Tag: Friends

  • Zion | RO Offroad

    Zion | RO Offroad

    It hasn’t been long since some of us have fallen in love with off-roading, which really compliments our love of all things car, and exploring the world we live in. So, we decided to plan a Friday to Sunday camping and off-roading trip to Zion National Park in Utah.  With Zion National Park only 2-3 hours away from Las Vegas, Nevada, and 6-7 hours away from Southern California; it was far enough to change the scenery dramatically. The first day was just filled with getting there, and setting up camp so we could off-road till the sunsets.

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    The primary off-roading vehicle; Chivas with his Toyota 4Runner overland build.

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    The secondary off-roading vehicle; Derek with his Jeep Wrangler Sport.

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    There was a light rain fall earlier, but cleared up perfectly in time for first day.

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    It felt like the cartoon movie “Cars” out here. The beautiful iron-filled surroundings gave the awesome rich red color to this area.

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    Just taking a dip.

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    Chivas leading the way on the off-roading trails.

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    It was the most fun I have had in the longest time being in this car and ripping through the creeks and streams.

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    Derek, Angelo, and Nimo were about to do some shenanigans.

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    Ripping through the stream with Angelo as a hood ornament.

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    These cows eventually blocked our path at one point. Until Angelo told them to “mooooooo-ve.”

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    You can just imagine a bunch of dinosaurs running across this area like Jurassic Park.

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    This ain’t a study area no more.

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    YOTA BOYZ.

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    So photogenic out here.

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    Here is a video of Chivas ripping through this area and hitting the rev-limiter:

    That was pretty much day one of exploring and enjoying Zion National Park. Check to see what we did on our second day there.

    Shavi Wijegunaratne
    Instagram: shaviw
    shavi@royal-origin.com

  • Wekfest LB 2016 | Video Highlight

    Wekfest LB 2016 | Video Highlight

    Just another Wekfest at Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA, however, this time around this is the last one at this location. Nonetheless, they put together Southern California’s finest automotive builds together once again. Here is a video highlight from some clips Nimo capture, and I decided to quick edit together. Enjoy.

    Shavi Wijegunaratne
    Instagram: shaviw
    shavi@royal-origin.com

  • Extreme Dimensions Car Show 2016| Event Coverage

    Extreme Dimensions Car Show 2016| Event Coverage

    The annual Extreme Dimensions Car Show was a couple of weeks ago and the turn out was amazing. There were cars from all walks of life and they had some crazy events that were going on during the show, but we’ll get into that in a bit.DSC02725 These two yellow FRS caught my eye from a far. DSC02727

    Bugeye on Work XD9.

    DSC02728 So much gloss in the paint.DSC02731 Glad to be seeing more modified R32s in SoCal.DSC02732 DSC02733 DSC02737 DSC02739 DSC02741

    DSC02742DNA Motoring’s S2000 for show.

    DSC02745 DSC02747A front end collision would suck for this Subaru. DSC02748 Wide body Mustang, so it could hit more people in crowds.DSC02750 That color tho.DSC02751 DSC02753 The Subie presence was strong at this meet.

    DSC02754 DSC02758 Wow, 2nd generation IS with a 3rd gen front bumper molded on.DSC02761 DSC02763 John’s R35 on Advan GT.DSC02767 DSC02769 Evil looking Mustang.DSC02770 DSC02771 DSC02775

    Damn!! Satin black with gold accents on this S2000 looks amazing.

    DSC02777 Low is an understatement.DSC02778From satin black to all the colors of the rainbow. DSC02780 DSC02783 DSC02785 DSC02789 Perfect photo opportunity for this skyline syndicate.DSC02791 DSC02793 DSC02795 DSC02798 DSC02801 They were having a revving contest where the audience choose the winner. The one time revving your car at a meet was cool.DSC02803 DSC02804 The “Fuck Likes” sticker on this clean GS.DSC02805 DSC02809 DSC02810 DSC02813 Another 2nd gen IS with a 3rd gen bumper with excellent fitment.DSC02816 DSC02818 DSC02819 DSC02822 DSC02824 DSC02831  Neck breaker.DSC02836 Old school Mazda rolling out.DSC02840 DSC02844 DSC02850 Bagged and boosted S2000.DSC02852 DSC02853 DSC02856 DSC02862

    Best LS right now in Orange County and it’s owned by Tommy from Infinite Werks.

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    God, I love seeing a immaculate Civic.DSC02873

    DSC02864DSC02868 DSC02870 DSC02876 DSC02878 DSC02881 DSC02884      After a long day at the show, a musubi from Musubi Monster ended the day.DSC02902

    Try it, it’ll change your life.

    -NGUMINH

  • Jimmy’s Civic & Erik’s EP3 | Video

    Jimmy’s Civic & Erik’s EP3 | Video

    It has been a long while since I have actually did video, and doing this video was like learning it again. Here we have Jimmy’s Honda Civic and Erik’s Honda EP3, which have nearly identical visual appearances and performance modifications. Both these cars are static (on coilovers), boosted, and on Volk Racing TE37s.

    Take a look at this highlight of both fine tuned cars:

    Thanks.

    Shavi Wijegunaratne
    Instagram: shaviw
    shavi@royal-origin.com

  • RO in Australia | Mr. Crackles & Harbour

    RO in Australia | Mr. Crackles & Harbour

    Another day in Sydney, Australia, and Alan from AL Captures from Melbourne, Australia was still in town and was nice enough to take me around. We started out our day at a photo shoot and then drove into the city to check out some good food and a few typical tourist spots.

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    DSC01013That is right. That is their Burger King.

    DSC01014Seeing my favorite Pepper Lunch here was a nice surprise, but still wouldn’t eat something I can already get back home.

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    DSC01017Somewhere in downtown Sydney.

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    DSC01020Alan: Thank you for hanging out with me down there. Truly appreciate the hospitality. Let me know when you are over the big pond.

    DSC01021Some weird bird.

    DSC01025Finally to the main location, Mr. Crackles. This spot is known for having crispy skinned succulent meats mixed with their dishes.

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    DSC01024The crispiness.

    DSC01027Slow roasted 5 spiced pork belly with Vietnamese style salad inside a long roll.

    DSC01031Delicious and filling. Not real big on onion rings, but these were really enjoyable for me.

    DSC01028Fully laid out, and slammed on the floor.

    DSC01034Going through Harbour Bridge.

    DSC01036I am sure most of us have seen this on television at the 2000 summer Olympics, the Sydney Opera House.

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    DSC01039The actual Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House all in one view.

    DSC01042Some Southern California love down under.

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    DSC01052The city life in Sydney was really impressive. Definitely, one of the most lively and busy cities.

    DSC01054Ended the day in the city with some Golden Gaytime.

    If I were to go back to Australia, I would definitely love to see more of the country; probably Melbourne area, the coral reefs, or what the real outback is.

  • Cowboys and the 49ers | Football and Stuff

    Cowboys and the 49ers | Football and Stuff

    Some photos of my first NFL game thank you to Vinh and Clinton for taking me!  DSC08322

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  • Washington Part Three | RO Explore

    Washington Part Three | RO Explore

    Another morning, another adventure, this time we were going to explore the nature side of Washington and get in touch with the beauty of mother nature. We wanted to check out the ice caves today and go for a small hike.

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    So many greens.

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    Shooting some HOODRATstuff promotion.

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    The Baeton in the HOODRATstuff beanie V2.
    http://shop.royal-origin.com/product-p/hrs-beanie2.htm

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    OO Long Sleeve in black.
    http://shop.royal-origin.com/tees-s/114.htm

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    Fancy metal bridge.

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    These natural sun flares were so awesome. I couldn’t stop taking photos.

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    AW Films brought out his gear to film our hike.

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    Vinh rocking the Bad Things Seal tee.
    http://shop.royal-origin.com/product-p/bad-sealtee.htm

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    We finally arrived at the ice caves and we were in shock and awe of how huge this cave was.

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    This little kid wanted to go inside the caves so bad, but his mom didn’t let him. Apparently some one died here a week before when the ice came loose and hit him in the head.

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    Clinton holding onto his head.

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    After getting some cool photos (pun intended), I got out of there asap.

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    The walk back was surprisingly fast and with the sun coming down more, it was less harsh for photos.

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    Abbitt is crazy.

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    Met up with Henderson and he took us to Alki to try Marination Makai. They had lots of interesting food like this kimchi fried rice with pork. It was delicious.

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    Spam and kalua sliders.

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    Vinh and Clinton’s large order.

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    Nice ocean view from Alki beach.

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    Missing you comes in waves, tonight I’m drowning.

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    Mellow beach.

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    Clean NSX in front of a nice house near Alki.

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    Yoshi is pretty down to drift anywhere.

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    Fainting Goat, a spot that was recommended by @fortheloveoficecream.

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    Interesting flavors and everything was super creamy. This place made it up for yesterday’s disappointments.

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    Hendercupping.

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    When bae ignores the kiss.

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    Read the shirt and buy it here:
    http://shop.royal-origin.com/product-p/enjysin-tee.htm

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    More sunset views.

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    “I once did gay porn”

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    The next morning, we met up with Vickie and Long to check out Pike Public Market. Lots of energy going on in this market for how early it was.

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    Find us at the gum wall.

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    So much bacteria in one spot.

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    Shout out to Vickie for these tasty macaroons.

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    Macaroon porn.

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    Free stickers courtesy of AWStickers.

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    Finally got to try some Seattle’s best seafood and it did not disappoint! This is the seafood bisque and the captain’s roll.

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    Long enjoying his sea food bisque and Vickie is on a diet.

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    Next spot would be Bleecher’s cheese shop.

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    Vickie ready to give some food to the needy.

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    Delicious mac and cheese, too bad I was full from eating all of that seafood bisque.

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    The first Starbucks and it was too crowded to order anything.

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    A visit to the friendly neighborhood troll.

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    Gelatiamo would be the last dessert shop we visited, also very delicious. Water based too, so I didn’t get the shits afterwards.

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    Thank you to everyone from Super Kawaii for the hospitality especially Justin, Vickie and Long! Also a big thanks to Henderson for driving us to cool food spots and to see amazing sun sets. Yoshi aka Mike for keeping us company and always having a car there to shoot. We’ll see you guys in April!!

  • OMWTFYB | Enjoy Sin

    OMWTFYB | Enjoy Sin

    It was finally here, the weekend of the Enjoy Sin car meet with HNRS. We’ve been counting the days, minutes and seconds to finally spend some good quality time with friends and family. One of my favorite things to take photos of during this event is the caravan to Vegas, it’s just such a thrill to see a bunch of modified cars cruising together on the freeway. This post will be mostly rolling shots of the caravan.

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    Jeff looking mighty dapper this early.

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    Erik and Nimo trying to get dabber themselves.

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    UNDERWATER SQUAD.

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    Ryo’s Q45 rolling static on Koenig Monsters.

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    New member Aron’s M35 on Weds Bazerias.

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    Jaycray’s brand spanking new RC350 with it’s first road trip. Glad that we were apart of it.

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    The biggest surprise on the trip was Adam taking his S13. Glad to see it made the trip without any problems.

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    Kentaro rolling through with the most reliable car here.

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    Marq was hesitant about taking his 7 series to Vegas because of some transmission problems, but he ended up making it there with no problems and he only used half a tank to get from Cali to Vegas. Quite impressive for a big body BMW.

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    Ryan Gold’s bright ass EVO was fun to shoot for rolling shots. Ryan made the trek with us all the way from Santa Barbara.

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    This year we had faster cars in this caravan, but we paced it pretty well so Vu and I could get some good rolling shots of the caravan. Thanks Ashton for not going 0 to 130 real quick.

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    Another speed demon, Phat and his Cayman S.

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    Jeff’s WRX was my camera car and he did a great job catching up to everyone and pacing the car so I could get the best shots.

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    Robros Customs let Vinh drive the STI to the meet. The wrap looked great in the sun.

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    Derek pulled an all nighter to get his car ready for this trip. He spent the whole night wrapping his front end just to look decent for the meet.

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    Kevin’s S2000 was looking great now that it looks pretty much complete with his hardtop.

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    One of the lowest cars in the caravan was boss man, Jimmy’s Civic. He was literally scraping his diffuser all the way to Vegas.

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    Jimmy did a public service and picked up all the trash on the freeway.

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    The second camera car with Vu in the passenger seat.

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    This year Erik and his EP3 joined us in the caravan to Vegas. His car looks freaking ridiculous when it’s rolling

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    Gas station stop.

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    Jimmy couldn’t make it up the drive way, so he parked in the streets.

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    We finally made it to our first destination, the M Resort where they have a good deal for lunch at the Studio B buffet. It’s been a tradition that we hit this buffet first before doing anything else in Vegas.

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    Sparkle’s M3 our Taiwan dealer of Royal Origin and HOODRATstuff also joined us in the caravan. Sucks, we missed his car for a rolling shot.

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    EVO booty.

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    Jesus, we made it.

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    Shavi leading the squad.

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    For the first time, we beat the rush for the buffet. Vinh and John excited to stuff their faces.

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    Looks like heaven.

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    Japan x Taiwan x Vietnam.

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    After the buffet, we went to check in at the house we rented. The driveway was so large that it could have fit all of our cars, too bad some of us couldn’t make it up the driveway.

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    Neel is now a Vegas local and met up with us as soon as we arrived.

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    Safe and sound.

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    The house was pretty awesome, large enough for all of us and it had so many activities like this gaming room.

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    Tina excited for some pool.

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    Ryan sucks at shuffle board.

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    This will be empty by tomorrow.

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    Current events meeting aka deciding where we’re going to go eat.

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    Angelo, the leader of the RO offroad edition.

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    That’s it for today, the next post will be coverage of the meet!

  • Food Truck Meets | Food Adventures

    Food Truck Meets | Food Adventures

    On today’s food adventures, we took out your woman crush Wednesdays, Sara and Hayle to eat some delicious wieners.

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     The ladies getting mesmerized by the wieners.

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     First time Sara wasn’t ready for a photo and Vinh was.

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    Hayle also always alert for a photo op.

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    Dogzilla one of my favorite food trucks of all time. I’ve been eating here since 2010 when they would be stationed in front of Sam Ash on Beach blvd. Crazy how fast time passes, but their food is still amazing.

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    Sara telling us about her patients who get worms in their vagina’s right before our food came out.

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    I got the spicy dogzilla combo with an egg on top.

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    How it looks with no egg.

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    I hope when you google image search Sara Choi this photo pops up.

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     Some more shots of the deliciousness.

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     It’s a wiener party.

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    The next stop would be Porko Rico BBQ. Get it? Puerto Rico – Porko Rico.

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    When bae is about to buy you food.

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    I got the pillager pulled pork. The center was flavorful, but the bun was over bearing and dry. It made it hard to consume after a while and I just ended up eating the center only.

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     Vinh got the captain porko fries which was the better option among our two orders. They really mastered slow smoked pork here at Porko Rico BBQ.

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    Last on the list was Meow Meow Cafe, we’ve been here a couple times in the past and it was amazing, but I heard from Alyssa who lives down the street that this place changed ownership and is not as great anymore. Well, she was right…

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    Anyways, it was cool to put our phones down and just update each other on our lives.

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     Hayle trying to live in the moment.

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    Hayle missing bae.

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     Back on their phones..

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     Then Shavi arrived and everyone won the lotto. Yay!

  • Tra House | Food Adventures

    Tra House | Food Adventures

    Tra House has come a long way since it opened back in 2012. It use to be strictly a boba shop and then out of no where evolved into a full blown restaurant. Tra House is known for making Vietnamese dishes with a little twist to it, so if you’re a Vietnamese food fanatic and you eat here you’re going to be mind blown.

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     Garlic shrimp noodles. Pretty basic, but the shrimp was on point. I just wanted some dry noodles to eat.

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     Chicken vermicelli with egg rolls. Can’t go wrong with this combination.

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     When Vietnamese people think meat with baguette bread, they automatically think of banh mi sandwiches. When ordering this dish we did not expect it to come out like a pizza. Pretty good.

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     Crispy rice with Chinese sausages. We were expecting a bowl of fried rice with sausages. This was a pleasant surprise and also good.

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     Bo Ne. A slap of steak with tater tots and a fried egg. Taste delicious.

    Great place to have dinner and the place has a nice vibe to it. Also the drinks here are really good too. Try the New Yorker.