As we were leaving, I noticed that The Luxor is a little isolated from everybody. Next time I should try riding the Monorail.
I\’ll see you soon JBWKZ
Thereafter, all I see is this…SUN and SAND.
Upon arriving in Barstow, I finally had the chance to eat In-N-Out Burger! Yipeeee!!!!! (And to think, that this burger joint is just a 5-10 minutes walk from our house >.< )
Happy-Happy-Joy-Joy
The staff especially their \”caps\” reminds me of Good Burger. Hehehehe
I\’ve been hearing a lot about this burger. I have friends who had tried it here in California and a successful pop-up in Singapore. With a positive feedback, how can I not be jittery the moment I stepped inside the store.
The fries are great! Deep-fried to perfection.
We had the Double-Double burger.
There\’s something about the juiciness of the burger. That complements the cheese and the rest of the toppings. According to Jaina, for her it has something to do with \”THE SAUCE.\”
I was in a food coma for the rest of the trip. I\’m sooooooooooo Hhhhhhaaaaaappppyyyyyyyy!!!!!!
The second time I ate there, I brought along my brother Peng (who was visiting at the time). For him it was just OK. Meaning: \”Above average. Fries in Shake Shack are way better.\” Well that\’s his opinion. It stirred a curiosity about Shake Shack and the yearning of visiting New York City soon.
It\’s fascinating to know, that there\’s another \”world\” behind the walls of the California border. It felt like, I was back in Singapore (because of its proximity to Malaysia).
It\’s one of the busiest borders in the world. Border Patrol agents are everywhere (by land, air and sea). My husband strictly advises me to bring my identification card ALWAYS. Just in case an agent randomly ask me for an ID, I can show them proof of my residency.
Tijuana is right there…
Before crossing the border, there\’s a place in San Ysidro that attracts shoppers. It\’s located in Camino de la Plaza, the last USA exit.
Las Americas Premium Outlets is the area\’s largest outlet center. With 125 stores featuring Adidas, Banana Republic, BCBG Max Azria, Brooks Brothers, Calvin Klein, Coach, Gap Outlet, Guess, J.Crew, Kenneth Cole, Lacoste, Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and more plus an excellent choice of eateries and restaurants. —source
I love it there. The best day to visit: weekdays. Don\’t ask about the weekends ( I don\’t want to get started on store queues, parking and stream of people). Some stores don\’t actually announce further sale promotions, it\’s a hit-or-miss kind-of-thing. It depends on the store most of the time. Tip: Know your holiday dates (holiday promos) and fashion calendar (end-of-season clearance – way better than Black Friday). Consider yourself lucky if you dropped by on the mentioned time of the year. I have to warn you, items/sizes runs out fast. It\’s advisable to come early.
Just be patient in looking for a clothing that will last you a long time and doesn\’t break the bank. Take your time, you\’ll find what you\’re looking for.
Eating out in San Diego has a diverse array of food choices. From buffet, fast food chain, cafes etc. San Diego has it. It may take me a lifetime to try everything but, I need to start somewhere. 1. Mongolian Stir Fry
Stir Fresh was started by a family of Mongolian Barbeque eaters with 25 years of mongolian dining experience. When relocating to San Diego County in 1996, we could not find a Mongolian Barbeque restaurant, so we opened our own. We serve Mongolian Barbeque in the traditional way, with the finest of ingredients including white breast chicken and the traditional sesame seed pocket biscuit (shau Bin). —Source
What I like about this is they serve the vegetables, meat, seafood and sauces buffet style. Feel free to help yourself! Price range is between $11-15 (approximately) drinks not included. Comes with either rice and sesame bread but I chose the latter. Rice makes me full at a faster! ( I need to have my seconds…LOL)
Watch the video for this is how they do the cooking. These guys are more entertaining though.
What I didn\’t like about the grill was, if a previous customer picks a spicy sauce. The next person in line will likely have a spicy mix and it happened to me. I\’m not a big fan of spicy food. The Rancho Penasquitos branch is spacious and clean. I don\’t like the mess on the buffet area. It\’s largely, caused by customers who accidentally drops or spill the sauces, veggies etc. I understand when the staff can\’t simply clean it right away because of the queue. I think cleaning the mess promptly if the queue is lesser.
2. Arby\’s My first time to try the fish sandwich. Yum! We frequent the Point Loma branch.
3. Turkey Leg (from Seaworld)
Bigger and juicier as compared to the Universal Studios Singapore version (where I experienced it the first time).
4. Project Pie (Chula Vista)
Read my review in my previous post. They also accept military discounts. If not in uniform, just show them a valid military ID.
Barbecue buffet where you don\’t need to stand and get your food. Everything is served in your table. You just need to choose your \”food package.\” It costs $11 (if my memory serves me right) excluding drinks.
We opted for beef, pork and seafood \”package.\” It has kimchi, rice, egg and other side dishes. Once you\’ve finished anything from the food choices, the staff will be giving you another batch.
Manila Sunset derived its name from this beautiful Philippine scenery – for in many ways, the food of Manila Sunset evokes the same nostalgic feeling. They bring back the memories of old-fashioned homecooking and traditional celebrations: Pasko, Simbang Gabi, Flores de Mayo, weddings, homecomings and other joyous occasions.
Manila Sunset specializes in a few but unique and hard-to-find Filipino foods such as Bibingkang Galapong and Puto Bumbong which are traditionally found in church plazas and roadside stalls only during the Christmas Season. Our best seller, Pancit Malabon is prepared from an original well-guarded recipe from the fishing village of Malabon from which the name of the delicacy came from. Even in the Philippines, there are only very few cooks who know how to prepare this delicacy.—source
Clockwise from upper left side: Pork BBQ, Halo-halo, Lumpiang Gulay, Arrozcaldo. One of the few Filipino dishes that Manila Sunset has.
When I want my dose of Filipino food, the National City branch is our go-to-place. My favorites are Bibingkang Galapong (by far the best that I\’ve tasted even I was in the Philippines) and Puto Bumbong. Just take note that they are packed during lunch and dinner time. They have lots of customers aside from the dine-in orders, they cater to to-go customers as well. Waiting time will depend on the customers present. Especially on their busy hours. Not recommended for those who are super hungry.
We hope you’re loving the changes to our award-winning buffet! You’ll enjoy our new Ship of Seafood, featuring favorites such as smoked salmon, smoked whitefish, and bay shrimp. And our Baked Potato Bar is a big hit, where you can deck out your spud any way you want! –—source
Love this award-winning buffet! Peak hours queue are crazy! (waiting hours 45 minutes to 1 hour). They have good control of the crowd. So once you get inside it\’s not crammed. Moving around to get food is easy.
They provide cookies for those who are in line. If you are waiting in the casino area, they provide coffee, juice mix concoctions, chocolates, soda and water for free.
My brother-in-law Jon gave us this delectable bread as pasalubong.
I don\’t know what they call this bread. It has a cheese filling inside that compliments. Delish! Makes me want to go in Los Angeles just to sample what the cafe has to offer.
I\’m proud of my husband…really! Serving 20 years in the Navy was no joke. It has influenced him many in ways. I feel elated every time someone tells him \”Thank you for serving our country\” (which makes me think does our Philippine soldiers get that?).
For Veteran\’s day certain establishments provides free food and services for veterans. Just be aware of the fine prints of the freebie. Waiting time was long in most of the restaurants. Prepare yourself for long queues and apologetic staff.
I just love the overflowing nachos. It\’s freshly done and served while its hot.
Sitting back, while waiting for our orders.
For dinner, we are supposed to go at Hooter\’s but their place was packed. Waiting time starts from 1-2 hours. We opted for Applebee\’s in National City.
Applebee\’s was full just like Hooters. But, I have to say waiting time was faster and they have an efficient way of crowd-control.
Too bad, we missed California Pizza Kitchen and Krispy Kreme. We were free-food-hunting all day long and I love it. Till the next Veteran\’s Day.
I love free magazines and newspaper with good content.
It\’s quite ironic actually, because I can read lots of magazines, literary books (or basically anything that interests me) but nursing books are ignored. My husband reprimands me for this! (When he found out I finished the seven books of Harry Potter but I can\’t finish a few hundred page a driver\’s manual). I have colleagues or friends who are surprised, that I\’m oriented with \”stuff\” outside the scope of nursing. Well, I don\’t want to limit my knowledge. I\’m cool with anything my brain can absorb. It keeps me sane and level-headed.
Back in the Philippines, we have the Inquirer Libre. Copies are distributed mostly at MRT and LRT stations and are gone in a snap. Most of the time, I just borrow it from classmates who rides the train early in the morning.I was still in college when Philippine Daily Inquirer released the first free tabloid in the country. Aside from the news, I love reading the funny and sometimes-right-on-smack quotes in the horoscope.
Here in San Diego, most of the magazines are available in libraries, museums, hotels, malls, coffee shops and gyms. Most of the magazines are printed with glossy covers. The pages are like the sheets of a newspaper printed with colors for the pictures.
SD Reader and USA Today – My dose of current affairs in San Diego.
Old Town San Diego– Guide around the historic Old Town.
101 Things to do in San Diego – To know more of places to go here in SD.
SD Family magazine– Broadway productions that are in town and kid-friendly hang-outs in the county.
The thing I don\’t like with the above mentioned is the ad placement. It\’s basically everywhere! It\’s more visible than the article itself. I understand the publication survives thru ads (a given fact), so I\’m putting into consideration it might be a strategy.
When I was living in Singapore, lots of free magazines are all over the island (malls, boutiques, restaurants, museums, coffee shops etc ). I can\’t pick favorites because all of it are great. Each has it\’s own niche. Photography, content, ad placement, features are managed in a classified and non-messy kind of way. Made me feel I actually bought it. The websites are worth your time to navigate as well.
Juice – Fashion, music (local and international) and clubbing.
I-S (Inside Singapore) – Events, Restaurants, Travel, and Shopping
Catalog – I love their front covers! It\’s very graphic and conceptual that made it look playful and unique. In the website they have this flipbook of current and previous issues. Meaning I could read Catalog even if I\’m not in Singapore. Yey!
In-flight magazines publication are getting better the past few years. Maybe because travel industry has changed especially now that many can afford it. The content caters to everyone from tourist destinations, shopping, dining and places to stay. I use it as a good reference on future outings.
Trick or Treat are for children, I know! When I was younger, we don\’t do one back home. I only see it on American movies or TV shows. It looks fun! Too bad , recently na lang nauuso ang pag-costume. Fast forward to today, I\’m now based in California. I arrived before the end of summer and totally looking forward to Halloween.
We (me and my sister-in-law Ate Marilou) are supposed to chaperone his son Joelo but he\’s MIA. We went off ourselves. Too bad we\’re too old for Trick or treat LOL.
Mask and Headband from Party City at a discounted price. Best time to buy Halloween stuff is a few hours before Trick or Treat time.
Only a handful of houses are open for treats. I can\’t blame them because Halloween fell on a Thursday. They still have to work the next day. Nevertheless, there were houses and families who are in the spirit of Halloween. All is good!
I just admire the patience and effort of my neighbors in setting up decorations.
Teenagers in their costumes…
There\’s this open-house-thingy wherein the owner turned their homes into mini-haunted houses. Looks scary all the way through and we are not mistaken. Wow!
The monitor from the outside shows \”Tales from the Crypt\” clips.
I\’m looking forward for the next Halloween (falls on a Friday). I will try to DIY some masks and headpieces. If I can score a witch costume (my dream costume for halloween) that would be great as well. We still have to plan whether we\’ll be giving out candies because if we will, I need to decorate our front door area. Another decorating challenge for me!
Rich Cervales Blog 