Keiko Agena likes to create moments of coziness — not simply on Sundays, however at any time when she presumably can.
“Oh, there’s my rice cooker,” she says when she hears the sound in her Arts District dwelling. “We’re making steel-cut oatmeal within the rice cooker, which by the best way, is a recreation changer. I used to must child it and watch it, however now I can simply put it in there and overlook it.”
In Sunday Funday, L.A. folks give us a play-by-play of their best Sunday round city. Discover concepts and inspiration on the place to go, what to eat and get pleasure from life on the weekends.
The 52-year-old actor, who performed music-loving bestie Lane Kim within the beloved collection “Gilmore Women,” delights in particular comforts like a bowl of heat oats, speaking about Enneagram numbers and watching cooking competitions along with her husband, Shin Kawasaki.
“It sounds so easy, however I look ahead a lot to spending time on the sofa,” Agena says with amusing.
It’s time that she’s intentional about defending, particularly amid her kaleidoscope of initiatives. Over the final couple of years, Agena starred in Lloyd Suh’s transferring play “The Chinese language Girl” in Atlanta, acted in Netflix’s “The Residence,” showcased her art work in her first function exhibit, “Hep Tones” (a few of her ink and pencil drawings are nonetheless on the market), and carried out recurrently on that L.A. improv circuit. And her work endures with “Gilmore Women,” which turns 25 this yr. Agena narrated the audiobook for “Meet Me at Luke’s,” a information that pulls life classes from the collection, and is featured within the upcoming “Gilmore Women” documentary “Drink Espresso, Speak Quick.”
She shares with us her excellent Sunday in L.A., which begins earlier than dawn.
5 a.m.: Morning solitude
I wish to be up early-early, like 5 a.m. I like that feeling of the whole lot being quiet. I’ll go into the opposite room and do Duolingo on my telephone. I’m a little bit hooked on social media, so the Duolingo isn’t just to study Japanese, but additionally to maintain me from scrolling. Like, if I’m going to do one thing on my telephone, that is higher for me. I feel my streak is 146. Shin is Japanese, from Oyama. So I’ve been that means to study Japanese for some time. For him and his mother.
Then I’ll do [the writing practice] Morning Pages. I don’t know once I realized about Julia Cameron’s e book [“The Artist’s Way”] — in all probability round 2000. I do know lots of people do it handwritten, however I’m a little bit paranoid about folks, like, discovering it after I die. So if I’ve it on my laptop and it’s password protected, I could be actually sincere.
Then quite a lot of instances, I’ll return to mattress. Shin, as a musician, works at evening, and so he wakes up lots later. So I’ll fall again asleep and get up with him.
9 a.m.: Gimme that bread
I don’t do espresso anymore as a result of it’s a little bit too robust for my system, however I’ll stroll with Shin to Eightfold Espresso within the Arts District. It’s tiny however very chill. Then we’re going to Bliss Bakery contained in the Little Tokyo Market Place. We get these tapioca bread balls. When you make any sort of sandwich that you’d usually make, however use that bread as a substitute, it ups the sport. It’s life-changing. The Little Tokyo Market Place will not be fancy or something, however it has the whole lot that you’d need. There’s Korean meals. They’ve a little bit sushi place in there. You may get premade Korean banchan and scorching meals of their scorching meals part. In addition they have a very good nuts part. It’s only one massive desk with all these nuts, simply piles and piles.
10 a.m.: Nature with out leaving town
We’ll go to Los Angeles State Historic Park close to Chinatown. I like that place simply because it’s very accessible. Like, they’ve accessible bogs and I’m all the time trying out whether or not a spot has good bogs. We name it Flat Park as a result of it’s an incredible stroll. Like, you’re not likely out in nature, however there’s quite a lot of greenery. You’ll be able to take your sneakers off and no less than contact grass for a second.
11:30 a.m.: Lunch and TV cooking reveals
One in all my favourite salad-sandwich combos is at Cafe Dulce in Little Tokyo. A Korean cheesesteak and a kale salad. That’s all the time like a — bang, bang — good combo. So we would go there or Aloha Cafe, although it’s not totally open on Sundays. However I find it irresistible as a result of I grew up in Hawaii. They’ve this nice Chinese language rooster salad and spam musubi and different Hawaiian meals that’s so good.
We’ll convey dwelling meals and watch one thing. Cooking competitors reveals are my cream of the crop. My favourite proper now’s “Event of Champions” as a result of it’s blind tasting. To me, that’s the easiest way to do it. “The Nice British Bake Off” is Shin’s favourite. He loves the character and the accents as a lot because the precise cooking. He simply loves the vibe, the sluggish tempo of the entire thing.
I’m such a TV woman. I really like spending time on the sofa and consuming a meal and watching one thing that’s appetizing with my favourite particular person on this planet. I’m fortunate as a result of I get to do this lots.
2 p.m.: Browse the aisles
I’ll go to this bookstore referred to as Hennessey + Ingalls. I really like artwork and structure and design, however you’ll be able to’t all the time purchase these huge books. However you’ll be able to go into this bookstore and take a look at them and it’s all the time chill.
If I’ve time, I’ll stroll round artwork provide shops. Artist & Craftsman Provide is an effective one. I’ll take a look at pens, pencils, stickers, tape, washi tape, completely different sorts of paper, charcoals. In my artwork, I attempt to discover issues that aren’t meant for that individual goal, like little issues in a ironmongery shop that I’ll use it another way.
5 p.m.: Downtown L.A. in its glory
We actually like to stroll the Sixth Avenue Bridge. It’s architecturally lovely they usually’re constructing an enormous park over there, so we’ll stroll round and test it out, like, ‘Which bushes are they planting? Are you able to see?’ We type of dream about the way it’s coming collectively. However the different lovely factor about that stroll is that should you go at sundown and also you stroll again towards downtown, it’s simply beautiful. Los Angeles doesn’t have essentially the most majestic skyline, however it’s so picturesque in that second.
6:30 p.m.: Cornbread and Enneagrams
I’ll head to the Park’s Most interesting in Echo Park. It’s Filipino barbecue. It’s simply so savory and wealthy and a particular dangle. Their cornbread is actually good. Oh, and the coconut beef, however I’m making an attempt to eat much less beef. They’ve a scorching hyperlink medley. Oh my gosh, simply taking a look at this menu proper now, my mouth is watering. OK, I’ll cease.
One in all my favourite issues to do is ask associates about their Enneagram quantity. So the thought of sitting with associates over a very good meal and asking them a bunch of non-public questions on their childhood and what motivates them and what their dad and mom have been like and what their biggest concern is after which work out what their Enneagram quantity is? That’s top-tier exercise for me.
9 p.m.: Rally for improv
As a result of I stand up so early, if 9 o’clock, I’m prepared to fall asleep. However I’m obsessive about improv, so on my best day, there’d be a present to do. There’s this place referred to as World’s Biggest Improv College in Los Feliz. It’s tiny they usually simply opened a number of years in the past, however the vibe there’s spectacular.
Then there’s one other place the place my coronary heart is so invested in now referred to as Outdoors in Theatre in Highland Park. Tamlyn Tomita and Daniel Blinkoff created it collectively and never solely is the area beautiful — I imply, they constructed it from scratch — they’ve fascinating programming there on a regular basis. They’re so supportive of communities that aren’t seen in mainstream artwork areas. It’s my favourite place. Typically I’ll discover myself of their foyer until 12 o’clock at evening. The sort of folks I like to hold round are the those that hand around in that area.
11 p.m.: Activate the ASMR and shut down
I’m firmly an ASMR woman and I’ve been for years. I’ve to search out one thing to look at that can sluggish my mind down. Then it’s fairly constant. I don’t final very lengthy as soon as I flip one thing on. My eyelids get heavy and it chills me out.
