the ultra rare bokoi meshi ekiben, only 40 produced a day, available only at an incredibly remote train station on a rocky cape on the south coast of Hokkaido.
#ekiben #bokoi #japan #travel #trains
New piece (and logo) on Lunch Box! Wrote about how there’s no serious engagement with poverty in Silicon Valley’s performative concern about the permanent AI underclass. Check your inboxes or the link in my bio. Also I’m growing tomatoes for the first time this summer. 🌱
Wrote about drive thru dystopia and Baker’s Burgers, the IE chain that helped McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Wienershnitzel and Del Taco get their start. Link in bio!
Join @lareportingcollective at @asucalifornia on Thursday April 30 for a deep dive into newsletters! RSVP for free at the link in bio
We’ll have free food, a workshop, time to mingle and an incredible panel featuring @taylorlorenz (User Mag) @therwees (No Bad Days) @frankbear (Lunch Box) and @bencamach0 (Inadvertent). Come hear about how they’ve built readership, experimented with the form and charted their own path.
WHAT: The Newsletter Playbook - How Journalists Are Charting a New Career Path
WHEN: Thursday April 30 @ 6:30pm
WHERE: ASU California Center, DTLA
Questions? DM us or email [email protected]
(with support from beehiiv)
Lunch with David 🥡🥢 Lu’s Garden is close to 40 years old, a a deli counter with a huge variety of healthy dishes, a lot of them vegetarian, served with mild sweet potato congee
New on Lunch Box! A double feature about about one of my enduring fascinations, the Coast Starlight. The route set new ridership records in 2024 and 2025, and I talk to passengers about why. I also dig into the fragile, failing economics of the dining car and talk about why so much of our food culture is swallowed by Aramark services and Sysco products. Link in bio!
Powerful film forcing us to confront a taboo subject in the AAPI Community.
Incredible performance from the Bay Area’s own @lawrenceshou (feature debut) in the film @rosemeadfilm starring Lucy Liu - based on an article by LA Times Frank Shyong @frankbear
Thank you 🙏 @aajasf for bringing the film to San Francisco @presidiotheatre
And thank you to Lawerence, Frank and @namichinese for the panel discussion…
#mentalhealth
#rosemead
#rosemeadfilm
New piece on Lunch Box at the link in bio! I ride transit and eat at the places drivers and passengers recommend. Today it’s Metrolink SB Line and Omnitrans bus #19, #66, Mitla Cafe (the original food that inspired Taco Bell) and P & G Burger.
Los Angeles is known as the fragmented metropolis, 52 sprawling suburbs in search of a city, a patchwork culture without a central neighborhood. But Koreatown has always been the place where these disparate identities overlap.
It’s not just the densest neighborhood west of Manhattan and a spiritual home for the Korean American diaspora, but the city’s cultural center, an engine for trends and an island of affordability in central Los Angeles where new immigrants and transplants alike find their first jobs and apartments.
It’s the midpoint between Eastside and Westside friend groups and families; the birthplace of the Korean taco as well as a Thai restaurant franchise beloved by Mexican, Central and South Americans; a Oaxacan cultural enclave and an always-open nightlife district ideal for large groups, the place in Los Angeles where the word “everyone” comes the closest to meaning just that.
Read more on how Koreatown accidentally became the heart of LA, by guest contributor @frankbear at the link in bio. And tell us in the comments, what’s your “only in Koreatown” experience?
Photo credits:
Brian Feinzimer / For The LA Local
Courtesy Koreatown Youth and Community Center
Brian Feinzimer / For The LA Local
Brian Feinzimer / For The LA Local
Louise Stern, Herald Examiner Collection / Los Angeles Public Library
Gary Coronado / For The LA Local
Kristen Muller / The LA Local
Brian Feinzimer / For The LA Local
Courtesy Koreatown Youth and Community Center Brian Feinzimer / For The LA Local Gary Coronado / For The LA Local Kristen Muller / The LA Local Brian Feinzimer / For The LA Local Chris Gulker, Herald Examiner Collection / Los Angeles Public Library Brian Feinzimer / For The LA Local Courtesy Koreatown Youth and Community Center Dean Musgrove, Herald Examiner Collection / Los Angeles Public Library Brian Feinzimer / For The LA Local Gary Coronado / For The LA Local Michael Haering, Herald Examiner Collection / Los Angeles Public Library Steve Saldivar / The LA Local Courtesy Koreatown Youth and Community Center Brian Feinzimer / For The LA Local Steve Saldivar / The LA Local Gary Coronado / For The LA Local Roy Hankey, Los Angeles Photo
I’m not a train guy. I don’t care how the front of the car looks like a face. And no I do not have a favorite one, because I’m not a child. And who cares about the meanings behind the names and histories and linear geography? Nerds mostly. Anyway, unrelated, some really awesome trains. If you want to check out the full guide containing everything I know about booking them (surprisingly challenging!), I’ve just updated it. , also at the link in my bio
I wrote about my stay at Hokkaido’s Station Inn Hirafu (@ekinoyado_hirafu ) the only Japan rail stop with a hostel inside, how Japan lost its apex predator and why humans must be the wolves now, and the eerie beauty of a managed landscape cleansed of fear. Thanks to @koheishiraki_koley for telling me interesting stories. Link in bio!
