Monthly Archives: March 2009

After my week long trip out West, suddenly nothing seems blog-worthy at home. Vacations are nice, but when I come back, I get this mix of relief at returning to my daily rhythm and disappointment that this is it. I lead a thrilling existence of work and school. Blah!

Eh, what am I talking about? This weekend, I did see a pretty good movie, Twilight. In fact, I enjoyed it enough that I could have watched the whole thing without an intermission. It’s a vampire romance movie, similar to the book Sunshine in that a mortal falls in love with a vampire, but the plot is different and much simpler.

After nearly 10 years, my car reached the big 100k.

March 12th:
Dinner at Cancun Taqueria: Nopales (cactus) with Prawns Burrito. Carnitas Crispy Tacos. Fish Crispy Taco. Cancun Nachos.

I really liked the burrito. The prawns were so fresh and the cactus plant so different. I also liked their crispy tacos because they make their shells fresh.

This is their salsa bar. I tried more than half of these, very fresh.

March 13th:
Lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf. Clam chowder in sourdough bread.
I love the crust but you can’t fill the bread bowl with enough chowder so we got an extra pint on the side to dip the bread.

Dinner at Chez Panisse.


This is one of the many courses we had: spot shrimp and mussels. The marinade was so light, it was drinkable. All their dishes are uncomplicated. They rely on the freshness of the ingredients and you taste the food. Nothing is so drenched in sauces that it overwhelms another ingredient. Their bread basket was really good too. Too good. I kept having just one last piece.
And I just couldn’t resist coffee with the apple pie.

March 14th:
Brunch at the Farmers’ Market.
This is a vegetable roll from the Thai food stand. It’s filled with jicama, lettuce, bean sprouts, mango, carrots, and shiitake mushrooms. The peanut dipping sauce was finger lickin’ good. Plus I had to lick my fingers because I didn’t have a fork. I also ate roasted tomatoes with some of the leftover bread from Chez Panisse, and half a crepe. Too bad those roasted tomatoes were refrigerated instead of canned. They were so good I wanted to bring some home.

Dinner at Kirala. I tried the amaebi for the first time. That’s raw shrimp in English. It had a sort of creamy texture. It wasn’t the flavor that was offputting as much as the texture. Aside from that, everything else was awesome.

March 15th:
Lunch at some Thai restaurant. Nothing spectacular, I just wanted Thai food because there are about 4 or 5 within walking distance.

Dinner at Ad Hoc.
Goodness, after having Chez Panisse, I thought it was for sure going to be the best meal of the trip. Then came Ad Hoc and now I can’t decide. They were both equally delicious. Ad Hoc is probably a bit more casual dining, though not by much. The biggest perceptible difference was that they served the food family-style at Ad Hoc.

March 16th:
Breakfast of the pork and rice leftovers from Ad Hoc. Even cold, the food was still so flavorful. The food at Ad Hoc was very memorable.

Dinner at the Bellagio Buffet. Maybe it was because I was wined and dined so much in CA that it spoiled my palate for buffet food, but I didn’t think the food here was good. The chefs standing behind the meat cutting it as people came still didn’t make it better. I would say it was maybe a step above typical buffet food you can get anywhere.

March 17:
Lunch at Sushi Roku. I’m still partial to Kirala.

Dinner at the deli in the Tropicana.
I got a reuben sandwich. For some reason, I crave these deli sandwiches every so often, I guess because it reminds me of college. Cereal too.

March 18th:
Lunch at Midway airport’s Gold Coast. This hot dog is very good! I wish they had this chain around here.

I just got home tonight from my week long trip to SF and Vegas.  Tired.  Am waiting for the photos to copy to the computer.    Can only write in fragments.  Forgot how to use the computer.  Love it.

Thursday:

• Spent the ENTIRE day at various airports
• Lost the luggage with the clothes and necessities.  The one that they didn’t lose was filled with coffee beans and peppercorns.  What am I supposed to do with peppercorns!?
• Had dinner at Cancun Taqueria.
• Shopped at Walgreens & Longs
• Went to sister & B.I.L’s house to get necessities and drop off the peppercorns.

Friday:

• Went to downtown San Francisco.
• Rode on the trolley to Fisherman’s Wharf to get the clam chowder in sourdough bread.
• Shopped at the tourist traps along Pier 39
• Checked out the sea lions
• Wandered to some market
• Ate dinner at Chez Panisse (FINALLY!!)  It was wonderful.

Saturday:

• Walked to the Farmers’ Market.
• Had roasted tomatoes and bread, Thai vegetable rolls, and crepes.
• Got a haircut
• Toured the Berkeley campus and went up the Campanile (huge clock tower)
• Ate dinner at Kirala.
• Shopped at Berkeley Bowl!

Sunday:

• Went to a local Thai place for lunch.
• Drove up to Napa, tasted lots of wines, and got nice and happy.  Brought home six bottles of wine.
• Ate dinner at Ad Hoc in Yountville.  One of the best dinners I’ve had.  Different from Chez Panisse because it’s more casual, but I would say equally impressive.

Monday:

• Flew to Vegas, thus ending the good part of the vacation.
• Checked into Trump Tower.  It’s a beautiful hotel, I loved the bathroom.  There’s even a TV in the mirror.
• Explored the Bellagio Conservatory and the blown glass ceiling and then ate at the buffet.
• Watched the water fountain show.
• Walked to the Flamingo to see the bird habitat.
• Went to the older part of Vegas to see the Fremont Street Experience.
• Got taken for a ride by the taxi driver on the way back to the hotel.

Tuesday:

• Bought tickets to see Folies Bergere.
• Ate lunch at Sushi Roku
• Took a cab to Tropicana to get seats to Folies.
• Spent the next FIVE hours wandering around and rueing my decision to go to Vegas.
• Checked out the MGM Grand.  Saw two barely alive lions.
• Wandered through Excalibur, M&M World, New York New York
• Took a nap at Tropicana, then had dinner at their deli
• Watched Folies Bergere – kinda’ gaudy but the comedy act was pretty good
• Soaked in the hotel tub

Wednesday:

• Flew home by way of Chicago Midway
• Tried a Chicago-style chardog, yum
• Unpacked
• Did the Know Nothing No Downside Not Too Much Upside Pool
• Went through over 1300 photos.

The first night I was here, I stuffed myself with Mexican at Cancun Taqueria.  The second night, Chez Panisse.  Both meals were wonderful.  First impression of Chez Panisse: definitely exceeded my expectations.  We also went down to Fisherman’s Wharf and had the sourdough bread bowls with clam chowder and gelato too.  This place is just ridiculously delicious.  Tomorrow, farmers’ market.  Ok must keep this short.  We’re going to play cards now.

I will be dining at Cancun Taqueria.  For this trip, I’m determined to pack light! Here’s what I have for 7 days:

• 1 pair of jeans
• 1 pair of pants
• 1 dress
• pajamas
• 6 tops
• 1 pair of sandals

Not too bad right?

First the bad. PF Chang’s food is bad. Our first choice was Coastal Flats but the wait was an hour and a half. Next, Rio Grande, again a huge crowd. So we deferred to PF Chang’s which had maybe a 10 minute wait – a foreshadowing that the food was going to be bad. As it were, I’d never eaten there so why not, right? Anyway, after studying the menu, I decided not to judge it as Asian food. So I’m not saying it’s bad Asian food. I’m saying it’s just bad food. Salty. Drowned in sauce. Heavy.

Second, the good (great!). I wanted to see Coraline 3D so much based on this recommendation. This was my first 3D movie and I really liked the effects. Some parts were more noticeably sticking out than others though. I’d never read the book and had no clue about the story line. So I went in to what I thought would be a happy animated film. In other words no villains. Then things started to unfold with the buttons, and it just got creepier and creepier and then that part with the chase at the end. Holy crap I didn’t expect any of it. But I loved the way they portrayed Coraline’s character, very curious and unafraid with a bit of an attitude. Worth catching on the big screen even if not in 3D.

Yesterday, we got close to 6 inches of snow. I stayed home, curled up under a blanket and watched A Bug’s Life and then The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Plus, school was canceled. =)

Today, for dinner, I ate a piece of cow. It was delicious. See? Here it is. Looking very delicious. I should have probably taken the photo of the cooked slab of meat but I forgot and dug in too quickly. I also drank some Merlot with the cow. That made it doubly delicious. I had some roasted sweet onions too. Then I had another glass of Merlot. M-e-r-l-o-t. Ha!! Just kidding about the spelling. I did have two glasses though. And I’m feeling wooooozzeeey! W-o-o-z-t!

I fed the guppies today. They were voracious. Actually, they’re always hungry. As soon as they see the lights come on, they all hover to the right top corner of the fish tank. So well trained. Then afterward, I took a hose and sucked some of the fish poop off the bottom of the tank into a bucket. I watered all the plants with this murky water. Then I dumped the rest out. The plants love the fish tank water and my fish love clean water. Win-win!

The end! yay!