Winery, Casino, Ramen, Oh My!: One Week in Southern California


We recently returned from a whirlwind week in Southern California, and I'm here to report again on this part of the country that we've become much more familiar with since we began our "gap year."

After we flew into LA last week, we picked up our rental car and then my parents, and immediately whisked them off south of the city, to Temecula, near San Diego.  What's in Temecula that there was this rush to head straight there before all else?

One-cent video slot machines!  What else???

For the life of me, I fail to understand the allure of these video slot machines, but my parents absolutely adore these brightly-colored and obnoxiously-voiced machines that spit out incomprehensible instructions.


In the few times I attempted to spend some minutes keeping my parents company by "playing" next to them, I've been befuddled by exhortations to "Stack the monkeys!" or been greeted with I-Dream-of-Jeannie figures calling me "Master."  Occasionally, I'm struck by the questionable ethnic essentialism of slots that play stereotypically generic "Asian" music and flashing images of "Fortune Cookies" and "Golden Dragons."  One time, I was able to help my mother understand that the Caesar-themed machine was actually shouting "Veni, Vidi, Vici" (Caesar's famously triumphant pronouncement: I came, I saw, I conquered).  Generally though, I'm stumped by these machines.

I try (reasonably hard) to make sure I don't blow through $20 too quickly, and then I leave it to the pros while I go scope out the resort stores, fitness centers, lounges, and surprisingly affordable and generous "Happy Hours."  Large glass of Chardonnay for Will and a Creme Brulee Trio (Raspberry, Chocolate, and Vanilla Bean) for me were $5 each, 3pm-7pm, Monday through Friday!


And, oddly enough, my parents are indeed pros.  I'm sure that casinos do indeed turn a healthy profit on most of their visitors (or why else would they stay in the business), but my parents get enough perks to make their occasional losses (in the $60-80 range, not too much more!) worth their days of entertainment.  Where else can they get treated to multi-night stays at a 4-star resort spa with access to beautiful grounds, pools, drinks service, and the occasional mini-jackpots of 1200 pennies?

If you actually have to pay for these rooms, it apparently costs hundreds of dollars.  We wouldn't know though, since we've never actually paid for these luxuriously-appointed rooms with high-end toiletries.  My senior-citizen parents can get rooms "comped" with their hours spent on one-cent video slots.  Life is good!


Sadly, our annual summer mini holidays at this casino resort might be coming to an end.  Apparently, the management had gotten too many complaints about noisy little kids in the swimming pool, and they very quickly redesigned the pool area.  One large pool and hot-tub turned into six mini pools (above) and spa areas--all for the 21 and over crowd!  With no form of entertainment available now for my nieces and nephews, we will all have to find other "wholesome family entertainment."  We hear there are other casinos nearby which are building water slides to help soothe the sting of this particular loss...

It's too bad though about this casino no longer being available to us since there were nearby attractions that helped entertain people like Will and myself--those completely untrained and inept with one-cent machines.

Will loved taking hikes in the nearby mountains near the casino:


And we all enjoyed taking a break from casino food with a short trip to Temecula wine country for a wine tasting accompanied by a slightly nicer lunch or dinner.  The scenery--for so south in California--was particularly beautiful this late May when we visited (pictured at top of post).

Once back in LA, we can go to a myriad restaurants in Koreatown.  While the Chicago area has its share of authentic Asian restaurants, we have to concede that LA is definitely stronger in the Korean food department.  The Korean restaurants in LA appear to be particularly competitive in the area of cook-food-at-your-tabletop.  Of course, almost the whole world seems to know about Korean BBQs.  But, there are all sorts of other types of food, enjoyed communally, that you complete the cooking process for at the table.

During this last visit, for instance, we were introduced to something called Korean Army Soup.  Will and I were surprised when we saw that one of the enormous soup-stews my brother ordered for the table had two large blocks of dried ramen sticking out of the broth.  My nieces and nephews called it Spam soup, but all I could focus on were the uncooked ramen noodles.  But, indeed, there was Spam, salami, hot dog sausages, cooked rotini, beans, kimchi, Korean rice cake "dduk" pieces, fresh greens, pickled veggies, etc.


The concept apparently came from U.S. Army bases stationed in South Korea, and all the odds and ends of food scraps one would find in canteens there.  Put it all together in a mish-mash, and presto!  Korean Army Soup.  The most recognizable overtones are kimchi, ramen, and hot dog, with undertone textures of beans and rice cakes.  Really, while I was expecting to find it somewhat gross, I found it surprisingly tasty!  I wondered if some sort of nostalgia of young childhood spent in Korea was operating for me, but since Will really liked it too, there must be a more generalized nostalgia for childhood foods being appealed to as well.

When we weren't dealing with the hustle and bustle of downtown LA, we relaxed poolside (too cold to actually be IN the pool) at our Airbnb in Pasadena.


All in all, a terrific weeklong trip to Southern California!




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