Back from a week in LA and E3 2014

It’s been an exciting week for T and I (perhaps even Max). We left Max the Maximum Dog in Las Vegas with a wonderful dog-sitter we found through dogvacay.com and he had so much activity with the other dogs in her house that we think he’s depressed now that he’s home with us. We’ll definitely check Max in with her again if we need to go out of town.

In other (BIG) news, T’s game Axiom Verge won the GAMESPOT Best of E3 2014 (he’s excited to be mentioned alongside No Man’s Sky, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and Batman) and also made the list for IGN’s Best of E3 2014 Best Action Game AND Best Playstation 4 Game.

The week was well-spent even though T was super apprehensive about having to show his game alone and meeting new people. I think one of the biggest breakthrough was him making new friends WITHOUT ME and getting invited to dinner TWICE with a super lovely couple – James Petruzzi (of Discord Games, who makes CHASM) and his master baker wife, Trang (check out the treats she makes here! OMG If I had her mad skills, I would die of FAT in 24 hours). It’s a super big deal for T because we ever only go out with my friends and I always feel he should have his own friends who share similar interests. So so proud of him for breaking out of his shell this week and he picked a fantastically fun couple for us to hang out with! Chop, stamp, approved!

I didn’t get a pass to enter E3 so T had to be on his own – which made him really anxious but also forced him to step up his game. (See his “uniform” which we made indie-style with homemade iron-on sheets.) I was a little sad to be apart but I was also happy to have 4 days to hang out with my friends. To my husband’s initial horror, my friends suggested I drive to meet them where they were – West Hollywood and Marina Del Rey, while our hotel was Downtown LA. It was crazy traffic and I quickly learnt to increase my following distance because it seems like LA drivers don’t use their turn signals to indicate their intent and weave in and out of really tight traffic every opportunity they get. But I did fine… Pfffft!! Didn’t scratch the car, didn’t cause any accidents, didn’t hurt anyone. I feel POWERRRRFUL for braving the urban traffic in the US, considering I was just driving only on the other side of the road less than a year ago.

• On Monday, I got to hang out on set of a new indie feature film called Wiener Dog Internationals that was being filmed in Huntington Beach. I even got to hold a wiener dog (and umm… unwittingly ended up cupping its balls for a while but that’s another story), and be an extra in the film representing Singapore!
• On Tuesday, it was all about the kiddos, we had lunch at Du-Par’s at the Original Farmer’s Market which was right across the road from the Peterson’s apartment, bought snacks at Trader Joe’s and headed for Coldwater Canyon Park in Beverly Hills before stocking up on instant noodles in Koreatown (I’m definitely going back to Galleria Market!).
• On Wednesday, Stella and Kate brought me to Manhattan Beach after Kate finished school. Lovely low-key retailers with many unique wares, none of that mass market stuff and lots of yummy treats! We had ice cream at the Manhattan Beach Creamery and the shop itself was super fun! You know summer’s out when people are walking around in bikinis…
• On Thursday, it was a lovely walk from the Yeo’s apartment in Marina Del Rey to TonyP’s for lunch, then to Mother’s Beach where Kate played on the playground for a bit before we walked to Abbot Kinney aka Hipster Central (I WANT TO GO THERE AGAIN).Oh I love the dreamy houses that we passed at the Venice Canal!

And of course, deserving mention would be

• Drago Centro – posh-looking inside and out but when they missed out on my order they more than made up for it by offering to give it to me for free and while I waited for it to be cooked, I starved off hunger by eating some yummy bread they provided. YUM! Mushroom risotto! Lovely service staff!
• Bottega Louie – fancy decor, super delicious treats all calling your name upon entering the door, very crowded (and noisy) but very efficient service.
• Veggie Grill – Unpretentious vegetarian fast food! YO hello! You people need to open one in Las Vegas soon. I have eaten at your LA restaurants 4 times in a row! We need one here!!

With that, it’s bye LA, hello Vegas, I’m home.