Thursday, April 12, 2012

Hipsterville

Playing: Locked Doors-Jack's Mannequin
Reading: Indian Home Rule by Mahatma Gandhi
Over the weekend, I went to this new area called the OC Mart Mix, recommended by Orange Coast magazine. It claimed this place was a hipster and indie paradise plus had amazing shopping all of which I found to be untrue.
I went on a Saturday, so luckily there was a Farmer's Market going on to grab food at. I went to a food truck called Barcelona on the Go, which had decent food at a price a tad too high for my liking. The Chorizo Grilled Cheese my mum ordered tasted great, but it was overpriced, considering it only had a thin layer of chorizo and cheese. My dish, the USDA Prime Top Sirloin with Fries with Chimichurri, was actually very tender for food truck steak. The chimichurri sauce is what made it great. It was tangy and fresh, brightening up the whole dish.
The only place I highly recommend at the OC Mart is Nice Cream, which serves up interesting gelato at a reasonable price, if you get more than one scoop. One scoop is $5 and for each additional scoop, it costs a dollar more. My favorite was the Strawberry Basil, which was extremely refreshing and overall a strange, but enjoyable flavor. The White Chocolate Strawberry was standard strawberry vanilla, but it was still tasty and very creamy. The Pistachio was better than most pistachio gelatos I've tried, since it tasted nuttier. I really liked the smoothness of this gelato and the friendly service.
The problem I had with the OC Mart Mix was the over planning of the whole place. It was too planned out and overpriced. I hated how every piece of clothing that was affordable looked like a generic piece of clothing I could find at Forever 21 and how everything that was different was as high as Barney Co-Op's prices. It felt like a suburban town's desperate attempt at creating an artsy shopping center. It just felt very boring, plain, and like everyone there was trying too hard.
I left quickly, but I had to grab a photo of this. I crawled through some bushes to get a photo of the SoCo sign only to figure out I could've used the sidewalk. Why is this sign so important? It says SoCo, which is short for Something Corporate in my mind and Something Corporate is my favorite band after Jack's Mannequin. I am a super fan of Something Corporate and they're from Southern California, so I wonder if they've ever seen the SoCo signs. I hope they have!
To get my fill of fabulous indie-ness, I drove to the LAB, which is fairly close to the OC Mart Mix. The LAB has stores that really do reek of hipster love. It's full of semi-thrift stores, high end street wear, and of delicious places to eat. Right across from the LAB is the Camp, which is also great for hipsters. The best part of the LAB is that it feels natural and cool, even though you know everything was well planned out. The people that shop there all look like hipsters and indie people, making the place feel more artsy and legit.
How can you not love a place that is filled with cool people with cool cars? The LAB specializes in sassy people with witty bumper stickers. If you have learned nothing from this post, I want you to know this: the LAB is amazing at being indie, while the OC Mart Mix lacks spunk and is outrageously priced. I might just be a suburban kid that doesn't understand true indie-ness and mocks hipsters, but still I think I have a decent idea of what's fun and what's not.  Since they are relatively close to each other, it is very easy for you to check out both places in one day. Go for it, I encourage you!

PS I do not have a hipster obsession, even though I now have two posts with hipster in the title. It just seems to be the new wave of nonconformists trying too hard to not conform that I can't help but tease.

9 comments:

  1. aww im sorry you didnt like that new place but hey, you made the best out of it!
    and damn now i need to get some ice cream *__* no... i'll wait until tuesday, ice cream on days off is far more tasty than ice cream on working days. then i only need coffee.

    <3

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  2. i loveee your remarks on hipsters.. it's hard for me not to giggle because my sister is a TOTAL hipster.. and she HATES the fact that according to her i'm "SUCH A COMMERCIAL CONFORMIST" but hello i want to know.. if i am a commercial conformist wouldn't she have to know what is conformist for her to try so hard to be a nonconformist bahahaha!

    yummm the steak looks DELISH.. omgosh the chimmichuri sauce on top looks divine!

    haha i have had ramen in socal many times in fact because i use to live in SF and would travel to LA every 3 months or so.. i do think ramen in socal is quite delicious.. but for me hawaii still has the best ramen in the US although one thing that socal def beats hawaii out in is taiwanese food.. drool BEST taiwanese food ever!!!

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  3. The ice cream looks divine! And I totally get what you're saying about hipsters; my best friend is a hispter (or what she says is one) but I don't really understand that if you're so hipster and not mainstream, why do you spend your time trying so hard to bring being a hipster into the mainstream. It's confusing <3
    http://cupcakesandtreacle.blogspot.co.uk/

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  4. The food looks good! Mmm I love gelato. I haven't had it in ages though. D;

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  5. Yuuuummy photos, especially the one with ice cream! :)
    Thank you so much for visiting my blog, I've followed yours <3

    xoxo

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  6. I still have to search more about hipsters! Great blog, I'm following!

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  7. kakuidori-You are absolutely correct! Ice cream does taste better on days off! ^^

    Lisa-Ooh, next time I go to Hawaii, will you give my tips on where to eat? And if you want, you can tell your sister that hipsters are conforming to nonconformity. :)

    Lidiya-Exactly! Hipsters are too confusing for their own good! XD

    midnight. tea-I suppose it's time for me to invite you to get some gelato with me. ♥

    MuffinCannibal-Your username is so cute! And thanks so much for the follow! ^^

    Mary-Check Urban Dictionary for more info! They're like the new wave of indie people basically. :) And thank you so much for following me!

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  8. haha I love that guns don't kill people sticker!!

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  9. Anita-Aww, thanks! ♥

    Pop Champagne-Me too! For a second, I thought it was going to be another Pro-Guns sticker. XD

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