21 YEARS YOUNG.

Watch out, world, because I'm legal in EVERY COUNTRY.

The week of my 21st birthday was as epic as it could get...either in London or in the states. So here's what we did...

After not wanting to wait forever and a day to get into Mahiki, we went to one of our favorites...O'NEILL'S. O'Neill's is a great place to have a fun time for you and your wallet. We've never paid to get in and the drinks are reasonably priced. They also have awesome live cover bands that play everything from Blink 182 to Kings of Leon. When midnight hit I couldn't believe I was finally 21. Turning 21 seems so surreal because it's the supposed to be the ultimate birthday. After all, it is the last age you truly look forward to...after 21 you're just old.

We spent my actual birthday relaxing. I did some laundry and some errands...blah blah blah. For my birthday dinner with the girls, we went to the Eagle. Even though it is right around the corner from our flats and has incredibly great food, we hardly ever eat there. Their menu is written in chalk above the bar and changes every day. When they run out of specials, they erase the item off the menu and carry on with the night. This is the kind of restaurant where you know everything is fresh and cooked while you wait.

For my birthday we went to Roadhouse in Covent Garden. I celebrated with just about every Trojan who was in London. Every Wednesday, cover starts at 10 and happy hour ends at 10:30. Andd...ROCKARAOKE! Most of the people that perform are talented singers. But none of the Trojans have made an appearance yet...


Joe arrived on Thursday and the celebrations continued in Shoreditch. On Friday, Joe took me on a tour of the BBC Television studios for my second birthday surprise!! I've noticed several differences between American news and British news...but in some cases they are very similar. BBC uses ENPS, a program that essentially controls the entire broadcast from writing scripts to sending messages to others in the newsroom or on the other side of the world. But one thing that is interesting is their use of teleprompters. Although the stories are previously written, the anchors have a little bit more flexibility with ad-libing than anchors in the states. I've also found that there's a lot more Q&A's than American stations, even though it's becoming a more popular trend. Also on the tour we saw television sets and an upscale dressing room. Unfortunately we couldn't complete the tour...because we went to see Dirty Dancing the Musical!! (Thanks Mom and Dad for the birthday present!)

I've heard that Dirty Dancing was a great show and it definitely lived up to it's reputation. It wasn't your typical musical...whereas the characters don't just randomly burst into music. The orchestra basically played the soundtrack to the movie, which the stage production of the story was essentially identical to by dialogue and set. The set wasn't typical either...they used projections with props or tables to illustrate the environment. At first, the projections distracted me but I ended up enjoying them. The thing about theater is the actors should make the environment and not vivid sets. Since the actors accepted it, the audience could easily believe it was real. The only thing I didn't like about the projections was the fact that I couldn't always differentiate between the movie and the play. Other than that, the actors were fantastic and the dancing was amazing. I really had no complaints there.

After the show, we went to a Turkish restaurant called Ozer just off of Regent Street. For 15 pounds a person, we got 12 small dishes...kind of like Turkish tapas with lots of hummus and flavor. I literally couldn't move after dinner it was so amazing. And there's nothing like dessert for your birthday after dinner!! Our night ended at Embassy for my friend Shannon's 21st birthday! And the celebrations continued for the rest of the weekend :)

A special shout out to all of those who made an appearance on my birthday video. And THANK YOU to the best boyfriend who put it together :)

Museums: Tate Modern and Victoria and Albert

Tate Modern

     Like all public museums, the Tate Modern is open to everyone free of charge. I recommend going on a cold and rainy day if you want to get out of the flat but don't want to spend money. The museum houses international modern and contemporary art that ranges from Monet and Picasso to Andy Warhol and some VERY interesting exhibits. There are some different pieces that make you question why this is considered art but there truly is something for everyone. My favorite piece was Water-Lilies by Monet and Picasso's sketches that he drew close to the end of his life. Personally, I'm not a big modern art fan because most of the time I don't understand what social problem the artist is commenting on. And for some of these pieces you truly have to think outside of the box, like the painting below.

Brooke, Lexi and I at an exhibit

     After you finish wandering through all of the exhibits, you've probably worked up an appetite. Head to the seventh floor for lunch or dinner with a spectacular view of St. Paul's Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge (or the Harry Potter Bridge for our group). The food is reasonably priced and exceptionally good if looking out at the view isn't enough. Even if you don't get a table right next to the window, the restaurant itself is a sight to see with its modern decor. And if you're not hungry after looking at the exhibits, you can still enjoy the view at the bar, which has mulled wine during the winter months (my favorite!). 

Victoria and Albert Museum
 Located near Harrods, the Victoria and Albert Museum is known as the world's greatest museum of art and design. Almost each culture is represented in its many exhibits including furniture, fashion, sculptures and carpets. It also has exhibits of past British courts, including Henry VII, Elizabeth I and Victoria I. The highlights for me were the courtiers' clothes!! Clothing just isn't the same as it was before...hand-made, eloquently embroidered with pearls and jewels...Oh and the exhibit of old keys and locks! I couldn't imagine carrying around a ring of keys weighing more than five pounds but I guess it had to be done!! Each key is extremely unique. Some had the family's initials embedded in the design of the key itself along with a fancy handle. Unfortunately, Rebecca and I went with only an hour to spare so we had to rush through the museum. But in all honesty that was all we really needed to at least see all the exhibits and read the sections that were most interesting to us, like the one below.

And if you're feeling a bit peckish and want to go for a stroll, head to Harrods for a pastry. Expensive, yes, but soooo delicious!!! Or if you're not feeling the hustle bustle store, take a stroll in Hyde Park. It's not too far and absolutely gorgeous. 
 

LONDON: Tower of London and Camden Markets

The Tower of London

Even though I have already been there...twice...I loved it so much that I had to go again. We got off the tube at London Bridge where you can also find the London Dungeons and Borough Market. This exit allows you to walk across the Tower Bridge and snap some amazing pictures. I felt like this little walk along the Thames gave me a nice introduction to the Tower of London...not like when you get off at Tower Hill and you are immediately at the tower. The price for admission also includes a guided tour with one of the Beefeaters, the guards at the tower. The first two times I went I had the same tour guide and he was just entertaining both times. Our guide today was just as good and told story after story...and that was only a small portion of the history at the Tower of London. It's absolutely incredible that just one building has more history than all of the states combined. And of course we couldn't leave without seeing the crown jewels! All of those diamonds make the Hope diamond look like a joke. We ended our tour with a lunch next to the Thames. Couldn't have been a better day.
 *Just so you know: you can get a two for one ticket deal if you take the National Rail and print out a voucher from Days Out Guide. Might be well worth it, but there are also great student deals. 

Camden Markets

This has to be one of my favorite places so far. Camden is where the artsy/hipster/alternative atmosphere of Venice Beach meet London...minus a few degrees. I was completely surprised since I expected it to be more like Borough Markets with samples of cheeses and olive oil. I was a little off with my assumptions. There's something for everyone. Antiques, trendy clothes (similar to the fashion district), drug paraphernalia, rave clothes, hand-made leather purses...EVERYTHING. And the food stands are absolutely incredible! Shannon and I chose Indian food, but the choice was hard...there were so many and they all smelled so good!! The best choice of the adventure by far was the chocolate covered waffle. And not only was some of the best food, but it was the cheapest food. You'll probably spend less than $10 on food, depending on how hungry you are of course. Camden Markets showed me a completely different side of London that I didn't even know existed.

"You sound like you're from London!"

Greetings from London!

It has been two weeks since arriving in England and I've already started getting accustomed to the English way of life. But there are some differences that have been a little overwhelming...the main difference was their lax attitude about classes. I'm studying abroad with Annenberg at City University in Clerkenwell. When we picked our classes, we were assuming it would be as structured and straight forward as USC registration. Well that wasn't the case at all. First of all, our registration was all on paper and not online. Then when we asked which classes we were supposed to show up to, they said just choose whichever. Unlike USC registration where you sign up for one discussion section and that is the one you are required to go to. All 18 of us were in a complete panic because this system was so chill.

Some new vocabulary:
Rain boots - Wellies (Wellingtons)
Trash can - bin
Dinner - tea

Tube is actually pronounced "Chube" rather than "Toobe"

So far we haven't seen too much. We're just trying to get settled into our apartment and make it more comfortable. But a few sights we've gone to are Harrods, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and Trafalgar Square.

Restaurant Review: Little Ethiopia Restaurant

Little Ethiopia Restaurant

Owning a restaurant is hard work. But Tensay Assress has double the work on his plate. He is the head chef and owner of  Little Ethiopia Restaurant. His restaurant isn't just a business but a way for him to share his culture with Americans. 

"Most of them, this is their first time doing this," Assress said. "Also this is the first time people are eating with their fingers. So all of the different experiences. You see people enjoying it, you see people trying to share a different culture. That's what actually helps you keep going in this business."

Ethiopian food focuses on enhancing the spices and bringing out their flavors. Assress relates it to Indian and Mexican food since they use many kinds of curry and focus on sauces. 

"For some Americans, it might be considered a little spicy," Assress warned. "It's probably one of the most expensive foods to prepare compared to Italian food and all other food because so many spices goes into it."

Tensay Assress in his kitchen.

But there is another detail that separates Ethiopian food from Indian and Mexican cuisine - injera, a spongy type of bread that looks like a crepe or tortilla, is used in place of the usual fork and knife. In all Ethiopian dishes, pork won't be found but rather lamb, beef or chicken. However, many customers find the numerous vegetarian options helpful.

His dishes are as authentic as the food his grandparents and parents grew up eating. Assress was born and raised in the capital, Abbis Ababa. He moved to the United States for high school and college. Although his family hired servants to do the cooking, his mother and grandmother taught him and his four sisters how to cook. Ever since, cooking has been one of his favorite past times and when a family friend asked him to take over the business, he couldn't refuse. 

View Little Ethiopia Restaurant in a larger map

Since he took over the restaurant, it has become a gathering place for his family events, where they cook Doro Wot, two chicken legs and a hard boiled egg stewed in a red marinated pepper sauce. Doro Wot is traditionally made for special guests, which makes it an important tradition for his family to continue.  

"This is a place where everybody comes to meet, especially on a Sunday maybe after church and stuff," Assress said.

The Assress family isn't the only ones who come to the restaurant frequently. Friends Charlotte Shmazonian and Damali Brown have made it their weekly tradition to have lunch every Sunday.

"I feel like when you go to a small family restaurant its like them," Shmazonian said. "They're cooking the food the way that they learned how to cook it. It's authentic. It's not a commercialized thing. It's not put on. It is what it is."

Customers enjoying the vegetarian appetizer.

Shmazonian said that Brown introduced her to the restaurant and has been coming back ever since. Both said they enjoy the good service and consistently good food. 

Another customer, Schantelle Cason, also enjoys the environment of the restaurant so much that she comes at least once a month. Cason used to work for an Ethiopian restaurant in New Jersey during her grad school years and eating Ethiopian food makes her reminiscent of her past. Her personal favorites are the vegetarian platters. 

"It's like eating Southern food, you know. Or anyone else's home cooking, you know," Cason said. "Like it varies from mother to mother but it's all the same."

Apart from the traditional food, customers will be emerged in traditional Ethiopian music and pictures of Ethiopia decorating the walls.  While exposing Americans to Ethiopian culture, Assress tries to make a difference back at his home in Ethiopia through fundraising for building schools, creating water wells and planting trees. He even helps the United States by fundraising for cancer and AIDS patients.

 "We're out here to better ourselves and to hopefully do something good for this country or the country back home," Assress said. "So any kind of studies that help benefit the whole world, I want to be a part of. So that's just a way of giving back."

Restaurant Review: Singapore's Banana Leaf

"Number 53, you're order is ready," Michael Gazal says every evening he comes to work at Singapore's Banana Leaf. "Rendang chicken and curry puffs." 

These are just two of the Singaporean dishes that this stand in the Farmer's Market on 3rd and Fairfax has to offer. While Chinese cuisine and spices have influenced most new Singapore dishes, Gazal said that their Singapore food is one of a kind. 

"There was a discussion whether we do the standard food, which is the Singapore-Chinese style, or our own food," Gazal said. "We ended up doing our own. More similar to the Indonesian food, which caters better to the crowd locally."

Mee Goreng Chicken

The food served at Singapore's Banana Leaf is from Little India, the area where his parents and grandparents were raised. They are Singaporean Indian Jews so they don't serve pork. According to Gazal, the original style of Singaporean food is an Indian, Malaysian cooking with a rich flavor rather than the sweeter flavor of the Chinese influenced dishes. Even though Chinese cuisine constantly changes and fuses with other kinds of food, the recipes at this Farmer's Market stand go back many generations. 

"We would never run to our friend's house," Gazal remembered. "Mom was cooking, grandmother was cooking. Go eat first and then go out. Every cousin is the same way. We love our food! It's very unusual."

His father, Ike Gazal, said they chose their favorite meals they made at home to serve to customers. However, they chose traditional dishes that would translate best to customers like fried noodles, fried rice, satay sticks and curry. Over the nine and a half years they have been in business, their menu hasn't changed much. 

"It was all Michael," Ike said. "It was all his idea."

About nine years ago, Gazal had just returned from Singapore and sold his business when this space became available. 

View Singapore's Banana Leaf in a larger map

"It just looked right," Gazal said. "It looked like the kind of place where you would open up a Singaporean restaurant in, which is called a hocker center in Singapore. Small shops, this was the perfect spot."

Ike said Michael initially wanted to only sell rohi paratha, grilled Indian bread with curry dipping sauce. But since they were starting the business, they decided to have a full menu. Now that he just got back from Asia, Gazal plans to add a few Chinese-inspired dishes to the menu in the upcoming months. 

"It's fun to provide a service where people are very happy with your product," Gazal said. "You know, usually when you provide a product you don't see their reaction. With food, you see it right away. Sometimes negative but for the most part, it's been a very positive experience because people come back."

And customers continue coming back like Judy Zhou, a student at USC. Her friend told her about the stand and she has been coming back since. She said that the consistent good curry and good service makes this stand one of her favorites at the Farmer's Market.

"Well the food is really good for one," Zhou said. "And it's not like super expensive. Every time I've gone I've had a really good experience." 

Roderick Herbst tried Singapore's Banana Leaf for the first time. Since he has recently become a vegetarian, the menu offered him a lot of options. 

"A little bit spicy, that's why I'm glistening right now," Herbst said. "It's a good taste, good flavors in it."

"How often do you go to a family business any more? Especially in a big city," Gazal said. "The parents are there, everyone knows your name, you know their name. It's not a very common thing."

Last Package of the Semester with ATVN

Reporting this semester for ATVN has been quite the experience. I had my ultimate highs (my last package) as well as lows (the one before that). But overall this has been a great learning experience that has shaped a lot of what I want to do in my career.

Reporting is a hard job. A VERY HARD JOB. But at the end of the day, when a good package is done at the end of the day, there isn't another rewarding feeling. I learned a lot. The main thing I learned was how to ask questions, which originally started during my internship with George Pennacchio. I also learned that doing multiple stand ups is probably a good idea, especially when I don't know where the story is going. But at the end of the day, as long as it airs, I did my job. It may not have been fantastic, but I did my job.

It was great working with all of the executive producers and I wish them the best of luck with next semester and onwards!