I'm in Las Vegas for the 5th Annual Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in the USA Awards Show co-hosted by Chef Martin Yan and Theresa Lin.

I'm in Las Vegas at the Rios All Suite Hotel & Casino to cover the 5th Annual Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in the USA Awards Show & Conference, co-hosted by Chef Martin Yan and Theresa Lin. Organized by Chinese Restaurants News, tonight's Top 100 Chinese Restaurants Awards Show aims to present the very best of Chinese cuisine in the nation.

From suburban buffets to high-end restaurants, Chinese cuisine has become a fixture of the American daily dining scene. The Chinese Restaurant industry has over $20 billion annual sales with over 43,000 Chinese restaurants in the U.S. There are more Chinese restaurants in the U.S. than McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's combined.

To qualify for the competition's highest honor -- the Overall Excellence award, restaurants must have been in business a minimum of 2 years and have earned positive industry, media or customer recognition. Qualified restaurants undergo rigorous evaluation by professional Mystery Diners. The Top 100 highest-scoring restaurants will receive the Top Overall Excellence award. Selected from thousands of competitors, these exceptional restaurants demonstrate the highest standards of cleanliness, cuisine, dcor and service.

About the Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in the USA Awards Ceremony

Sometimes its best to just stop and enjoy the roses. In this case, the cherry blossoms were in full force this year from coast to coast as breathtaking as ever.

Click here to beautiful photos by Lia Chang

Enjoy this time-lapse video
created from more than 3,000 digital photos, one taken very three minutes during the 2008 Cherry Blossom festival. Or check out the Brooklyn Botanic Garden CherryWatch website at http://www.bbg.org/cherrywatch

September 21, 2012

Los Angeles

In life, its sometimes having the luck of perfect timing that counts!

Mike Kai was on a flight today to LAX when the captain of his aircraft announces he is diverting his plane to make way for Endeavour's historic arrival.

Mike could see Endeavour on the back of a Boeing 747 right outside his plane window. 

As soon as Mike lands, he runs and jumps into a cab and asks the driver to take him to the South runway to watch Endeavour arrive.

Mike shoots this 32 second video just in time as Endeavour lands!