. I’m lucky its my backyard and get to see it quite often.

I dropped by on the 50th anniversary to do work with the camera. I harmonized my what I saw with a purple theme, cause I repp UW and listening to A$AP Rocky. It was an awesome time. In all, if you represent Seattle, you love the Space Needle!

Seafood Paella

Proscuitto Arugula Salad with a Poached Egg

Hunger 

You will definitely appease your hunger at Hunger. I had the craziest craving for Paella, and I finally found it at Hunger (via Yelp). Oh man! the seafood Paella was overwhelming with freshness and flavor. Each bite was joyful and gives you hints of Spain. As you could see by the pictures, Hunger uses high quality components to make their awesome dishes. The prosciutto arugula salad with a poached egg was also a good dish to compliment the Paella. The cooking here is progressive and Hunger does a good job articulating modern spanish food. Can’t wait to check out their new space.

Nike KD IV - “my hoop shoes be like the pros (Macklemore)! “

Hipster Popping Chambray

Oliver peoples Daddy B x Woolrich Woolen Mills Chambray x Columbia Knit Beanie x NDG Selvedge x Band of Outsiders Shoes

663 Bistro (Chinese food)

The spicy chicken wings here shut the fried chicken game down! I took a friend’s tip and damnnnnnn did it pan out.  These wings are spicy, garlicy, a lil salt, and some jalapenos.  Excellet with rice. A freakin deal at $6.  Each order comes with about 9-10, depending on your appetite more could be recommended. I also usually get the Singapore noodles (bbq pork)  cause of my love for curry (good but not the best).

This is definitely a top 5 fried chicken spot in Seattle and the #1 fried chicken Chinatown.

Quoddy Beefroll Venetian Loafers (from Needsupply.com)

The shoe to have for this spring and summer.