My California Adventure... Part Two: Finding my way to San Jose...eating, again!

When I went up to San Jose, I really didn't know what to expect. San Jose isn't the culinary mecca that San Francisco is known as, nor is it the "wine country" even farther north. But you know what, it really doesnt matter to me!!! Food is food, and really, I did hear very good things about San Jose before I went up. Having successfully run through much of my food "to do list" in Los Angeles, I was able to amble about the San Jose/ Sunnyvale/ Santa Clara area footloose and fancy free... and by driving up solo, I REALLY could do anything I wanted! So here begins my list of places I ate at up north in San Jose...

• Taqueria Los Charros (www.taquerialoscharros.com): MY first meal in San Jose was arguably my most memorable one. Let's just say that I'm a fan for life of Los Charros' jumbo carnitas burrito. MMMMM... Carnitas.... I had never had carnitas before, so when Tina said they come to this place often just for it, I had to get it. And I was not disappointed. So good: the contrast in textures of the juicy, slow roasted pork and its crunchy fried exterior, the veggies, hot sauce. You can't beat it! I was told that Mexican food is unparalleled in California and call this "exhibit number one". I will defintely be on the hunt for some sembelance of that back here in Hawaii, so if you find something, let me know, but honestly, I'm not holding my breath...
• Amber Indian Restaurant (www.amber-india.com): I am not what you can adventurous, but with me being on vacation, I decided to try something different and interesting. Amber was located at Santana Row in San Jose, a place where there were MANY restaurants and bars, and I initially wanted to go to Thea Mediterranean (http://www.thearestaurant.com/) for Greek, but decided to think out of the box and go Indian. So NOT disappointed!!! IF this is what all Indian food is like, sign me up for it at least once a month, if not once a week! Again, being unable to decide on anything, I went full apps again. Potato Peas Samosa- pretty good, Murg Tinka Kebab (chicken skewers)- decent, but unspectacular, Kalaunji Baingan (eggplant)- tasty, stuffed naan- always a good thing; but the killer app of the night: the Gobi Manchurian (deep fried cauliflower). You go there, you get the cauliflower... do it, you won't be disappointed. You hate cauliflower you say? It'll be your new fav veg like this! And to top it off, for dessert we had the Filter "Kaapi" Crème Brulee. I'm not necessarily a total creme brulee fan, but this put me on the team now!
• Baja Fresh (www.bajafresh.com): Baja Fresh was one of those chain restaurants that I didn't necessarily need to go to, but sounded pretty good since people said it was far and away superior to Taco Bell, a place that is near and dear to my heart. I was hungry, it was there... and I needed to satisfy my carnitas fix, so I popped in and gave it a try. Needless to say, it wasn't as good as Los Charros, but you know what, it was STILL better than a lot of places here in Hawaii! I went Burrtio Ultimo, Enchilado Style, with carnitas. While it probably was much better warm, it was still good about an hour after I got it.
• Costco: Yeah, I was hngry, it was there, I ate a hot dog... But really it was for the next thing...
• Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (http://www.krispykreme.com/): Ooohhh... Yeah, they have one in Hawaii, but it's in MAUI!!! Chocolate iced with custard (and with Kreme) and glazed with raspberry filling... SOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOODDDD!! ! It just melted in my mouth like buttah! I should have gotten more!
• Daphne's Greek Cafe (www.daphnes.biz): In my last day there I decided to get some lunch. While shopping at Trader Joe's, I stumbled on a Greek take out place. There were a few choices that stood out to me on the menu, the Vegetarian Lunch (with hummus, falafels, and spanakopita), and a kabob lunch, but I went with the standard, Gyros Pita & Fires with a side of pitas & hummus, and a baklava. I thoroughly enjoyed my Greek food and if there was a place near me like Daphne's, I'd probably go there just about every week.
• Khahn's Garden Restaurant: Like I mentioned in my LA section, I was trying to avoid the Asian food thing while I was up here. But as stated before, I don't normally eat Thai or Vietnamese (which this place is), but I decided to once again, step outside of my usual and give it a try! Unfortunately when I was there, I wasn't so adventurous and only got the BBQ chicken long rice salad. It was very good, but not anything I couldn't get here in Hawaii. Kathy went with the BBQ pork and shrimp spring rolls. I never had to make them myself before, so that was pretty cool. The BBQ pork was very good and I think I would get that!

I actually also got some home cooking thanks to Tina's husband, Mark. He made curry and naan from Trader Joes (which is awesome!!!)... It was so nice to have some home cooking after going out so much up there, so I was very appreciative of it.

Aside from a few odds and ends I ate (like some Clif Bars and whatever was on Tina's snack table), it didn't seem like I ate that much up in San Jose. But what I did eat was memorable and I'm looking forward to find comparable culinary bits here in Hawaii.

My next post will be my thank yous and final thoughts on my vacation...

My California Adventure... Part One: Eating (and drinking) my way through Los Angeles...

I wouldn't necessarily consider myself a foodie. How could I? I don't even eat seafood much less any other strange, smelly, odd shaped, weirdly textured, unsavory morsels for that matter... But I like what I like, and when I like it, I eat it... lots of it (well, until I get tired of it!). So during my 11 days up split up between Los Angeles and San Jose, I was able to try a lot of places I always wanted to and eat things I couldn't normally get here in Hawaii (or are in short supply). So here's my takes on ALL the places I ate while I was up there...

LOS ANGELES:

• In-n-Out (www.in-n-out.com/): My first eating stop after my 5 hour flight in first class (I have to say, the pastrami on the plane was terrific, you couldn't ask for anything more... toasty rye, melty cheese, juicy pastrami...mmm!!!) didn't disappointment my in the slightest. In truth, I probably should have had the double double, animal style (with onions for the uninformed) combo mean, but I went with a simple cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate shake. Like the menu, simplicity at its finest. The only problem about me eating here was the fact I bypassed Pink's Hot Dogs... when the line was short... and there was parking... I know, BAD ARAN!!!
• Daily Grill (http://www.dailygrill.com/): I didn't eat here, just too stuffed from the In-n-Out, but we did have some happy hour drinks here. Brice had the Kobe burger and chicken sliders, and some fried calamari (he didn't eat lunch andthey were kinda smallish, but decent). Seemed like a pretty lively after work spot in Downtown LA. The menu looked good also.
• Pinkberry (www.pinkberry.com/): After hearing so much about Pinkberry from commercials (the AMEX Plum card) and California friends who spoke highly about it, I decided to taste it for myself. This isn't TCBY, or Milano Freezer (which I will talk about later), or Yami Yogurt... but it's closer to Yami than anything. It isn't sweet at all; tangy is the operative word here, like your typical yogurt, but colder. The coffee one wasn't so coffee-ish (and more expensive), so I got the original, plain with some chocolate chips... A refreshing snack before my lunch at...
• Adonis Restaurant: One of the things I wanted to do while I was up in California was to avoid eating the "typical" Hawaii/ Asian things (Japanese, Chinese, Korean) and get Mediterranean food. So on Day 2 in LA,, mission accomplished. Adonis was a Med/Greek food place. I got a meat dish (I forget what it was called) with spiced pita. We also ordered some hummus and were given pickled vegetables to snack on (olives, radishes, peppers, carrots). Let me just tell you, we waited a LONG time for the foor and the restaurant was empty. The food was good, the service was unparalleled. But the piece de resistance was the baklava... tender, flaky, not too honey drippy/syrupy... SOOOO GOOD!!! (It's from the Baklava Factory, a store all over SoCal, a little pricey, but very good!)
• Chandra (http://www.sangabrielvalleymenus.com/chandra.htm): Ok, so I went against my "thing" about eating Asian while up in Cali. Fortunately, it wasn't one of the big three... it was Thai... and I don't normally eat Thai. I had me a BBQ beef salad. It was quite tasty. Others had the pineapple fried rice, which I was able to try and that was pretty good also. It wasn't mind blowing, but it wasn't bad either.
• Milano Freezer (http://milanofreezer.com/): So yeah, they have one of those here in Hawaii, but I needed something to settle my upset stomach. A strawberry, pineapple smoothie was good going down.... as well as coming back up... (but that's another story).
• Subway: Yeah, I ate here... same... whatever...
• E's: To meet up with my friends, we ventured off to Old Town Pasadena. Let me tell you, it was pretty bumping out there, a place I would like to return to and try other places. A lot of the places were very clubby, so we decided for the more laid back E's. Again, for some reason, it was dead in there, our group made up about 75% of the crowd. We ordered an app sampler (Buffalo wings, quesadillas, potato skins, nachos... nothing special). I think we hit that spot on an off day because it looks like a bar/club with definite promise.
• Unnamed Taco Stand in Downtown LA: It doesn't have a name, but the tacos were AWESOME!!! A dollar a taco, and worth every penny. You have the choice of carne asasa, chicken, pork, chorizo, beef tongue, and another meat (which I forget)- I tried the first 4... the carne asada was probably the best, but the pork and chicken were awfully close. Throw on some salsa verde, hot sauce, grilled AND raw onions, radish, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime and you've got an unbeatable late night snack!!! In fact, I went back to this place three times in the time I was in LA.
• The Yardhouse (www.yardhouse.com/): After going out in Pasadena the night before, I went back the following afternoon to meet up with Tina and her husband. After finding no inspiration, I settled on The Yardhouse. Yeah, same as here in Hawaii. I had the French Dip. Again, tasty, but no big.
• Olive Garden (www.olivegarden.com/): After seeing all those commercials and hearing about how good Olive Garden was (or is), I defintiely needed to see what the hype was about. Apparently everyone else wanted to go that night too because it was absolutely packed to the hilt. It was about a 30-40 minute wait. When we were seated, our server was friendly and attentive. I had another appetizer sampler of toasted ravioli, mozzarella sticks, and fried zucchini. I'd been wanting the toasted ravioli for some time, so it did not disappoint. The all you can eat salad and breadsticks were great as well... so much parmesan cheese on the salad... yumm-o!!! I didn;t actually get pasta there, so I can't really tell you if those were worth they hype, but from what I ate... it was very good!
• Suede Bar & Lounge (http://www.suedebarla.com/): So after coming back from San Jose, Brice and Su decided that we were gonna go out that night. Feeling up to it, we started the night here in downtown LA. It seemed to be a very happening spot. Cool colors, chill people. We had some small plates: The butcher's plate with assorted salamis and procuitto, a hummus and pita platter, and guacamole with tortillas. All were very good and reasonably priced during their happy hour.
• Union Cattle Company (http://www.unioncattlecompany.com/): After the small plates at Suede, we headed out to Hermosa Beach to check out the nightlife there. Feeling a little peckish after a couple of drinks and just apps at Suede, we figured to eat something a little more substantial here at the Union Cattle Company. A place known to be frequented by some Lakers, this seemed like a chill hang out with some good smells emanating from their grills. Because I can't decide on anything, we all chose to get MORE apps (I have to say you get to try many more things ordering apps over complete meals!). Marinated Tri-Tip jalapenos, the babyback rib sampler, and the mixed grill skewers were chosen and lemme tell you, if there's anything better on that menu... damn!
• Sangria (http://www.sangriahermosa.com/): We did not eat here. It was all business at Sangria: DRINKING. The Long Islands were strong, the girls looked good (we met some out of towners from Kansas), and the music was solid. I regret not having more time out here to have fun, but I did enjoy my time at Sangria.
• Doc Brown's Chicken (http://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/dining.html): Being at Universal Studios, the options were limited. Chicken was the choice, and while it wasn't the greatest chicken ever, it was pretty good for some amusement park food.
• Hard Rock Cafe (http://www.hardrock.com/locations/cafes3/menuSelect.aspx?lc=MENU): Again, we were forced to go "chain" since options were limited at the Universay City Walk. But hey, it could be worse. The food here was very good, large portions, friendly staff, and all the rock memorabilia you can shake a stick at. Since I was in Cali, I decided to go Cobb Salad... always a good choice :)!!!
• Panera Bread Company (http://www.panerabread.com/menu/): My last meal in California was from here, the Chipotle Chicken Sandwich. If I lived out here, I would probably frequent this place over a Subway or Blimpies.

So that was my Los Angeles portion of the trip, foodwise anyway... up next is my food choices up in San Jose...

Back to reality...

I'm just about 48 hours removed from my vacation. I've already gone back to work and did a few massages, fixed up some of the little things that needed corrections around the office, updated the website, checked the e-mails, scheduled a few more people... essentially back to normal...

Things are the same, but a lot has changed since I've been gone for the last 11 days.

It's hard to believe that things can change in such a short period of time. No, I'm not moving up to the mainland, nor am I leaving the massage profession, or anything so drastic as that, it's more that my eyes are open to different things: foods, ideas, thoughts, activities, the use of my time; this trip provided more insight in the last 11 days than maybe the prior 11 months.

I realized that my not leaving the island for six plus years was a long time, but I didn't feel like it stifled me. The reality is, it did. As my world shrunk, the rest of the world changed. I stayed home and did what was comfortable while others came and went, experiencing new places and seeing new and different things.

I really do hate flying, but I really enjoyed my time driving up there and the freedom I had to get out and explore stuff. I'm already starting to miss the Mexican food up there (CARNITAS!!! and the taco cart by Brice's apartment), I miss the chance to get out and drive, I miss the lack of responsibility... I think that I should start preparing for a future trip, to where, I don't know, but all I do know is that it will be sooner than 6 years! I'll write more in the upcoming days, just wanted to get stuff out...

Leaving San Jose, back to LA and onto Hermosa Beach...

Begrudgingly, I left San Jose/ Sunnyvale... I really did enjoy myself when I was up there! It's a little faster paced than Hawaii, but much, much more laid back than Los Angeles.

The ride back to Los Angeles was a quick one... Gettng into LA took roughly 4 and a half hours... it took another 20 minutes to get off the 101 to get to Brice's place downtown. I was the "dickhead" LA driver incarnate while driving down. I really just wanted to get back to LA. Oddly enough, while I was driving back, I stopped for gas at the Santa Clara Costco and met a guy from Waipahu...cool!

Once I got in, Brice wasted no time go get me reacquainted with the LA nightlife... we headed out to a downtown club to have some happy hour drinks (picture 3). While there, we decided to go to Hermosa Beach after I gave up my rental car (sad!).

Hermosa Beach was crowded and really fun. Lots of people, a whole grip of clubs and bars for the over 21 set to hang out at... We headed out to 2 places, the Union Cattle Club (picture 5) and Sangria (picture 1) and walked all the way out on the pier (picture 2). There was a "Hawaii" place (picture 4) that threw me off.

We had fun last night... met a couple of girls, had a few more drinks... a typical day on the vaca!

Spending time in San Fran...

So yesterday, I was able to drive up to San Francisco to go to the Exploratorium and the California Academy of Sciences...

It took me a little while to get to the Exploratorium... three tries to be exact, to get into the parking lot. Not to say that I was lost, it was merely the fact that I kept missing the right turn into the lot. Fortunately, I was able to take a few pictures of the GOlden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz on one of those fortuitous wrong turns.

At the Exploratorium, it was Free Wednesday!!! Yay... yeah, no that meant thousands of little kids running around jumping in front of you for all the exhibits. I have to say though, it was fun to get your hands on exhibits, unlike a lot of other places.

The California Academy of Sciences was awesome. According to Tina, it was newly renovated and had just reopened a few weeks ago. So many exhibits, so little time! The Planetarium, and indoor rainforest, the aquarium, and the living roof, not to mention the floor exhibits! Makes the apathetic sightseer (like me) want to spend time and take pictures of everything... which I tried to do.... And speaking of which, here are some pics...

I'll post captions later!

A car, a GPS, and all the free time in the world... 'til rush hour traffic!

So today was the first full day of me being completely detached from everyone.  No Brice, no Subin, no Tina, just me, my car, and the GPS.  I was left to my own devices (literally) and had the choice to go anywhere I wanted...  So I went in and around San Jose and Cupertino.

In San Jose, I went off to:

Santana Row- AWESOME!!!  Cool shops, friendly staff, great restaurants!!!

Westerfield Valley Fair Mall- Gigantic mall of stuff... crazy

Apple Computers-Yes, at Infinity Loop...  Birthplace of the ipod and iphone (costing you all your imoney)

Whole Foods-  One of the biggest ones on California if not the west coast!

Baja Fresh-  MMMMM...  carnita burritos!!!  WAAAAAAYYY better than Taco Bell!

Oh, I also returned BACK to Santana Row to go to eat Inidan food at Amber.

It was very fun to just go out and about, being completely random, and having no agenda.

Here's the picture rundown:

1.  Me in front of some Christmas decorations at Santana Row

2.  The last time that poor coffee Creme Brule was seen.... yum!

3.  Whole Foods in Cupertino- gigantic!

4.  A Symantec building

5.  Apple Computers at Infinity Loop.  I would have taken more pics, but I was getting freaked out by seeing so many other workers looking at me!

6.  One of the condos above the shops and restaurants at Santana Row

7.  A cool fountain at Santana Row

8.  A chess set at Santana Row.

Do you know the way to San Jose? Da da, da da, da da...

So to answer that question, it is a resounding no, unless I have my trusty Garmin in tow.  But I decide to go against conventional wisdom and drive up to San Jose from Los Angeles, solo.  Yup, just me myself, and I with all my stuff...

It was long, but not as long as others have told me.  I had heard anywhere from 4 to 8 hours, and it took 5 plus.  I didn't stop but once for gas (and to make sure I had my wallet) so that significantly decreased the travel time.

Unfortunately for the good people of San Jose (like LA) I brought the rain... and it poured for a little bit last night.  But it looks pretty nice now, but I'm guessing it's chilly out there.

So here are a few pictures I took on the road on my 5 hour drive...  (I guess it's backwards... don't ask why)

1.  The greenery of San Jose... pretty!

2.  A big reservoir on the way to SJ.  I tried to get a better picture, but I was driving!!!

3.  The boringness of the drive up there... that middle 2 hours sucked!

4.  Some vineyards on the drive up, I think (once again, DIVING!!!)

5.  Leaving Los Angeles!!!

Adventures in Westwood... The Secret Stash!!!

I admit it, I'm a Kevin Smith fanatic... teetering ever so precariously on lunacy. I've got all the movies (Clerks (and Clerks X), Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Jay & Silent Bob Strikes Back, Jersey Girl, Clerks 2), I've got the Clerk animated series, I've got all his concert films (An Evening with Kevin Smith, EWKS2: Evening Harder, and now Sold Out: A Theevening with Kevin Smith). No I haven't seen Zack and Miri yet, but I do intend to...

(If you're into some crass, but thoughtful and though-provoking humor, Kevin Smith is your type of writer, director, raconteur!)

But anyway...

Being the fan that I am, I realized that I should visit the western mecca of the View Askew empire: Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Westwood. Brice being the friend that he is decided to oblige me and take me out to there as a part of the sightseeing excursion through Southern Cal. So here are the pics (I know it's all weirdly arranged... no idea how to fix it!):

1. Silent Bob bobblehead, signed!

2. The new Threevening with Kevin Smith DVD, signed again!

3. The Secret Stash's sign outside

4. The Mooby Menu from Clerks 2

5. Golgothan: The "poop monster" from Dogma.

6. Cocknocker: The bad guy from Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back.

7. The Mooby uniforms: From Clerks 2

8. Bluntman and Chronic: From Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back

9. Sign from the Secret Stash store.

Halloween Hangover... Pre, During, and Post!

Well, I'm back. I was unable to post yesterday because I was unable to maintain uprightness due to a little too much celebrating Halloween... and by a little, I mean a WHOLE lotta vodka. We were able to go to two parties that night both of which provided free alcohol!!! (I am on vacation, so I am able to go a little crazy, but if you can infer from my previous two sentences, I went crazy, crazy!)

But I was able to take a couple of pictures before the party, a couple of shots during the party, and very little else.

So here's the shot list (Not sure what's going on here with the pictures, but they should be semi-self explanatory:

1. At the Halloween Party: Su (Nurse), Brice (Doctor), Lynn (Pirate), and Dan (another Pirate). No pics of me, I didn't really dress up, unless you count some sparkly devil horns...lame, I know.

2. A water thing at the mall that we went to. Very cool

3. Pinkberry: Heard the hype, had to try it. If you like tangy yogurt, not so much TCBY more so frozen version of Yoplait, this is for you. Tasty, a little pricey, but hey, I'm on vacation!!!

4. & 5. The Disney Concert Hall: A very large, shiny building. I was looking to see where they built the Disney ears into the design, but I couldn't see it. Oh well....