The Ice Cream Ball

Cool...you can make ice cream with this ball outdoor, but you will have to shake it or roll it for 20 minutes.

Product Link

Dave & Buster's - Milpitas, Bay Area

本來係去Cupertino嗰間辛巴樂
不過佢哋星期二冇開

跟住細路insist我一定要去試吓 Dave & Buster 嘅 steak
所以我哋去返 Milpitas Great Mall嗰度
我同細路share咗個 Soup of the Day 同埋 Chargrilled Sirloin Steak
佢哋D麵包 + Margarine 唔好食
不過個湯好正呀!
(sorry, I just couldn't remember the name of the soup, but it is not the Chicken Tortilla Soup for sure and my brother is sure they have that soup very often)

我好鍾意個Chargrilled Sirloin Steak伴碟D炸洋蔥, 好脆
不過D Mashed Potato 就差D
好彩個 steak 真係唔錯
塊steak上面D herb 好香同埋煎得啱啱好

食完嘢玩咗一陣House of the Dead 4同射籃機
Good Exercise!

Address: 940 Great Mall Drive, Milpitas, CA
Tel#: (408) 957-9215
Website: www.daveandbusters.com
Hours:
Sun - Wed 11:30AM - 12AM
Thur 11:30AM - 1AM
Fri - Sat 11:30AM - 2AM

An Oil Change Story

I hope none of you will take your cars to JiffyLube....

綠茶Cream Puff To Go

綠茶Cream Puff - 外層好鬆化, 啲filling好creamy同埋綠茶味好濃, 食食吓個Cream Puff吸咗幾啖filling嚟飲, 結果"濁"親 x_x

食完個綠茶Cream Puff同荔枝雪糕已經飽飽
我留番個朱古力Cream Puff第二日食
點知個Cream Puff綁實喺膠袋度係會淋:(

暫時都係覺得 vanilla bean 最好味!

同場加影:
團友A整嘅荔枝雪糕小籠包


Previous experience with this restaurant
Chocolate Cream Puff

Tsar Nicoulai Caviar Cafe - San Francisco, Bay Area

My knowledge of caviar was only limited to what I had read in Wikipedia and that super salty lumpfish caviar (made by Abba Seafood) from IKEA. And now comes the time I get to taste 9 different types of caviars.

We ordered American Caviar Sampler, Brut Champagne & Caviar Flight, and 10-gram of Select California Estate Osetra (the premium caviar). The caviars are served on buckwheat blini with creme fraiche.

American Caviar Sampler:

(starting from top and going clockwise)
Gold Pearl Trout - a bit smaller than salmon roe, quite chewy
American Golden Whitefish - quite salty
Wasabi Whitefish and Ginger Whitefish - taste just like wasabi and ginger, how about use them as sushi topping?
Truffled Whitefish
Beet & Saffron Whitefish - this caviar must be the saltiest we had on that day
Paddlefish Sturgeon

Brut Champagne & Caviar Flight:

(left to right)
Hackleback Sturgeon
Paddlefish Sturgeon
American Golden Whitefish

The two sturgeon caviars are truly better than the whitefish caviar.



Select California Estate Osetra Select - we like this one the best. This variety has less salt than the other caviars.

I also grabbed a copy of their nice looking catalog and learned something new from it. Only the salted roe of sturgeon should be called "caviar" and the other salted roe can be called caviar when the name of the fish is included (e.g. "Salmon Caviar"). And guess what? The little spoon we used to serve the caviar is worth $8 a piece.

Address: 1 Ferry Building #12, San Francisco, CA
Tel#: (415) 288-8630
Website: www.tsarnicoulai.com/cafe/details.html
Hours:
Tue & Wed 11AM - 6PM
Thur & Fri 11AM - 7PM
Sat 9AM - 6PM
Sun 11AM - 5PM

Special Thanks to 團友A for treating me this fancy delicacy.

Hog Island Oyster Bar - San Francisco, Bay Area

It is my second visit and first time for my friends, so we sample both the raw oysters and baked oysters. We also order the clam chowder and a glass of Blue Star wheat beer.


This ginger-shape French bread and butter are really good. We asked the waitress to refill the bread twice.




Raw Oysters:
Drake's Estero from Drakes Bay - We like this oyster the best. The first bite is a bit salty but then the sweetness will overtake and last in your taste bud for a while.
Hog Island Sweetwater - the most popular oysters from their farm. Like Drake's Estero, Sweetwater has the sweet aftertaste too, but it doesn't last as long as the former.
Hog Island Altantic - East Coast's Blue Point Oyster farmed in the West. This oyster is salty from the first bite to the aftertaste.
Hog Island Kumamoto - this small-size oyster is originally from the Kumamoto area of Kyushu, Japan. I love to chew the adductor muscle of Kumamoto because it is sweetest part of the oyster.



Baked (Sweetwater) Oysters:
Oysters Rockefeller - this is kind of like spinach dip over oyster, but the spinach is too light in flavor and it doesn't really go well with the oyster.
Oysters Casino - my favorite baked oyster so far. Bacon + the aroma of butter + juicy meaty oyster = Yummy!
Oysters Anchovy - my friend's favorite. It tastes like anchovy on the outside.

Clam Chowder - it is a clam cooking style rather than the soup, so the sauce is not really thick and they give you ample of manila clams. The clams are sweet but I wish their size can be a bit bigger.

Blue Star wheat beer - if you like wheat beer, you got to try this.

Sometimes they have happy hour special (featured oyster for $1 each and $3.5 beer), I think happy hour is only offer on Monday and Thursday 5-7PM (please call to make sure). Expect a long line if you are coming around the time when people are getting off from work.

Address: San Francisco Ferry Building (at the foot of Market St. on the Embarcadero)
Tel#: (415) 391-7117
Website: www.hogislandoysters.com

Hog Island-Sand Isle Pacific, Humboldt Bay

食在SF

昨晚睇完Over the Hedge
今日即刻應驗咗入面嗰句"humans live to eat"

本應今日SF為食團淨係去食生蠔同Cream Puff
跟住有一位團友盛意拳拳請我哋去o歎埋魚子醬吧
然後Bread Papa終於有綠茶味Cream Puff
所以今日好有口福呀
唯一嘅憾事係冇得買Recchiuti Confections 嘅 Handmade Marshmallow 同 Chocolate
因為佢哋勁早閂門



不過算啦,我今日已經吃個不停
下次下次

Tony Roma's - Bay Area

This is our first time visiting Tony Roma's, so we just go for their famous ribs for entree plus some other appetizers.

Fried Calamari - The squid is too soft and not chewy at all.
Tony’s Sampler - A sample of Red Hot Buffalo Wings, Spinach Dip, and Onion Loaf. The buffalo wings are okay. The butter flavor in the spinach dip is a bit too heavy. Onion loaf is the best among all the appetizers. I like that thin layer of 炸粉 which allows me to taste the onion rather than just the coating.



St. Louis Rib Sampler - It is suppose to be "a dozen St. Louis Ribs in four flavors: Original, Carolina Honeys™, Blue Ridge Smokies™ and Tony Roma’s Red Hots™". When this dish comes, the server just advises us to use the four bottles of sauces on the table(?). But we can tell the ribs were cooked in some types of sauce already. I just eat them without any addition sauce. I'm thankful that the ribs are not burned on the outside, so I can enjoy the meat. The texture of the meat is very soft. Not bad!



Bountiful Beef Ribs - The beef ribs are burned on one side. It was a hassle to remove the burned part. Good thing is the meat is soft in texture.



Side Items - The Fresh Steamed Broccoli is not fully cooked. Tomatos in the Roma Tomato Pesto Salad are not that fresh and the flavor is bit too sour. We all agree the Loaded Mashed Potatoes as the best side items.
Drink - Pina Colada is watery.

Address: 32135 Union Landing Blvd. Union City, CA (check their website for other locations in the US)
Tel#: (510) 324-7427
Website: www.tonyromas.com

Beard Papa - San Francisco, Bay Area

Beard papa is a Japanese franchise specializes in cream puffs. This San Francisco branch had been opened for about a month. They currently offer two cream puffs flavors - vanilla bean and chocolate.

Due to my weight concern, I only ordered the vanilla bean cream puff instead of trying both flavors. Although the cream puff is not as warm as my friend assumed, it is really fresh and the best thing is it is not crazily sweet.

My only complain about the cream puff is that the filling is not even distributed.

Hopefully when I return next time, those "coming soon" flavors (e.g. green tea, milk tea...etc) will be available too. If you happen to be in the area, drop by and try it out.

Address: 99 Yerba Buena Lane, San Francisco, CA (on Mission Street, across from Sony Metreon/Yerba Buena Garden and behind Marriott)
Tel#: (415) 978-9972
Website: www.beardpapasf.com (store website)
www.muginohousa.com (you can check the company website for the other locations in the US)

Green Tea Cream Puff
Chocolate Cream Puff

Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop - Bay Area

Nothing is better than a cold drink under the hot weather. A Frozen Mocha from Ghirardelli will sound even better. Refreshing and delicious.

I took a spoonful of my friend's sundae too. I love the dark chocolate fudge.

Address: 1st Floor, Clock Tower Building, 900 North Point St. San Francisco, CA 94109
Tel#: (415) 474-3938
Website: www.ghirardelli.com

Judy's Cafe - Bay Area

I picked this cafe for lunch because I haven't have a breakfast brunch for a while. At first I wanted to try their asparagus omelette, but I don't know why I ordered the club sandwich instead. It turns out sandwich was a bad idea. The chicken meat in the sandwich has no flavor at all and the bacon is kind of hard to chew. However, I'm glad that the fruits that come with the sandwich are fresh and sweet.



The outdoor table adjacent to us ordered some homefried potato and they looks good, so I stole a piece of homefried potato from my friend. Yummy! I guess this is the best homefried potato I had so far.

Address: 2268 Chestnut Street, San Francisco, CA
Tel#: (415) 922-4588

For more information visit SFBayShop.com

三藩市半日遊

有朋自遠方來
so I shown her around in San Francisco this pasted Saturday

Coit Tower ---> Lombard Crooked Street ---> Chestnut Street (Judy's Cafe) ---> Municipal Pier ---> Maritime Museum ---> Ghirardelli Square ---> Sony Metreon ---> Bread Papa's ---> San Francisco Shopping Center

我的戰利品



Finding Nemo film strip bookmarks and a penny souvenir of Coit Tower

Left Bank - Bay Area

This French restaurant has five locations in the Bay Area and we went to the one in Santana Row (San Jose). As we stepped into the restaurant, I was attracted by the decoration behind the bar. A picture worth a million words, I will let the picture speaks for myself.


Can you see the wine cellar behind the glass wall?



We had ordered three appetizers to start with: Onion Soup Gratinee, Escargots, and Fondue Savoyarde. I really like the onion soup; the cheese crust and flavor of the soup base is just the way I like it (the soup base is not salty at all). I had a high expectation for the escargots, but the garlic was too overwhleming in this dish. We almost empty the fondue of goat, brie, and bleu cheese. The fondue is very rich in texture and a little bit salty. I think it has a heavy milk taste.

I chose Salmon Roulade for the entree. The size of the salmon is a little bit bigger than a Filet Mignon. I like how they put leeks inside the salmon filet, so I can taste the seasoning in every bite of the fresh salmon. I also like the lentils in the dish, but I have to give them up because I could not finish the whole entree.



Address: 377 Santana Row, Suite 1100, San Jose, CA (5 locations in the Bay Area, but this is the one I went)
Tel#: (408) 984-3500
Website: http://www.leftbank.com/ (Please visit their website for the address of the other 4 locations)

不得了~

本來啱著嘅褲變窄
本來唔啱著嘅褲變得合身

Dessert Republic (港飲港食) - San Mateo, Bay Area

Dessert Republic probably has the most creative decoration among the other Hong Kong-style dessert places in the Bay Area. They have replicas of Hong Kong bus stop stand, trash can, and post box. One side of the wall is painted and decorated with some famous Hong Kong stores in the old time. If you are curious about the history of those stores, you can also find the information on the wall.

I had been to Dessert Republic several times before. Last time, I ordered a Tai Chi sesame paste. I was disappointed with the black sesame paste, but the white sesame paste was surprisingly good. So this time I'm coming for the white sesame paste again. The first taste of white sesame paste is a little bitter, but the sweet aftertaste will overcome it later. I also share the egg puff with my relative. The egg puff was perfectly baked - crispy outside and soft inside, it would be better if it has a richer egg flavor. However, I have never try their rice plates nor crepes because I'm more into their hot desserts and specialty snacks.

Dessert Republic is located on an alley next to the Main Street parking structure. If you are starting out from Century Theater, just walk toward 1st Street and you should see a big red post box in between 2nd and 1st Street.



Address: 138 Main Street, San Mateo, CA
Tel#: (650)401-3570
Website: www.dessertrepublic.com
Business Hour:
Tue - Thur, Sun 12NOON - 11PM
Fri - Sat 12NOON - 1PM
Close on Monday

Santa Ramen - San Mateo, Bay Area

This small ramen restaurant (with a capacity of 23 people) received a high 9.5 (out of 10) from Jatbar. I had tried several ramen restaurants in the Bay Area, but haven't find one that is impressive. (I used to like the ramen in a SF Japan Town restaurant, but no more)


I had been to Santa for a Saturday lunch before and this time is for dinner. If you go there for lunch, we can only order their ramen and add a chicken karaage bowl (if you prefer), but for dinner, you will get a menu which features some grilled and fried dishes. When you order their ramen you get to choose from three broth flavors: Miso, Pork, and Soy Sauce. I picked the pork broth in both visits because it is not offered in too many places.

During this second visit, we ordered the grilled chicken gizzards, grilled whole squid, fried chicken, and two roasted pork ramen with pork broth. We wanted to order the stewed pork ramen, but they are sold out. I didn't quite enjoy both grilled dishes because some parts of the chicken gizzards and squid was burnt and the taste of burning food took over. The fried chicken is good because the chicken pieces are cut into the right size and the juiced got locked it. How about the ramen? Their noodle can beat most ramen places in the Bay, but still I wouldn't give it an excellence because the noodle texture is not firm enough to reach the al dente stage (彈牙). The pork broth is rich in flavor but not very salty, so I can always finish the soup. The roast pork taste kinda sweet, but it is a little bit tough to bite.

Overall, I think this restaurant is worth a try especially if you like ramen.

Since the restaurant is small and a lot of people like to try their ramen, you should keep these in mind:
- If you are going during the weekend, it is a good idea to show up a bit before they open
- If you can't, bring your portable entertainment device along and don't forgot your jacket if it is cold
- You have to be present when the waitress call your name from the waiting list
- All members of the party have to present when they assign you a table
- They will be closed once their soup base is sold out
- They do not accept to-go order

Address: 805 South B Street, San Mateo, CA
Tel#: (650)344-5918
Business Hour:
Mon, Wed - Sat 11:30AM-2PM 5:30PM-9:30PM
Sun 11:30AM-2PM 5:30PM-9:30PM
Close on Tuesday

Got to order the stew pork on the next visit

USA Today

The chance for USA to advance in World Cup 2006 is diminishing as the Czech Republic beat them 3:0 in today match.

I hope they won't be goalless:(
GO GO USA~!




-What's the difference btwn gold and platinum credit cards

According to a forum member, it is the "Amount of ego inflation of the cardholder". Very well put:)

World Cup 2006: ARG vs CIV

I'm watching this match on Spainish channel now.

CIV jersey look like crab roe (蟹子) and I can't stop thinking about it now~



蟹子加油!!

炸炸炸

唔知點解最近好鬼鍾意食炸嘢
媽咪買咗IKEA啲薯片
細路又買咗快可立嘅鹽酥雞同炸迷你八爪魚

我就快要迎接瘡瘡嘅來臨啦~

Take me out to the ball game...

Went to the Giants game last night. We were sitting at the bleacher behind the left field (Bonds Squad). Haven't been a baseball game for several years.


遙遠的Bonds


It was super chilling at the park. I'm glad that Giants were doing really fine (9 runs after the 5th while the Marlins had only one run) so we were able to leave after the 6th inning.

The final score is SF 14, Florida 2.



Bonds hit his 716 career homerun.

願我可以學會放低你

好肥呀~~~

Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant (海港大酒樓) - LA Area

We took the advice and got to Sea Harbour a bit before 10AM. The rumor is true; people are "pushing" the door even before 10. Luckily, we were able to get a table during the 1st round. After our order got confirmed, we found that four of our dim sum orders were missing from the print out and they didn't fix the problem until the 3rd or 4th time we raised the issue. The people next to us are even more unfortunate. Their order was all messed up and they didn't even get any food until they squawked to the manager.

How about their dim sum? No doubt that their dim sum are unique, but the taste is not very impressive. 金錢肚冇乜味, D椒鹽多春魚冇春 (假狗疑雲?), 炸枝花鵝肝 - 枝花同鵝肝好似唔係好夾. All the other dim sum are okay, but I like their 鮮竹卷 because it is not that fatty.

For the same price, I would prefer Restaurant Peony of Oakland.

Address: 3939 Rosemead Blvd. Rosemead, CA
Tel#: (626)288-3939

Yume Kitchen (為食屋) - LA Area

Aberdeen Chow Mein - Chiu Chow Noodle - stir fry bok choy - Prix Fix (lamb chop) - soup of the day - Mango-a-go-go
We pretty much ordered what we saw from the other tables:p

I would say the food from Yume Kitchen suppress most 港式西餐廳 in the Bay Area; not to mention Yume have more unique selection. The interior design is very stylish and the floor is covered with carpet. Not that many 港式西餐廳 in the Bay will spend money on decoration.

We are so impress with Yume Kitchen so we revisited the next day for iced coffee and iced milk tea to go. I would give this iced milk tea a perfect 10; 七個字 - 香濃滑味道適中.

Address: 402-404 E. Valley Blvd., San Gabriel, CA
Tel#: (626)280-3232
Website: www.yumekitchen.com

Quality Seafood - LA Area

Quality Seafood is a seafood market located on the lower level of the Redondo Beach Pier. They sell large varieties of live seafood: fishes, oysters, crabs, lobsters, shellfishes. You can buy the fresh seafood and they will steam everything on your request. My bro and I started off our seafood feast with a lot of raw oysters; so many that we can hardly finish. My mom ordered a smoked halibut but she said it is very salty, that's why I don't dare to take a bite. After a long long wait, the steamed Santa Barbara crabs were ready for pick up. My mom and bro really enjoy the 蟹糕 and crab roe (蟹子) from the female crabs.

After playing at the beach, we came back to order more Santa Barbara crabs and shellfish. The steamed conchs are really yummy; remind me of the spiral shell of east wind (東風螺) from Hong Kong. Too bad they don't have the sea urchin at that time and my bro had already talking about revisit this seafood heaven later this summer.

Address: 130 South International Boardwalk, Redondo Beach, CA
Tel#: (310)372-6408
Website: www.qualityseafood.net

Tasty Garden (稻香) - LA Area

We picked 4 dishes: beef short ribs, pork chop, chicken (貴妃雞飯), and stir fry vegetable from the colorful menu. We didn't try their digital clay pot rice (數碼煲仔飯) because clay pot rice usually takes a long time to cook. There is a small plate of rice goes with each dish. We had 5 persons in total and the server only gave us one plate of rice as the dish came to our table. Can he just give us all the rice plates in one trip? Among the dishese, I like 貴妃雞飯 the best. The short ribs and pork chop are not bad too. However, I forgot to order 山渣菊花茶 (a drink) as recommended by the review.

Address: 288 W. Valley Blvd., #110-112. Alhambra, CA
Tel#: (626)300-8262
Business Hour: Sun - Thur 11AM - 1AM, Fri - Sat 11AM - 3AM

Din Tai Fung dumpling house (鼎泰豐) - LA Area

Din Tai Fung is a very famous dumpling house in Taiwan. They have a lot of branches in Asia and this one in Arcadia, CA is their first and only USA branch. My mom had visited the main store in Taiwan and she likes the steamed vegetable and pork bun there. This branch in Arcadia opens at 10:30AM on Saturday. When we got there around 11:00AM, we saw a bunch of people waiting outside of the restaurant already. We were given a form for ordering while we waited for our table. We ordered the following:

steamed pork dumplings (小籠包)
steamed crab meal dumplings (蟹粉小籠包)
steamed chicken soup (原盅雞湯)
noodle soup with fried pork chop (排骨麵)
steamed green vegetable and pork bun (菜肉包)
steamed mashed red bean buns (豆沙小包)

The steamed pork dumplings really live up to the reputation. The dumpling skin is thin but not fragile, so the juice is held inside the dumpling. I prefer the pork flavor over the crab meal because the pork dumplings give more juice. The soup has a rich chicken flavor (not MSG). The noodle soup is okay; it seesm like they just put the noodle in the hot noodle and didn't stir it at all. I don't like the vegetable and pork bun because they put too much vegetable and too less meat inside the bun; I can't taste the meat flavor at all. The red bean buns are a little bit too sweet for me.

Address: 1108 s. Baldwin Ave. Arcadia, CA 91007
Tel#: (626)574-7068
Website: www.dintaifungusa.com

LA Trip 2006 Day 3

Day 3. We went to Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant (海港大酒樓) for dim sum and then drove to The New Otani Hotel & Garden at Little Tokyo to check out the Japanese Garden. The garden is smaller than what I had expected. We shopped at a Japanese supermarket and then headed back to the Bay Area.




We saw this little tornado on our way back home

LA Trip 2006 Day 2

Day 2. We spent most of our day in Redondo Beach enjoying the sun, the beach, and the seafood. At night, we went to Yume Kitchen (為食屋) for dinner. We were very satisfy with the food we consumed that day. :)



Taken inside the gift shop - Shark Attack

I haven't step on a beach for so long









>> Continue Reading: "LA Trip 2006 Day 3"

LA Trip 2006 Day 1

Haven't have a long weekend since February, so I decided to go on a road trip with my mom during Memorial Day weekend. I'm glad that my bro can join us at the very last moment.

Day 1. We left home around 5:30AM before the Sun came up. After we arrived in LA, we went straight to the famous Taiwanese restaurant - Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) for lunch. Since my mom forgot to bring her camera batteries (and the charger), I decided to cancel the visit to Huntington Library. Instead, we drove up Beachwood Drive to get the best view of the Hollywood sign and then we went to The Grove (a beautiful shopping area). We had afternoon tea at the LA Farmers Market which is just next to The Grove. Later that night, we had dinner with my primary school classmate and his girlfriend at Tasty Garden (稻香). This is the first time we met since the graduation.


On the road


>> Continue reading: "LA Trip 2006 Day 2"