Catch Pokemon on Google Maps on April Fools' Day!

One of my favorite things about April Fools' Day is seeing what fun pranks Google comes up with. Guess what, Adventurers! You can now catch Pokemon on Google Maps! No joke!

Google - Pokemon Challenge

There's 150 different Pokemon (both new and original) distributed around the world. After you update Google Maps on your Android or iPhone, click "Search" and then you can embark on your quest to be a Pokemon Master! How cool!

Pikachu was caught!

Now if only we could pokebattle too!

UPDATE: I finally caught all 150 Pokemon!

Complete Pokedex with 150/150

After you collect all 150, you unlock Mew! It appears that Mew is found in different locations for different people, but for me, he was at 0.23899, -50.411 (NE Brazil). It took me forever to find him!

A wild Mew appears! (Finally!)

Mew was caught!

Once you catch Mew, your Pokedex updates to show it is complete.

Pokedex complete with Mew!

Now that was a long quest... Did any of you complete it? Where was Mew for you?

The Lego Movie Experience @ Legoland California

CAUTION: This post is picture heavy! :)

Adventurers, who saw The Lego Movie and LOVED it!? Did you know that you could see the actual movie sets at Legoland California? It's all in "The Lego Movie Experience" and yes, EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!

The Lego Movie Experience

I was lucky enough to go to Legoland over spring break with my family and one of the first things we went to see was "The Lego Movie Experience."

Welcome to Finn's Basement!

The sets were so elaborate and truly amazing.

Request Your Favorite Fictional Food!

Hey, Adventurers! No new post today because it's the weekend before Finals week (*dun dun DUN*) but I wanted to let you know that I opened up a Requests page for you to request your favorite fictional food! You can also suggest recipes to try and other foods to make. I'm open to everything and would love some inspiration!

The link is located under "Requests" in the top toolbar. Leave a comment with the name of the food, where it's from, a brief description, and any links to images/screenshots. I'll try my best to fulfill your requests (time and money permitting).

Now back to studying for me...

Restaurant Adventure: ShopHouse

If you guys haven't heard, ShopHouse is Chipotle's Southeast Asian sister restaurant where you order custom rice and salad bowls. They draw their inspiration from Indonesian, Singaporean, Malaysian, and Vietnamese cuisine. The setup is just like Chipotle where you choose your base (rice, noodles, or salad), protein, vegetable, sauce, garnish, and topping as you move down the line. There's only a handful of restaurants currently located in California, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., but fortunately for me, there's one located in Westwood, CA near UCLA so I got to check it out!

ShopHouse - Westwood, CA

ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen
1059 Broxton Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90024

ShopHouse - Meatball Bowl

If you're curious, you can check out the full menu on ShopHouse's website. On my first visit, I ordered the following for my bowl:

• ½ cold rice noodle/ ½ brown rice: I thought the brown rice was a little hard. I slightly preferred the noodles.  
• Pork & Chicken Meatballs: These seemed a little on the fatty side. They were mainly salty and you couldn’t really taste the herbs that were in them. 
• Green Beans: I was originally going to choose the broccoli, but it looked yellowed like it had been sitting in the window too long so I chose the green beans tossed with caramelized shallots instead. The green beans were too “blistered” for me. There were several fully burnt pieces! I really didn’t like how they didn’t remove the stems and fibrous ends on all the green beans. 
• Tamarind Vinaigrette: The sourness somehow brought out a bitter taste. Maybe the burnt taste of the green beans?  
• Green Papaya Slaw: The flavor of this kind of got lost with the vinaigrette. It was more for textural contrast in my opinion. 
• Herb Salad: The guy threw a little bit of cilantro and Thai basil on each bowl, even if you didn't pick it for your garnish. I like Thai basil so I thought it added a nice burst of flavor to the meatballs. 
• Crushed Peanuts: Self explanatory. :)

Overall, this wasn't my favorite combination. The flavors just didn't mix well and I couldn't get over the fibrous green beans.

ShopHouse - Chicken Bowl

But I didn't want to completely rule out ShopHouse because they had so many other choices so on my second visit, I opted to try a different combination of food.

• ½ cold rice noodle/ ½ jasmine rice: I liked this combo a lot better than the brown rice. The jasmine rice was soft but still firm and went really well with red curry sauce. 
• Grilled Chicken Satay: The meat was really tender and cooked perfectly. It reminded me of the chicken from Chipotle but with different spices. I definitely liked this way more than the meatballs. 
• Charred Corn: Again, the broccoli didn't look appetizing because it was yellowed so I went with the corn. It added slight pops of fragrant sweetness and was even perfume-y at times. 
• Spicy Red Curry: I'm a fan of Thai red curry so I enjoyed this. It was spicy but creamy from the coconut milk. I wish they had given me a bigger scoop. 
• Pickles: I opted to try this instead of the Green Papaya Slaw. This was made with carrots and cucumbers and tasted like the Vietnamese carrot and daikon (white radish) pickles you'd get in Vietnamese sandwiches. These are kind of sweet and not your typical sour pickles. 
• Herb Salad: See above. 
• Toasted Rice AND Crushed Peanuts: This time, the guy let me add multiple toppings.They both added crunch, but the Toasted Rice offered something completely new to me. It was like eating tiny hard bits and I can't say I enjoyed this texture. I'll probably skip the Toasted Rice in the future.

Overall, I liked this combination a lot more than the first one. The flavors just worked better together and, aside from the Toasted Rice, didn't have any major problems.

ShopHouse - Wall of Sriracha

I also wanted to mention that if you're a fan of Sriracha, ShopHouse has you covered. There's a whole wall of it free for the taking! No shame in dousing your bowl in sriracha if you so desire. There's plenty for everyone!

On the whole, ShopHouse offered a unique fast food experience with flavors not typically seen in fast food places. I can't see myself craving it like I would with Chipotle, but I wouldn't mind going back if a friend wanted to try it. I just know so many better Vietnamese, Malaysian, and other Southeast Asian places that ShopHouse would get lost in the mix.

Anime Food Re-creation: Bakuman's Takoyaki

Hey Adventurers! It's been awhile since I've done an Anime Food Re-creation so I have a simple one for you - takoyaki from Bakuman!  

Bakuman - Takoyaki

Baking Adventure: Chocolate Truffle Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake

Prepare yourselves, Adventurers! Today, I present my ALL-TIME FAVORITE CHEESECAKE! Over Valentine's Day, I created a Chocolate Truffle Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake. Yup, that's right! Chocolate, strawberries, AND cheesecake! Talk about the ultimate Valentine's Day dessert for your loved ones!

Chocolate Truffle Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake

This cheesecake had chopped up chocolate truffles and a strawberry swirl heart pattern that was just perfect for the occasion!

Strawberry Swirl Heart Pattern on Cheesecake (Before Baking)

The pattern didn't hold up as well after baking, but it still tasted delicious! Just like chocolate-covered strawberries with cheesecake! Seriously... BEST. CHEESECAKE. EVER!

Strawberry Swirl Heart Pattern (After Baking)

I made the Strawberry Sauce a night before baking the cheesecake so I wouldn't have to worry about cooling the sauce. This cheesecake was also made with less sugar because my family doesn't like desserts that are overly sweet and I knew the chocolate truffles would add a lot for sweetness. Feel free to add more sugar if you want though! The tartness from the strawberry sauce balanced with the sweet chocolate and rich cheesecake was just perfection. Everyone in my family loved it!

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE STRAWBERRY SWIRL CHEESECAKE

Adapted from Kraft’s PHILADELPHIA 3-Step Cheesecake 

Ingredients

2 pkg (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

¼ cup sugar

½ tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 ready-to-use graham cracker crumb crust (6 oz.)

~8 chocolate truffles, cut into 8ths

Strawberry Sauce (See Recipe Below)

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Blend cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and eggs in a blender until smooth.
3. Pour about 1/3 of the cheesecake batter into the crust and spread to evenly coat the bottom crust.
4. Distribute chopped chocolate truffles evenly on batter.
5. Cover the truffles with the remaining cheesecake batter.
6. Level out the cheesecake batter and tap the cheesecake on the counter a few times to release any bubbles. (Use a toothpick to pop any stubborn bubbles.)
7. Place small dots of strawberry sauce (about 1 cm in diameter) in circles around your cheesecake.
8. Use a toothpick or knife to run through each dot to make a heart pattern.
9. Place cheesecake into a larger roasting pan and fill the roasting pan with water until it reaches about halfway up the cheesecake.
10. Carefully place roasting pan with the cheesecake into the oven and bake for 35 minutes, or until the center is almost set.
11. Cool and refrigerate for 3 hours.
12. Serve with additional strawberry sauce.

STRAWBERRY SAUCE

Adapted from Brunch Time Baker’s Mini Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake

Ingredients

2 cups sliced strawberries

1½ Tablespoons lemon juice (or juice from ~1/3 of a lemon)

4 Tablespoons sugar (adjust depending on strawberries’ sweetness)

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

Directions

1.  Blend the strawberries and sugar in a blender until smooth.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice and cornstarch.
3. Add lemon juice mixture to the strawberry mixture and blend until combined.
4. Strain the mixture into a medium saucepan to remove the seeds.
5. Simmer over medium heat until the mixture starts to boil. Stir frequently and cook a few more minutes or until it thickens. 
6. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate if not using immediately.