Video Interlude: Sea Urchin

The weekend before last, Chhay--one of Will's college roommates--paid us a visit here in Los Angeles. He has cousins down in Orange County, and added an extra day on to his trip to come up a see us.

In addition to some of the standard LA activities, we went with Chhay down to the Redondo Beach Pier to meet one of Chhay's cousins along with his wife and daughter. It was our first time there, and we're really glad we went! We had some nice food, enjoyed a fun boat ride, and got to see some sea lions.

There was also a bit of a culinary adventure... captured on Will's cell phone for your viewing enjoyment!

More on Colombian Food

Building on the theme of my Easter post about Colombian food...

Many of you are already familiar with chef, author, and travel show host Anthony Bourdain. I enjoyed a few of his books, and we've are at the now-closed DC location of his Les Halles restaurant a few times. While we don't watch his TV show No Reservations regularly, I do enjoy it whenever I happen to catch an episode.

Anyway, Tony recently went to Colombia to sample the food. Although he didn't go to Cali specifically, the foods he ate are by in large similar to what the Caleños eat. So, check it out below. It's divided into five parts:

Part 1

Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5

Easter Lunch

Diana and I went out for a lovely Easter lunch yesterday--Colombian style. In addition to being delicious, the meal doubled as research for this here blog. What better way to get you all excited about going to Colombia that to post more photos like this one:


(By the way, that photo was taken from the camera on my new cell phone.)

Diana had a very nice soup called Sancocho de Gallina--a tasty broth filled with chicken, corn, potato, and yuca. It's simple and delicious, and a very typical Caleño (from Cali, Colombia) meal.

In honor of the holiday, I had the dish listed on the menu as "Ave Maria Pues." It was delicious and enormous. As you can see, it included: carne asada (steak), plantanos maduros (plantains), arroz (rice), chorizo (sausage), frijoles (beans), arepa (similar to a biscuit), and chicharones
(Similar to pork rinds), and a whole lot of awesome.