The best Thai massage & spa in Irvine: CHABA

I believe this is the best one and the cheapest one for that high quality message and spa in/around Irvine. You have to pay only $50 + $10 tip for 1 hour of message. They key point I like it: they really DO MASSAGE for ONE HOUR, not like the other spas: make you sleep then they relax! All the staffs are very friendly and helpful in suggesting you which service you should choose.

To reserve room for 2, you should call and book a head of time.

Sakura flower tea

This is the best non-cafein tea I've ever had: sakura flower tea. You can get it from Japanese super market, about $8 for a small bag like this:

Because there is a lot of salt used to preserve the flowers, I use a tea strainer to remove the salt first, then use water to clean it. I let water from tap run through the flowers for several seconds.

After lightly shaking the drainer, you can see how much salt was removed!

Then I use hot water (90 C degree) to  brew it. Watching the flowers blooming inside a transparent cup is every relaxing!

Tokyo Central's sashimi selection

This is the first time we visited Tokyo Central supermarket at 2975 Harbor BlvdCosta Mesa, CA 92626. It was remodeled from Marukai Market. The seafood selections remain amazing! The new market has its own food court, including a lot of sashimi boxes.

Pizza at Love Letter

This is the best place for fried chicken and pizza in OC. 

http://www.yelp.com/biz/love-letter-pizza-and-chicken-irvine

It locates inside H-mart supermarket at diamond jamboree plaza. The specially menu they have here is sweet potato pizza. I don't think this is a traditional pizza style, but their creativity works. It's pricey. A medium one is around $15.

Fried chicken is awesome. A half chicken costs $8.99.

They will cook right after you order and it takes around 20 minute. So if you want to eat their, call them first, then departure, otherwise you have to wait like forever, especially when you are hungry.

Dinner at J Zhou Oriental Cuisine

Well, J Zhou Oriental Cuisine is now so famous for their dim sum. Let's try dinner today. I am too tired to cook, so this may be a good reason lol.

There are several dishes in the daily special menu they don't serve anymore, such as the last one. I didn't ask for reason. The photo of fried shrimp dish (12) in this menu is misleading. Actually it looks like in my photo (a little bit disappointed). However, the quality of shrimp is amazing! I'd rather to eat here instead of buy shrimp and cook at home (at this size, it should cost the same price in supermarket, e.g. whole food).

Here is the soup from crab meat and fish with bean leaves. It costs $17.8, pricey ha~~~ It can be enough for 3 people (2 bowls each). If you have only 2 people, don't order soup, it's HUGE!

Another $8.99 dish: roasted duck. All we can say about this one: AMAZING. If you buy a pack of duck legs from whole food, around $8.5, you still have to cook, and not sure the outcome is the same or not. I will come back for this one definitely!

The most impressive dish today is stir-fried sea cucumber with green onion. The seafood is fresh, not frozen, and imported from Mexico. I am afraid of frozen sea cucumber from China which you can find in 99ranch (That one is smelly and black orzzz) but I can't find the fresh one at market, so this restaurant is the best place to enjoin this seafood.

At the end of your meal, they will serve dessert: sweet soup of red bean and red date (Hong kong style).

Authentic Taiwanese cuisine at Chef Chen restaurant

The restaurant locates at a big plaza. 5408-B Walnut AveIrvine, CA 92604. We come here very often for Taiwanese food. It is verified: the taste of food here is almost the same as in Taiwan! Here are what we tried.

 Ma po tofu

Meat ball with sea cucumber

Pork intestine with pickle (no pig blood)

Fried fish with hot and sour sauce

Meat pie

Seafood soup (with tapioca)

 Seafood and chicken over rice

Another kind of seafood soup but in clay pot

pork rib with boiled vege

Stir-fried rice noodle