tiffin unboxed

Spring Garden: Koo Koo for Kangaroo Paws

My First Korean Bath House Experience in Multiculti L.A.

When was the last time your skin felt like this?


Can you imagine having baby soft and smooth skin even before applying lotion? Have you ever felt really clean? Not quick shower or self loofah clean - squeaky clean?

And that's just how you feel on the outside. What about the inside? Try calm,  rejuvenated, feeling mentally and physically renewed, even cathartic.

Would you believe that for me these feelings and that silky skin came just over 1 month ago? This magic came from one of my most feared yet anticipated experiences - the Korean Bath House, engaging in traditional cleansing rituals.

In order to psyche myself up for this adventure, I did exhaustive research and found that public baths are popular in Korea because many women don't have private showers at home. Bathing publicly is also a social outlet for many women. Public nudity is not so commonplace in the U.S., and especially not in my culture and family upbringing.

I also asked people I know who engaged in this experience for full play by plays of what goes on inside a Korean spa. A friend even forwarded a blog post about a vist to a very popular Korean spa.

For months I combed spa reviews on Yelp. Many reviewers complained about spa staff not speaking English, the spas being "no Burke-Williams", too many Russian women in the spas and other seemingly random details.

In L.A. Korean spas are a dime a dozen, especially in Korea Town. Some cater to Western tastes, some are family-friendly, some are open 24 hours, many have beauty salon services, some have on-site restaurants and all have various types of traditional baths and saunas.

Personal preferences for spas vary, so I will focus on the experience itself vs. any particular facility. Clearly since one cannot take photos inside the spa, this post is long on words and short on images. But I will try to paint the picture with words as accurately as possible. And there will be a couple more photos towards the end, if you stay with  me that long.

My desire for my first experience was finding tradition and authenticity in a down to earth, clean setting. The facility did not need to be high tech and luxurious. Language barriers and unfamiliar customs were no deterrent. After all I have traveled extensively and can handle it. The more Korean women clientele, the better.

I chose a small, no frills, clean, women-only bath house in a Korea Town strip mall setting. The exterior was humble to say the least and tinted windows left the interior a mystery. I sat in the car for 5 minutes wondering if I dared go in.

When I entered, there were articles about the facility by L.A. Times and other prominent publications on the wall so it was clear there was little to worry about.

The Korean-American owner welcomed me in fluent English, gave an introduction to spa etiquette and assured me things would be "mellow". Even without an appointment, she welcomed me in right away. She even said I can wear my robe until I felt comfortable, which immediately relaxed me, although I don't think this is the norm at these spas.

I signed up for a short scrub treatment since they didn't have availability for more without an appointment, and was told that my $20 facility fee was waived with the treatment. Use of the sauna is a prerequisite for the scrub so I was encouraged to use the facilities before the treatment, and afterward if so desired.

She urged me to take my shoes off in the lobby and carry them to the locker area, handing me my locker key, basket with 2 towels and a light cotton robe. She continued with the etiquette lesson saying that I must shower and wash my hair before using the facilities and also shower after using each sauna.

She also told me to place a towel "beneath my butt" before I sat anywhere, which almost made me chuckle to myself. That was a given considering how germ and hygiene-conscious I am! She reminded me that wearing swimsuits or clothing was not allowed.

Next to the locker room there was a lounge area where at least a dozen women in various levels of undress sprawled on the heated floor with mats and blankets engrossed in watching a Korean serial on a plasma TV. They didn't seem like they'd notice if I did cartwheels in the lounge!

The lounge area also contained water, tea, coffee, toiletries and a refrigerated case of cold beverages for sale, one beverage called "Sweat". They had no cafe inside, but posted several local Korean restaurant menus that delivered food there.

The floors throughout the spa were heated jade stone and felt great against my bare feet. Much to my surprise, the whole place had soft lighting. I expected fluorescent lighting for some reason.

As I put my street clothes into the locker and changed into my robe, I decided to lock away my inhibitions too. When I entered the bathing area, the room was mirrored from floor to ceiling on one end and the wall was tiled on one end. There were about 14-15 nude women in the pools, bathing and treatment area.

I opted for one of the four standing showers (safely away from the mirrors), taking baby steps. Nobody even made a sideways glance at me, despite the fact that I was the only non-Korean woman in the room. They were busy scrubbing, in seated bathing, stretching, conditioning their hair, chatting. It began to feel like I was at a gym rather than having a new cultural experience.

It was impressive how these ladies were so at ease with their bodies, instead of focusing on every flaw, like many of us do. And there were all ages, shapes, sizes in the room. I wondered if the custom was to avert one's eyes, like we do in elevators. After my shower a couple of women made eye contact, smiled and a few greeted me, asking me my ethnicity in a friendly way. Most just went about their business.

So it was time to let the games begin! First up was the Jim Jil Bang sauna. This sauna had dry adobe walls with pine tree wood baking in a kiln. Sacks of herbs (probably mugwort) hung on the walls. The floors were so hot I hopped over to an open spot and quickly laid the towel down to get off my feet.

A woman sat next to me with a series of props including sandbags, an oversized sand timer and a couple of other things. She then left and another blond woman came in who was the only other non-Korean woman there. She mentioned she visited on a regular basis and proceeded to do some stretching.

I asked her about several trays of eggs stacked up on a rack over some coals in the room. These were seasoned spa eggs that slowly bake in the sauna for 7 hours. They were sold as snacks, 2 for $1. I love eggs and loved the concept and price but really didn't feel like eating after that intense heat so I passed it up for a future visit.

After 10 minutes in that sauna I already noticed some dead skin sloughing off my leg. I proceeded to the crystal and marble steam room with bowls of salt and thick, steamy air. Steam rooms are my favorite but somehow this one was too dense and warm for me and I didn't make it for more than 5 minutes before coming out to drink copious amounts of water.

The pools were empty at this point so I took another quick shower and then dipped my foot into the jacuzzi tub. The scalding water was too hot, so I decided to skip it. For some reason I've always felt suffocated when submerged in water and don't enjoy pools or jacuzzis much.



With all this new energy, it was time for the most appealing sauna. The largest sauna contained mud, clay and salt in the walls and floor with hot mineral air. It had a rustic, earthy cabin vibe, also with herbs, pine cones and very hot floors which had me hopping yet again to the nearest bamboo mat, which I lay down on and rested my head on the log pillow.

The room was not quiet. As I mentioned, these rituals are social in nature. As I lay there awkwardly in my birthday suit, two women were loudly talking to each other on either side of me. Some women were seated along the wall, loudly chatting, probably waiting for available mats. There were drafts of cold air as the door kept opening and closing by staff and customers.

Once again, my Western mindset associates relaxation with silence, but I opted to close my eyes and reframe my thinking. How hard was it to tune out these ladies speaking a language I couldn't even understand? My towel and mat were drenched by now with my own sweat, which was the intended result. It felt like I was transported to Asia, somewhere back in time.

I was quite zoned out and loving life right about then. After a few minutes I heard in English "number 25 - ready". I looked at my wrist band with the locker key and sure enough, it had a tag with 25 on it. Time for the treatment. This was my second hurdle, after the fear of mandatory nudity, of being aggressively scrubbed to oblivion!

The Akasuri scrub, also known as "red scrub" (ouch!) is an ancient Korean and Japanese purification ritual where ajumas, as these ladies are called, don exfoliating mitts and scrub bathers' backs. This vigorous rubdown restores vitality to the skin by cleaning pores and brushing away dead skin, dirt, bacteria until the skin is clean and smooth to the touch.

The Yelp reviews indicated that the typical uniform for the ajumas are black lace bras and panties. Why not a bathing suit, I'm not sure. For my adventure I hopped onto a vinyl covered baby pink table on my stomach. The ajuma scrubbed me not once, but three times, making sure no nook or cranny was neglected.

The back scrub felt good, with a decent but not painful amount of pressure. She proceeded to arrange my body like a doll, having me flip around and to each side.
The front scrub was more challenging, since many areas of the body are, well... softer. Her English was minimal but effective asking me "turn to side" or "Is the power okay?" from time to time. She got her points across effectively.

One of the Yelp reviews by Mary Kay T. said they cover "...all except the sweat-inducing grazing of Hello Kitty", which sums it up. She scrubbed everything but my face, included areas that are not often scrubbed, such as my palms, neck, underarms. She used stronger materials to scrub the feet.

My skin is the one thing I get complimented on the most and it was hard to imagine there was a lot of bad stuff in it. Wrong! Dead skin was coming off in grey shards that looked like eraser dust. It was piling up on the table and I could even feel if fly into my palms. Not a pleasant sight to behold or feel. Even less pleasant knowing this is what we usually carry on ourselves.

The best part of the scrub was periodically having a bucket of warm, cascading water poured all over me. It almost felt like I was an infant being bathed, it was so comforting and primal. My eyes were closed for most of the scrub because the tables are all alongside each other with no partitions and it's just strange making eye contact with someone going through such intimate grooming.

The roughly $40/45 minute treatment ended with being covered with soap, rinsing under the shower, a facial cleanser, a shampoo with scalp massage and a quick 2-minute back massage. A better bang for the buck for any treatment I cannot fathom. I got up from the table a bit dazed and headed back to the lounge to moisturize my skin, comb my hair, drink more water and get dressed.

Upon leaving the spa area the woman who welcomed me told me I was glowing and looked like a transformed woman. Another poignant comment by Yelper Mary Kay T. was: "they'll kick your butt and you'll like it". So true. I didn't leave feeling pampered but felt healthy and decompressed.

Next stop was to pick up some carb-loaded snacks from the Thai sweet shop Bhan Kanom. The snacks were crispy rice cakes with palm sugar drizzle, bananas stewed in warm coconut milk, Thai Iced Tea with boba, and my favorite, the mouth-watering grilled coconut milk cakes. I took a few bites in the car, then enjoyed the leftovers the next couple of days. I hadn't eaten all day and these sweet snacks gave me the energy boost to drive home.

85°C Bakery Cafe's Sea Salt Coffee

For this post, we are staying with theme of foam atop coffee. Based on the photo below, what time of day do you think it is? Does that change if I add that this is in Irvine in Orange County, California?

85°C Bakery Cafe at 11:45 p.m.

Having lived in Irvine for several years in the past, I was hard pressed to find even a fast food location open past 9:00 p.m. Things have changed. On my way home from visiting friends I stopped by 85°C Bakery Cafe. The hour drive back home was long and one of their uniquely delicious Sea Salt Coffee would surely hit the spot.

Yet at a quarter to midnight there was hardly any parking and the store was packed. The employee who took my order after a long line said they have to practically kick people out upon closing each night!

85°C Bakery Cafe - Sea Salt Coffee Poster

The reason this spot is a must-visit spot for me anytime I'm in Irvine (as far as I'm aware, this is the only branch of this cafe outside Taiwan) is this beverage of slightly sweetened iced coffee topped with a creamy foam whipped with sea salt.

85°C Bakery Cafe - Sea Salt Coffee to go

85°C Bakery Cafe - Sea Salt Coffee foam

Semi-sweet chocolate powder comes sprinkled over the top of foam, adding even more complexity to the balance of sweet, salty, creamy, coffee tastes.

85°C Bakery Cafe - almost empty bakery section

Unfortunately, the bakery was almost sold out at this late hour. But thanks to my friend Robert, who turned me on to this coffee in the first place, I tried some of their buttery baked goods such as lightly garlicky squid ink buns and Okinawan brown sugar cakes.

Urth Caffe's Latte Foam Art

Recently on a late night search for a refreshing beverage, my friend Michael 'yelped' the downtown L.A. Arts District branch of Urth Caffe. They are well known for their organic tea, coffee and food as well as their designer foam art.

Urth Caffee - Spanish Latte with Hello Kitty foam

According to Yelp reviews, they specialized in cute animals and animal heads. I opted for their signature Spanish Latte, extra hot, and proceeded to watch the barista in awe as he hand poured the foam above the coffee and used a toothpick to hand draw this adorable Hello Kitty head.

Urth Caffe - Spanish Latte after first sip

Night + Market - Thai Street Food Specialties

Curtained off entrance across from the door to enter Talesai

Communal tables and artwork on walls

Video projections on wall in dining room

Night + Market's mailing lists

Appetizers of Yum Octopus/Tuna/Blue Crab

First courses consisted of a trie of cold salads bursting with flavors. While they were very spicy, the flavors all played off each other well.

• Yum Octopus contained tender, steamed octopus tossed with crunchy shallots, fresh mint, lime and bird eye chiles. 

• Yum Tuna came in the form of lettuce wraps with a filling of diced raw tuna dressed with lime, fish sauce, rice powder and roasted red chile. The rice powder provided a crispy textural surprise.

• Yum Blue Crab contained raw, salted blue crab sitting on a bed of scorchingly spicy green mango slaw.

The mango slaw offered a nice alternative to the green papaya or green apple slaws that often accompany Thai dishes. My tolerance for heat ranks high, but it's safe to say none of these dishes required any chili sauce. The heat level almost reached Jitlada's heat levels (the only Thai place where I don't add my beloved Prik Nam Pla chili sauce).

Course two - entrees

Course two offered a diverse selection of warm dishes. The one on the right is the Moo Ping Pork Belly Satay. The menu described the stay as 'bathed in condensed milk', which is intimidating. The dish did not feel heavy or sweet. In fact the peanut and cucumber relish served on the side tasted mostly of vinegar rather than sugar.

Thai Charcuterie Plate

The Thai Charcuterie Plate came with chieng rai herb sausage, isaan rice-fermented sour sausage with mortar-pounded 'noom' salsa, bird eye chilies. As the menu explained, a cabbage wedge was offered to tame the heat.

The salsa tasted surprisingly mild compared to the salads. This time they left the hot chili in its entirety on the side of the plate. We wrapped the bite size sausages in cabbage, added a spoon of salsa and popped the rolls into our mouths.

Hor Mok Red Snapper

The Hor Mok Red Snapper came out looking like a Mexican dish of barbecued fish wrapped in leaves. Upon opening the the banana leaf tamale, an intoxicatingly fragrant steam wafted out. The moist fish was crusted with a soft, thick paste made with kaffir lime leaves, coconut cream and red curry ingredients.

Oxtail and Game Hen entrees

One aspect of the menu I loved was that a third savory course was offered in place of dessert. A wise choice for Thai food. We ordered two of the three entrees.

• Kew Wan Braised Oxtail in a housemade green curry paste containing coconut milk, Thai basil and sugar snap peas. The curry sauce was slightly runny, but packed a ton of herbal, savory flavors. The side of roti (pan fried, layered flatbread) was perfect for mopping up the sauce. The stewed oxtail was nicely complemented by the crunchy snap peas.

• Ob Gai Game Hen was a half hen braised in North country aromatics. The meat was fall-off-the-bone tender and sauce also had a runny consistency that also went fabulously with the mound of sticky rice topped with fried shallots.

A couple of days before arriving, I read a tweet from the Chef/Owner Kris Yenbamroon saying that after the DineLA people leave he was going to put on a batch of pork rinds. It sounded random at the time. The one dish we didn't try was the Kao Soi Chieng Rai Noodle Soup, including among many things, the housemade pork rinds.

Night + Market's Ice Cream Sandwich

The DineLA menu offered a couple of supplements. One was a $20 optional wine pairing, which impressed a fellow diner. The other was an option to try the Ice Cream Sandwich dessert. The menu said it's "enjoyed throughout ghettos in Bangkok".

The base was a pan de leche, topped with a layer of sticky rice soaked in evaporated milk. A scoop of housemade sweet coconut ice cream sprinkled with toasted mung beans rounds out this curiously delicious dessert. At first we thought the bread was overkill, but probably used as a vehicle to port around the ice cream. Once the bread started soaking up the ice cream and evaporated milk, it was clear why this dessert was yet another well executed dish.

Lemon bush outside window at Night + Market

By our second round of entrees, Chef Yenbamroong, personally came out to greet us and ask how we were enjoying the meal. He invited us to return and try the frequently changing menu again. Not that anyone had to ask me twice.

Come On In: Mozzarella Many Ways at Obika

It has been a pleasure discovering Obika last summer, shortly after a branch of this Roman Mozzarella Bar opened in the Westfield Century City Mall. I'm not much of a mall person, but my prejudices about mall food crumbled after the first tasting at Obika.

Obika - Cases containing Delicata and Affumicata (Smoked) Mozarrella Balls

Obika's handmade Mozzarella di Bufala Campagna, handmade from water buffalo milk, is directly imported three times per week from selected Italian producers. My first visit was during the aperitivo time, consisting of several tastings along with Italian wine from their menu. The second visit was during the recent DineLA.

The chalkboard menu at this branch of the Roman Mozzarella Bar explains that Obika comes from a Neapolitan phrase roughly meaning "Come on in. Here it is." So please enjoy this sampling of highlights from both visits.

Obika - Mozzarella Di Bufala Rolls

Obika - Fried Breaded Mozzarella Di Bufala

Obika - Detail of Fried Mozzarella and Stracciatella di Burrata

Obika - Stracciatella di Burrata With Cured Meats

Obika - Warm Crostini with N'duja di Calabria (spice pate)

Obika - Burratta e Spinaci The star of this dish, the burratta, was served with butter sauteed spinach topped with parmigiano reggiano, served on a crostini. The greens added a fresh, earthy texture to accompany the creamy cheese. The duos of pasta consisted of Schiaffoni di Gragnano with tomato and basil sauce and mozzarella di bufala Campagna DOP. On the right is trofie pasta with fresh, homemade basil pesto. The dessert trio contained a chocolate and nutty torta caprese, a sweet and salty mousse di ricotta with pine nuts, honey and golden raisins. And finally, a light tiramisu. A sweet ending to a charming meal.

Obika - Duo di Paste and Trio di Dolci

Recent Finds: Waterloo & City - Comforting & Exciting

Waterloo & City - caesar salad

Waterloo & City - caesar salad. Click on photo to enlarge.

Waterloo & City - Prime Beef and Bone Marrow Pie

Waterloo & City - Prime Beef and Bone Marrow Pie