Let’s start with the basics. What’s your name, where are you from, and what tour do you lead?

My name is Nicole Woo and I’m originally from Hong Kong. I lead the San Gabriel Valley: New Chinatown Tours.

Hi, Nicole. So, what do you do when you’re not a Six Taste tour guide?

I’m a product developer at a shoe company and I’m also a blogger. I like to go out and experience new things.

Any particular restaurant you favor when going out?

I enjoy eating at a variety of restaurants, I think Alcove Cafe & Bakery in Los Feliz is cute and has delicious food! It’s a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon (when it’s not too crowded). Definitely have to pay homage to my hometown, Hong Kong Cafe! They offer authentic Hong Kong cafe style food like its name suggests and for a low price too! Another one of my favorite cafes is China Bistro!

What about outside LA? Would you ever take an epic journey to get the food you love?

I would drive hours to get the cake from Extraordinary Desserts in San Diego!

On that note, I suspect I know the answer already, but if you could be one of the five flavor profiles, sweet, sour, bitter, salty, or umami, which would you be and why?

Sweet! I’m definitely friendly and sweet to all my friends! plus I love ice cream! Along with various desserts!

Any guilty pleasures?

Hmm, I can’t say I feel that guilty, but I’d say cup cakes or bread pudding!

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve eaten?

Coming from Hong Kong, I’ve probably eaten a lot of weird things to most people, but they’re pretty normal to me. Liver of all sorts of animals, like toads, are just some of the normal food we get. But I’ve also had pig’s blood, duck tongue, and snake soup.

Why do you like being a Six Taste tour guide?

I get to eat some of my favorite foods as my job! Not only that, I think it’s a great way to enlighten others about Chinese cuisine, which is vast and diverse. I take great pride in my cuisine so I’m glad others who are not familiar with it get to experience it, not just the typical items on the menu but what I would order myself! It’s also a great way to meet people while I’m at it.

About a week ago I had brunch with my friend Dan at Dusty’s Bistro in Silverlake. We ate a delicious breakfast that started with some fresh bread paired with butter, candied orange jam and strawberry jam. Our two lady friends enjoyed some strawberry orange juice, while I sipped on some black coffee (I’m trying to grow chest hair).

While enjoying my potato latke eggs benedict (which was delicious), I look over to see this celebrity.

Ed Helms at Dusty's

Being that I’m too embarrased to approach any celebrity, I pretend to look at my phone while I discreetly snap a picture. Be honest, you know you’ve done it.

Please note the awesomeness of his Mayor McCheese shirt.

Go to Dusty’s Bistro on Silverlake. Affordable and delicious French-American cuisine with a side of celebrity.

One of the most fascinating aspects of food is how it creates such a low barrier of entry into learning about a culture. You can learn a lot about a country and its history by looking at its food.

Probably the best example that I’ve seen of this is Filipino food. Filipino food is an eclectic mix of cultural influences from all over. The current flavors that you can find in a lot of Filipino dishes have Chinese, Spanish, and American influences. The Philippines has been colonized by both the Spanish (f0r almost 400 years) as well as the United States after World War II.  Furthermore, the Chinese represent the largest immigrant group in the Philippines. All three cultures play a role in the Philippines’ history, and it can be seen through the Philippine’s cuisine.

Noodles such as pancit or mami originate in Chinese culture. Lumpia is the Filipino eggroll. Spanish influence and flavor profiles can be found in several Spanish dishes, like tocino, or caldereta. Most recently, America has introduced a slew of fast food places to the Philippines.

This eclectic combination of cultures in food create an interesting clash of flavors on one’s tongue, and many don’t like Filipino food because it doesn’t quite suit most people’s palates - the mix of flavors from different flavor profiles all over the world create a unique expereicne and a complexity of depth that you may not find in a lot of other countries.

Japanese food, as well, has several cultural influences that can be seen through its food. Ramen, chopsticks, and several different types of tea were introduced by the Chinese very early on in Japan’s history. None of those would exist today if not for the interactions between the Chinese and the Japanese during the 5th century in Japanese history.

I’m lucky to be living in a city where so many cultures are so accessible within a 15 mile radius (or 2 hours, LA driving time). If you’re also a lucky one to be living in LA, EXPLORE. Learn about dozens of different cultures by just walking around your neighborhood and going to a place you’ve never been to before! We have amazing opportunities at our fingertips (or at our tongues), and it would be a shame for you to just continue to go to the drive through McDonalds after work.

So true.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to talk to you about the most important invention of the 21st century.  No, I’m not talking about the iPhone, 23andMe, or The Human Washing Machine.  No, I’m talking about the single-cup coffee maker.

The most popular of them all, the Keurig model, is the only one I’ve tried, and it works great.  Let’s be honest, it doesn’t make much sense to brew a whole pot of coffee unless you work in an office or have 4 or more coffee drinkers living with you.  But how many times do you wish you just had one cup to start your morning off right?

Keurig comes with these single cup containers that you just pop into the machine.  Just make sure that the water container is full, and its as simple as pressing a button.  30 seconds later you have a piping hot cup of coffee in the morning.  It also comes with several different flavors, from extra bold to light roasts.  They even have hot chocolate cups!

Now for a flavor analysis: It’s really not that much better than coffee brewed the more traditional way.  The appeal of the Keurig is that it’s a single serving.  However, it’s definitely not any worse!  Although it seems a little too watery, the taste still powers through.  A little pricey at $100+ but if your’e looking to splurg and you’re a coffee drinker…go with the best!

Look at this machine...sexier than Caprica Six

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