As I mentioned in my Tasty Noodle House/Torrance Farmer's Market post, we had decided to spend the night in Hacienda Heights on the way home from Vegas. We didn't plan much at all, we had lived in the area for a good chunk of time, long enough for it to be considered to be perhaps my "third home". We just wanted to see what the neighborhood was like over a decade later. Sure, we've stopped by quite a number of times over the years, but we've never spent a good amount of time in the area since we left.
We both felt sluggish and tired, Vegas has a way of just sucking the energy right our of us. So the Missus thought it would be a nice idea to just do take-out and eat in our room. We'd take a drive and maybe even a walk after dinner.
I successfullylobbied for some of my favorite take-out in the area; from Shufeng Garden. So we drove on over, placed our order and since this was one of those "just eat as much as you want" moments, we walked less than a block over and went to Easy Earthen, Earthen Restaurant's smaller, more "fast-casual/take-out" shop. There was a funny moment at Easy Earthen....the Missus just naturally spoke mandarin to anyone in a Chinese restaurant in Rowland/Hacienda Heights. She walked up to the counter and spoke to the young lady behind the counter, who replied, "oh, sorry, I don't speak Chinese". The Missus was so thrown off She just said "oh" and walked away from the counter! We had noticed some subtle changes in the neighborhood, like more folks actually walking, but this, a Chinese who spoke no Mandarin or Cantonese, this was something totally different for us. I gave the young lady the knowing "third generation" look and proceeded to order. It was nice seeing old haunts; Nijiya was still there, though some, like the Albertson's on the corner of Colima and Azusa were gone.
We made our way back to the room and dug in. Of course, the Missus doesn't eat chicken, so I had the entire half "Shandong Chicken" to myself. This was good, but even with an entire container of sauce, it just didn't have the assertive tones that I recalled. It tasted watered down. The chicken was good though, fairly tender.
The stuff from Shufeng was as good as always and we finished everything.........
Easy Earthen
18303 Colima Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
Shufeng Garden
18459 Colima Road
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
Feeling fat and happy after dinner, we took a short walk to the 99 Ranch Market on Azusa where I always used to see the most interesting "Engrish" signs, the best one being a very interesting rendition of "six pack coke", you can imagine how they spelled "coke", right? Of course they didn't let me down. I'm sure this was just for old time's sake:
I think someone should buy them a vowel. Though if you said it "Bunnuts andsedsandberries" it sounds kinda neat.
The area is constantly changing, old businesses leaving, new ones coming along, like the new 85 C Bakery. Here's one that caught our eye.
Maybe next time......
May I inquire on why the Missus no like the other white meat?
My sister in law sat on her pet chick and vowel to never eat chicken again.
Posted by: nhbilly | Thursday, 04 April 2013 at 07:32 AM
Heehee, funny sign. I'm surprised about the employee who didn't speak Chinese either. So used to everyone in that area being required to speak and read to be able to work there. Usually when we go, they just immediately start speaking in Chinese, even to DH.
Posted by: Kirbie | Thursday, 04 April 2013 at 09:40 AM
Hi Billy - It's because of some TV commercial she saw a couple of years ago.
I love the signs Kirbie, you can always find one in that 99 Ranch Market. It's funny that they speak Mandarin to DH....
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 04 April 2013 at 09:55 AM
That sign was hilarious! I *seriously* wonder who makes these signs. I was working on some 99 ranch findings today as well :)
Posted by: Faye | Thursday, 04 April 2013 at 04:23 PM
funny engrish :)
Posted by: kat | Friday, 05 April 2013 at 12:32 AM
Hi Faye - I'm not sure who makes these signs....though I really don't want them to stop!
It is Kat!
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 05 April 2013 at 06:12 AM
Off topic I heard that Lucky Star Restaurant in Rolando is closed?
Can anyone confirm this and give any details?
Posted by: Buddha | Friday, 05 April 2013 at 06:10 PM
Hey Buddha - That's affirmative:
http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2013/03/saturday-stuffs-goodbye-lucky-ctarhello-jasmine-2-taegukgi-korean-bbq-because-we-just-need-another-a.html
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 05 April 2013 at 06:12 PM