Happy Autumnal Equinox!  I can't believe that Fall is here.  We took advantage of the beautiful weather we're still having by spending a Saturday afternoon at Polliwog Park in Manhattan Beach.  I lived about a mile away from this park for years and never visited because it isn't a very dog-friendly park.  However, after a company picnic there, I discovered that it's a huge park with an outdoor stage for Summer concerts and a lake full of ducks and seagulls!  Though the park is not very dog friendly, it's completely kid-friendly with multiple play areas and nice paved paths for strollers and bikes.

We packed some lunch and took Baby out for a day of fun at the park.  We met up with our good friend AP and her baby boy DP, who is just two months older than Baby.  Unfortunately, we had to leave Toby at home since dogs are not allowed by the lake.  

I brought our SLR and took some pictures of our day at the park.  If you are ever in town, I recommend spending some time strolling Polliwog Park.  Enjoy the pictures!

Last month, we took a little shopping trip to Santa Monica Place to check out the brand new mall.  I used to go to that mall all the time when I was a grad student at UCLA.  It was just a standard indoor mall with multiple levels and an attached parking garage.  The real reason I went there was for Third Street Promenade which is directly outside of the mall.  But in the past few years, they decided to do some renovation to the mall.  The renovation has been going on for quite some time now and they recently (about a month ago) completed the construction and we decided to bring Baby and check it out.  

Much to my surprise they didn't renovate the place, they practically demolished it and turned the entire mall into an outdoor mall!  The whole place feels very much like the Kodak Theater Mall in Hollywood, I wondered if they used the same architects!  All of the stores are completely unfamiliar to me.  The mall is three levels with the top deck dressed up as a posh dining area with an ocean view.  

They have these dining booths pictured here as Mr. BAW and Baby are strolling by, for shopping patrons.  Of course if you score one of these few booths, you tend not to leave for several hours!  These booths all have an ocean view.  There's also a very modern outdoor fireplace and plenty of casual seating.  

Besides shops, there are also quite a few restaurants in the mall.  But we decided to try out the food court just to see if there's anything exciting.  The indoor food court is extremely spacious.  Since it's brand new, it's also very clean.  But much to our disappointment, the food places are overpriced and not very good.  There's a Japanese/Chinese place and a Mexican place.  Both are not very good.  

Overall, the mall is worth seeing if you've never been.  It's very posh and "LA."  But we won't be going there for any shopping nor dining again.  I still love Third Street Promenade and will swing by the mall if we go to Third Street.  

A picture of the indoor food court.  The place is pretty big, it continues to wrap around to the right. Can you find Mr. BAW and Baby? :-)  If you do visit the mall, I recommend walking out to Third Street and grabbing food at the various restaurants on Third Street, much better food!

Bigger isn't always better!  Take a look at these giant clams I found at the local Marukai Market.  They are literally the size of my hand.  Being a shellfish lover, I was super excited to find these for a very reasonable price.  I decided to steam them in some garlic.

Just as I had suspected, they were not as flavorful as their smaller counterparts.  The meat was tougher and less clammy.  

In Japan, we tried these giant edamame at a grill restaurant.  These edamame were gigantic, each pea the size of my hand!  I can't find any pictures on the internet and I regret to say that I forgot to take a picture of them at the restaurant.  But much to our disappointment, the giant edamame were not as good as the normal-size ones.  So folks, giant versions of foods aren't always better.  Except for crab and lobsters... :-)