American English List of Buffets

American English List of Buffets

The Buffet list

Acapulco Mexican	4444 W Sunset Blvd		(323) 665-5751
Americana Buffet & Grill	3650 W Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd,		323) 291-8965
Cafe Sierra	555 Universal Hollywood Dr		(818) 824-4237
Choeng Wun Korean BBQ	(323) 465-7590
Diamond Buffet	110 S Brand Blvd CA 90057 Glendale		(818) 662-9011
Dream Korean BBQ Koreatown	100 S Western Blvd, 90004		(213) 388-7668 (213) 989-1888
Gate of India Buffet	7300 W Sunset Blvd		(323) 873-2690
Govinda’s Natural Food	Palms, 3764 Watseka Ave Los Angeles, CA 90034		(310) 836-1269
Grand Café	Downtown 251 S Olive St		(213) 356-4155
Hokkaido Seafood Buffet	Rancho Park 10850 W Pico Blvd		(310) 475-8181
King Buffet	1375 N Western Ave		(323) 468-9398
Luv2Eat Thai Bistro	6660 W Sunset Blvd		(323) 498-5835
M Grill	3832 Wilshire Blvd		(213) 389-2770
Mister Bossam	Koreatown, Wilshire Center 338 S Western Ave	(213) 262-7841
New Panda Buffet	Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw 5120 Rodeo Rd	(323) 291-5555
Paramount Commissary	5555 Melrose ave.	(323) 956-8398
Secret Garden	Westlake 1925 W Olympic Blvd	(213) 386-1100
Sizzler	1323 Highland Ave	(323) 467-2353
Shakey’s	7001 Santa Monica Blvd.	(323) 463-1104
Souplantation	100 N La Cienega Blvd 8491 W 3rd St	(310) 289-9610 (323) 655-0381
Tsujita	Koreatown, 338 S Western Ave	(213) 262-7841
Vegas Seafood Buffet	7021 Hollywood Blvd	(323) 462-4300
Whole Foods Market West Hollywood	7871 Santa Monica Blvd West 90046	(323)848-4200

Santa Barbara, the best of California

Santa Barbara

Southern California is blessed with beaches up and down the coast so you have many options for a quick getaway. One of my favorite day trips is to Santa Barbara(bahr-bruh). It’s only ninety(nahyn-tee) miles and takes about an hour and half from Los Angeles without traffic. So it’s close enough to be able to take the kids on a road trip or a great place to plan a wedding(wed-ing).

There are many different ways to get to Santa Barbara; train, bus or car. With popular(pop-yuh-ler) beaches, you should arrive early to get a good spot on those hot summer days.

Santa Barbara has everything from beautiful cafes on the coast to wine tasting and olive farms to enjoy. There are more than 15 wine tasting rooms including Au Bon Climat, Margerum, and Kunin to sample within walking distance. For those warm nights, you’ll probably want to enjoy a meal on a patio breathing in the fresh ocean(oh-shuhn) air.

After dinner you can take a long stroll(strohl) on State Street, a frequent spot for University of California at Santa Barbara college students.  State Street is one of those great blocks that you will never forget with small fun shops in artistic overtones to fancy restaurants and loads of great shopping. And don’t forget to sample the many different varieties of local olives that Santa Barbara is famous for.

For the athletic(ath-let-ik) in mind there are always bikes or kayaks(kahy-aks) to rent. The beautiful beaches are filled with green grasses and lots of space to spread out. There are bike paths along the coast. For the brave since Santa Barbara is surrounded by Islands, there is kayaking, these islands can be visited by boat or kayak and offer a fresh and exciting time.

For those that love flowers and gardens you should not miss the Santa Barbara Botanical(buh-tan-i-kuhl) Gardens. With more than 5 miles of trails and 78 acres of wildlife to see it is a sanctuary that should not be missed. Where else can you go from Redwood Forests to Yucca plants?

Santa Barbara is also filled with many great farms(fahrm) who join together at the weekly farmer’s market to show off their latest wares. You can find everything from fresh olives to fresh cheeses to organic(awr-gan-ik) produce—great for those snacks later on.

For those that rather wheel around you can easily rent bicycles for the day. You can ride up and down the Pier(peer), then up to State Street and back down to ride up the coast on a beautiful path. You can stop for lunch at The Shoreline park, a long beach of land overlooking the ocean or ride all the way to the Mission(mish-uhn) rose garden with plenty to explore.

If sailing is your passion, don’t forget to visit the Santa Barbara sailing center, there you will find a helpful staff that can direct you to a variety of guided tours and maps explaining the rugged coast. 

Santa Barbara is full of galleries and plenty of folk(fohk) art. There are pottery stores and lots of artists. And if you want to visit a great museum there is also the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and the historic Courthouse to visit.

Finally, for dinner, there are so many great restaurants to choose from, but I just gave up and went to one of my favorite places, the Santa Barbara Shellfish(shel-fish) Co. on the pier. It may look touristy and its upscale, but the food and service is excellent and the giant fish tanks are fun to look at.

So for your next day off, pack some sun lotion and, take a drive to Santa Barbara, it’s just a few hours away and it will seem like another world(world), for all the family to enjoy.

Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua(josh-oo-uh) Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park is one of the most beautiful and magical parks you will probably ever visit. The park is home to the Joshua tree, and a throwback to the Pleistocene(plahy-stuh-seen) age. With more than 100 square miles of park, Joshua tree offers a unique look into a desert(dez-ert) landscape that is very exotic and quite alive.

The large boulders(bohl-der) which give the park that amazing look are fun to climb and lends one imagination to all sorts of exotic ideas. Joshua Tree has more than 100 miles of trails and is good for a day trip or an overnight journey. The low fees make the park economical as well as fun for kids.

The park is good for short and long hikes, though in the summer it can get very hot. You can run up and play around the bizarre(bih-zahr) rock formations. Kids love the park, since you are allowed to touch, climb and run around. Remember no writing on the rocks or trying to move them. Rock climbers are allowed to climb and scale the many tall formations(fawr-mey-shuhn).

Pinto(pin-toh) Culture

As the Pleistocene Epoch drew to a close ten thousand years ago, and the rivers of glacial ice melted, people lived in a very different location. The Pinto culture dominated the area and Lakes and swamps existed where no water remains now. Thick rich grasslands covered the plains, supporting mammoths, mastodons, horses, camels, and, in some areas, bison.

The large boulder formations which give Joshua tree that alien like landscape formed more than 100 million years. The magma which was cooling turned into monzogranite outcrops. Flash floods and further water erosion rounded out the edges of these enormous boulders.

Joshua Tree National Park comprises more than 1200 square miles (very large) the elevation varies from 536 feet at the lowest point (southeastern boundary) to over 5,000 feet at the summit of Quail mountain. Last year Joshua tree had more than 2,000,000 visitors for the first time ever.

7-day pass

The park entrance fee is only $20 and this covers a 7-day period. So you can enter and leave and return over the next six days. There is no separate single fee. Since the park is so large, this six-day pass comes in handy especially if you have kids. It’s fun to spend a morning or late afternoon in the park and then take a break and come back. Eighty percent of the fees go right back to the park. The fee for motorcycles, bicycles or walk on is also $10.

There are many inexpensive hotels to stay at, and you can even camp overnight in the park. For overnight camping, you should come early and claim a spot. There are numbered camping sites that you need to pay either $15 or $20. There are a few places that you can camp at but they sell out early so keep that in mind. There are a few spots with portable water but for the most part you will need to bring water to the park (2 gallons per day per person). Water is available at a few places around the park (Black Rock campground, Cottonwood campground, Oasis visitor center, Indian Cove Ranger Station and the West entrance)

Free Days

To help celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the National Park Service Centennial There are also free entrance days. These days are: January 18 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day), April 16-24 (National Park Week), August 25-28 (National Park Service's 100th birthday weekend), September 24 (National Public Lands Day) November 11 (Veterans Day)

Chocolate, the miracle drug

Eating chocolate(chaw-kuh-lit) for health Benefits

Here’s a riddle(rid-l) what food item has been around since 2000 B.C., cures diseases and once was only to be eaten by royalty served warm?

That answer is of course, cocoa-pronounced (koh-koh).

Cocoa comes from the cocoa tree and it is one of the best antioxidants on the planet. Some ingredients found in cocoa are iron(ahy-ern), magnesium, selenium, zinc, copper and potassium. The cocoa in dark chocolate has also been shown to reduce Ldl or low density lipoproteins (bad cholesterol) and to increase the HDL or good cholesterols in the body.

Nature(ney-cher) has been kind to have a food item that not only tastes great, but also has so many benefits; From lowering blood pressure, and fighting heart disease to improving blood flow, and to keeping skin healthy to preventing strokes(strohks).

Origins of chocolate

The origins of chocolate go back to the pre-Olmec period in Mexico’s history, when Cocoa was first started being harvested and eaten by the local population. The word Cocoa literally means God’s food, a good indicator of just how important they felt chocolate was to their survival.

A recent study done in Sweden(sweed-n) found that less than 2 ounces of chocolate (45 grams) per week lowered risk of stroke by twenty percent over the control group that consumed only 9 grams. It’s this ability to lower blood pressure(relax) and improve blood flow, that has people claiming that consuming chocolate has also improved their vision--by increasing the blood flow to the retina.

For pregnant(preg-nuhnt) women, studies have shown that consuming chocolate gets the babies to move around more, perhaps they are trying to get closer to the source?

The benefits of chocolate are due to the high concentration of vitamin C and antioxidant flavonoids. These flavonoids(fley-vuh-noid) help prevent the brain and the nervous system from dulling with age, while also reducing the free radicals in our body. Researchers also find that high amounts of serotonin in chocolate helps to increase brain activity and stimulates focus. Cocoa also has blood thinning and anti-clotting properties which work in a similar fashion to aspirin, lowering blood pressure and preventing stroke.

Benefits of Flavonoids

The flavonoids are also very good at keeping the heart(hahrt) healthy against aging and doubles with the addition of stearic acid which helps to reduce the risk of heart attack. The presence of caffeine makes chocolate a powerful stimulant and antidepressant. Chocolate also has tryptophan in it, a known amino(uh-mee-noh) acid which has relaxing effects.

In a recent study in Stockholm, they studied more than 37,000 men between the ages of 45 and 79 for 10 years and found that those who ate about two ounces of chocolate per week had a 17 % lower risk of having a stroke.

For the sun worshippers, you’ll be happy to know that chocolates’ flavonoids also protect the skin against the harmful effect of UV(ultraviolet) rays.

Get rid of that cough

Have a cough you can’t get rid of? Cocoa also contains theobromine(thee-uh-broh-meen), an ingredient that reduces activity to the Vagus nerve, the part of the brain known to trigger persistent coughs.

Here are a few chocolate negatives, as if chocolate had any. Chocolate is addicting and contains added sugar and dairy. Pimples? Chocolate’s mixture of high fats and dairy might not agree with everyone’s skin. Kidney stones? Really hard to believe, but if you are already susceptible, then the oxalates found in chocolate, have been known to cause kidney(kid-nee) stones. Nervousness? Eating a whole box of chocolates or an entire chocolate bar might just make you a little dehydrated, anxious, or even irritable(ir-i-tuh-buhl).

Of course chocolate lovers know that there are three main kinds of chocolate; dark, milk and white. Dark chocolate has little or no milk with cocoa percentages from between 70 and 99 percent, Milk chocolate contains more milk and less cocoa, and white chocolate contains no chocolate liquor-- which is why it’s white or ivory(ahy-vuh-ree) color.

The good news is that chocolate is found almost everywhere on the planet. So grab a bar and get healthy, but sorry, just one piece, since chocolate does contain sugar, dairy and fat.

Studying American English