Happy New Year! Recap of the End of 2011

I can't believe it's 2012 already! You guys know that holiday time can be a bit insane, and that definitely reflected in my blog with the last post being RIGHT before Thanksgiving. Gah.

I'm feeling really good about 2012 and am excited to go full throttle with posting more often again. Maybe even going into a different direction...we will see.

Happy New Year to you all! Here is a mini glimpse at the end of 2011.

Thanksgiving in Phoenix, AZ

We flew out Thanksgiving morning and made it just in time for food! We were in town for about 5 days, and besides eating leftovers, my family took us out to a few places. We got New Orleans seafood at Pappadeaux, fed our addiction of In-N-Out Burger, sipped bubble tea at Boba Tea House, stuffed our faces with a buffet brunch at The Royal Palm Hotel, and ate fresh sushi at Tomo.

There is nothing better than spending time with family especially when it's not often. We climbed mountains at Papago Park, played some baseball behind my brother's house, ate some fresh jack fruit, and was reminded how much I miss my mom's cooking.

$1 Day at the Baltimore Aquarium

Once a year, the Baltimore Aquarium is cheap enough to actually visit. Typically, it is $24.95 for adults and $19.95 for children, which is an expensive day trip for a family. We waited in line with our friends for about 40 minutes, and were given a time to come back. We ended up going to Stuggy's in Fells Point for hot dogs while we waited. We got the fries with Stuggy's Sauce, the Late Night dog ($5.99) and the Chi-Town dog ($5.99). Tiny place with delicious food!

Christmas

Spent Christmas with my family and the bf's. My cousin's yorkie napped while dinner was cooking, my aunt displayed her porcelain figurines, the kids left Santa some homemade cookies and Korean banana milk, and we got a new ornament for our 1.5 ft tree.

Hope you guys had a great end of the year too!

San Francisco Recap!

Hi everyone! I decided to post our San Francisco trip in one post, so beware, it's long!

Day 1
There are no pics because we were in an airport all day. We missed our flight, but were lucky enough to catch the last flight of the day. We arrived in SF late in the evening, so we went straight to the studio apartment we were renting off of Airbnb. It was in an older part of the Mission District, which isn't the greatest place to wonder around lost with luggage. The apartment turned out to be a dump, so we made it a point to be out all day so we wouldn't have to touch anything or breathe in the air.

Day 2
One of the things that attracted me to The Mission was all of the food options. This Latino populated community is a haven for great Mexican food. Over the years, a portion of the area has become gentrified, sprouting other popular places that we tried as well.

Red Cafe
2894 Mission St
(between 24th St & 25th St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Neighborhood: Mission

We woke up early to make up for lost time and grabbed breakfast at this small place near our apartment. They had the BEST breakfast burrito ($7.99) we've ever tasted! It didn't need any of the salsas they had on the side. All of the ingredients like bacon and churizo brought intense flavor. The bf ordered the homemade corn beef hash ($8.25) that he thought was made correctly.

We walked around our neighborhood for a bit, and admired all of the many murals and graffiti. I've never seen so much in a city before. That's saying a lot! It was beautiful.

Philz Coffee
3101 24th St
(at Folsom St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Neighborhood: Mission
This is the best coffee we've ever had in our lives. Period. Thankfully it was a few short blocks from where we were staying, so we stopped by every morning to try a different flavor. What makes this place special is that your coffee is made-to-order in an individual coffee filter. There's a very hippie vibe to this place. You order your coffee in the back of the shop, tell them how you like your coffee (cream, sugar) and then you pay. Once your order is ready, they actually watch you taste it to make sure it's to your liking! Sigh, love. Since we've been home, we had our favorite flavor (Ether) shipped to our place.

We walked and took public transportation for most of the trip. We couldn't rent a car because the apartment didn't have a designated parking space or street permit. We used a Zipcar for the first time for places outside of the city like Sonoma, Saulsalito and San Jose.
The only moment we were on the Golden Gate Bridge was driving over it! It offered a quick, scenic view of the Bay and city.

We went to Muir Woods National Monument which was a 20 minute drive north from the Golden Gate Bridge. We wanted to see the famous redwood trees! None of my pics truly capture the enormity of these trees, but do you see how they compare to those people? It was super quiet when we were walking around. It was strange! There was no breeze, insects, birds or trickling water. It was also the freshest air I've encountered. I highly recommend visiting.

We drove further north to Sonoma Valley to taste some wines! Napa was a bit further away, so we decided not to visit. We didn't do any vineyard tours. Just stopped by for tastings, which were all around $10-15 for 6-7 wines.

Ravenswood
18701 Gehricke Rd
Sonoma, CA 95476
Small winery with a really nice and friendly staff. The bar was full with about 12 people. The bf loved their moscato. I thought their red wines tasted similar, and had too much of a bite too them.

Gundlach Bundshu
2000 Denmark St
Sonoma, CA 95476
This was the most beautiful winery we visited. We drove past acres of vineyards as we approached the tasting room. They had a gorgeous lake next to it too. I could have stayed their all day! Their tasting room was much larger and also packed.

Jacuzzi Family Vineyards
24724 Arnold Dr
Sonoma, CA 95476
I was already feeling the wine at that point, so our last stop was a winery that also made olive oil. The different flavors are made by processing the olives at different stages of growth, not by adding other ingredients. We chose a more mild, buttery oil that was made of olives pressed earlier in it's growth. The property was also very romantic and peaceful.

On the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge is Saulsalito, CA. A cute, port town that can offer a nice view of the SF skyline.

Le Garage
85 Liberty Ship Way
Sausalito, CA 94965
We decided to grab dinner on our way back at this French restaurant right on the water. Mussels Napoleon ($15), Oeuf cocotte ($11) and Fries ($5). The service was attentive, the food was simple but good, and you can't beat eating outside on the Bay.

Day 3
After our morning cup of coffee at Philz, we headed to the Ferry Building that has the famous Saturday Farmer's Market. Can we say foodie paradise? I've never seen produce or products THAT fresh in the DMV, ever. We actually didn't buy or eat anything there. The lines were extremely long, we didn't have cash, and the bf wanted "real" food.

The Oakland Bridge is right next to the Ferry Building, and looked serene in the morning.
Random, but I had the chance to use one of SF's public bathrooms. It reminded me of a large airplane bathroom. It opens up automatically after 20 minutes, so you'd better hurry or the whole area is gonna see your junk!

R&G Lounge
631 Kearny St
(between Commercial St & Sacramento St)
San Francisco, CA 94108
Neighborhood: Chinatown
We walked to Chinatown for some "real food" and enjoyed this popular restaurant. It's not fancy on the inside, but it was packed, and known for its dungenous crab. We didn't order it but tried their Special Beef ($17), which was so tender and sweet. We also ordered a Combination Chow Mein ($11), which had very fresh seafood in it.

Onto super touristy places! We're not a big fan of crowded tourist locations, but figured we should at least walk through so we could say we were there. We checked out the Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39 and Ghirardelli Square. Tell me that turtle-shaped sour dough bread isn't the CUTEST thing!

Who'd idea was it to build a city on such hilly land?! It still baffles me. Our calves were hurting walking around this city. Lombard Street was a hike to get to, but offered a breathtaking view of the city and water.

Haight & Ashbury was the center of the 60's hippie movement and still has that psychedelic vibe. We went into a few shops but didn't get anything as we walked towards Golden Gate Park. Our original goal was to bike around the park, but we were too pressed for time. It reminded me of NYC's Central Park because it's humongous, and has a diverse demographic: families, tourists, couples, and weirdos.

The Japanese Tea Garden sounded like a nice thing to visit within the park. In actuality, it was a complete waste of money. It was tiny! We walked through the whole thing in 10 minutes and it was $7 a person. The highlight was the friendly squirrel that kept running in and out of the gift shop.

Peasant Pies
1039 Irving St
(between 11th Ave & 12th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94122
Neighborhood: Inner Sunset
We left to get dinner at a ramen place south of the park in the Inner Sunset. We were on a waiting list and ended up walking around and trying this pie place. They sell savory and sweet mini pies for $2.95 each. We tried the ham, egg & cheese, moroccan lentil and blueberry pear. The blueberry pear blew my mind!

Izakaya Sozai
1500 Irving St
(between 17th Ave & 16th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94122
Neighborhood: Inner Sunset
This place is known for their ramen and already had a line around the corner before it opened. I added pork belly ($2) to my Ritsu Tonkotsu Ramen ($8). I would say it's better than any ramen I've had in the DMV, but not as good as Ippudo in NYC. The noodles had a stiff texture, so it was hard to lay in my spoon. The broth was pretty good.

Morac Restaurant & Lounge
3122 16th St
(at Valencia St)
San Francisco, CA 94103
Neighborhood: Mission
Since we didn't get a chance to go out the other two nights, we decided to grab a drink and smoke some hookah. The hookah was $20/hour, which was the most expensive we've ever paid anywhere. The guava mint flavor was the smoothest and strongest I've had though. They also made a delicious strawberry mojito.

Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream
2790 Harrison St
(between 23rd St & 24th St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Neighborhood: Mission
On our way back to our place we stopped to get ice cream! Once again, there was a line out the door. I have no idea what the name means, but they offer the most creative flavors I've ever seen. I had the hardest time deciding but went with Blue Bottle Vietnamese Coffee ($2.75). The bf got Secret Breakfast (bourbon and cornflakes) and Harvey Milk and Honey Graham Cracker ($3.75), which tastes sort of like cereal milk. My favorite was their most popular flavor, Secret Breakfast. The bourbon flavor was so strong, but memorable! I was quite impressed.

Day 4
The Boiling Crab
1631 E Capitol Expy, Ste 101
San Jose, CA 95121
Word around the streets is that this place is crack, so we rented the zipcar again for an hour drive south to San Jose for lunch. We made sure to get there before they opened! The place is covered in signatures, so I tried to add our mark on the wall too.

I was so excited!! The bf was excited too, but partially because they were playing the Redskins game on the TV above our table.

We ordered a basket of fried shrimp ($9.99), a whole dungeons crab in mild Shebang sauce (market price was $30) and two steamed rices ($2 each). The Shebang sauce is this INSANELY garlicky, spicy, oily sauce that the seafood is cooked in. I've never tasted anything like it before, and I'm sad we don't have it on the East Coast. The crab was delicious and the sauce over the rice was great. I highly recommend it!

Bernal Heights Park
Bernal Heights Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94110
Neighborhood: Bernal Heights
Not too far away from our place was this open dog park on a high hill/mini mountain. It was a paved walk way to the top through a cute neighborhood. I thought it was the best view of the city we've seen.

Tartine
600 Guerrero St
(between 18th St & 19th St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Neighborhood: Mission
After our hike, we headed to this famous bakery for some fuel. It's funny that there isn't a sign for the place. You can just tell with the line out the door. We shared the most buttery, flaky croissant ($3.75), warm fruit bread pudding ($3.50) and deliciously light tres leches cake.

Bi-Rite Creamery
3692 18th St
(between Dolores St & Oakwood St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Neighborhood: Mission
Right at the corner from Delores Park is the most famous ice cream place in the city. We stood in line for 45 minutes to see what the hype was all about. I felt like I was in the Georgetown Cupcake line. The bf wasn't too thrilled about that. They offered some unique flavors, but we played it safe, and got the brown sugar with ginger caramel swirl and white chocolate with raspberry swirl. Very creamy consistency and tasted good, but I wouldn't stand in that line again.

La Taqueria
2889 Mission St
(between 24th St & 25th St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Neighborhood: Mission
We were already stuffed beyond stuffed, but we had to get a burrito from the most popular place in our neighborhood. The place was packed! We ended up getting our burrito to go and eating it right before bed. Even cold, it was still the best burrito we've ever tasted. We didn't need any hot sauce! The carne asada was so flavorful and seasoned perfectly. They don't add rice or many other ingredients. I'm kind of sad we didn't get a chance to try it earlier.

I wish we had more time. It's a very charming city with such creativity flowing from the architecture, people, public artwork and food. Did you guys see how many lines we had to stand in? They are such foodies here! It was completely different from our SoCal trip last year, but a great experience. Hope you guys enjoyed this and found it helpful for your next trip to the Bay!

NYC with the BF

Hi Everyone! I'm recapping our recent trip to NYC, which includes some places I've written about before. There are a lot of pics, so you have been warned =)


Day 1:

The bf and I took a quick 1-night trip to NYC since we had never been there together. I heart NYC. It has always been a dream of mine to live in the Big Apple, but for now, I am only a reasonable 4-hour bus ride away. We ended up taking Tripper Bus from Bethesda for $25 each way.

Abraco
86 E 7th St
(between 1st Ave & 2nd Ave)
New York, NY 10003
Neighborhood: East Village

We got into the city in the morning and needed coffee badly. We visited this place because it was a few blocks away from our ramen lunch spot and yelpers liked it.

This place is so "NY" because it's like the size of my bedroom. There is no seating except for a tiny bench outside. Basic menu of very strong coffees and baked goods. Sorry, there are no sugar-substitutes, just white sugar in a canister.

The bf is so not a coffee drinker, and ended up saying "I'll have what she's having". We left sipping two Espresso Macchiatos ($2.50 each). We didn't add sugar so they were potent, had great flavor and didn't taste burnt like Starbucks can be at times.

Ippudo NY
65 4th Ave
(between 9th St & 10th St)
New York, NY 10003
Neighborhood: East Village

I've been craving this place ever since the last time I went 2 years ago!

I had to take him here because there is no other ramen place I've ever tried that compares to it. It's so trendy and the staff is loud and fun.

Top: Nakasu Kawabata Shoyu Ramen (Soy flavored ramen noodle in a triple soup base of "sori-paitan" chicken, tonkotsu, and vegetable. Topped with pork chashu, red picked ginger, cabbage, garlic and scallions) for $15. I ordered this special ramen, which was very gingery and had thicker noodles.
Bottom: Akamaru Modern (The original "Tonkotsu" noodle soup topped with Ippudo's secret "Umami Dama" miso paste, pork chashu, cabage, kikurage, scallions, and fragrant garlic oil) for $15. The bf ordered what I had last time, which included thinner noodles and a creamier broth. I believe this is their most popular ramen bowl, and our favorite too.

We didn't want to be super touristy and go to Times Square or climb the Empire State Building, but we did visit Battery Park at the southern tip of the Manhattan. This is where you can catch a ferry to the Statue of Liberty. We opted for a quick stroll and photo before hoping back on the train.

Chinatown was our next stop for some refreshing drinks and snacks.

Vivi Bubble Tea
49 Bayard St
(between Bowery & Mott St)
New York, NY 10002
Neighborhood: Chinatown

OMG, tell me this isn't the cutest bubble tea place you've ever seen?! Why is Homer Simpson there? Well, doesn't matter because the bf liked him there.

Another very tiny place without much room for sitting. They offer a variety of bubble tea flavors, shaved ice, popcorn chicken, corn dogs, etc.

How cute and fitting for us. I ordered a Lychee Black Tea and he ordered a Taro Milk Tea ($3 each). They were just fine and what we needed while walking around town.

Eileen's Special Cheesecake
17 Cleveland Pl
(between Kenmare St & Spring St)
New York, NY 10012
Neighborhood: Nolita

I wanted to introduce the bf to my favorite cheesecake place.

It was so hard for me to decide! I like the mini sizes and the fluffy texture of the cheesecake.

The bf ordered a Plain while I ordered a Pecan ($3.50 each). He apparently prefers more dense/smooth cheesecake rather than light/fluffy. Oh well, I was happy.

While shopping in SoHo, we took a hot dog break.

During our walk back to the hotel, we found that on the weekends a good number of streets are blocked off for vendors. We grabs an AMAZING gyro in Midtown East.

Matisse
924 2nd Ave
(between 49th St & 50th St)
Manhattan, NY 10022
Neighborhood: Midtown East

We decided to have a romantic but low-key dinner at a French restaurant not too far from our hotel.

To our surprise, they had a jazz band playing, which made the dinner even more romantic and cute! Check out Avalon Jazz Band's page: www.reverbnation.com/avalonjazzband. They play there on Saturdays. NYC has the smallest places ever! The front wall was open to the street, so that made it feel more open.

It was perfect. I love cozy, romantic, non-pretentious restaurants with good food. I heart this place so much.

We shared a Side of Truffled Mac & Cheese (Bachamel, Ham) for $14. We loved it! So yummy, and the bread crumbs on top added nice texture.

Top: "Julia Child" Beef Bourguignon (Bacon, Mushrooms, Carrots, served with Butter Linguine Pasta) for $23. The bf thought it was good, but slightly too salty.
Bottom: Mushroom Risotto (Asparagus, Parmesan) for $17. I thought it was good, but could have been more flavorful. We ended up switching dishes 1/2 way through.

SPiN New York
48 E 23rd St
(between 5th Ave & East 23rd St)
New York, NY 10010
Neighborhood: Flatiron

I met up with some friends from home that happened to be in NYC the same weekend. We were all exhausted from walking around the city all day, so we chose to do something low-key.

Ping Pong! This place was playing hip hop, had a fully stocked bar and tons of room. It wasn't crowded, stayed open late, and the couches allowed for us to lounge while watching our friends play.

53rd St & 6th Ave Halal Cart 
53rd St & 6th Ave
New York, NY 10079
Neighborhoods: Theater District, Midtown West

If you have never had "Chicken and Rice" at 3am in NYC, you haven't lived. This place is a must, and I like the lamb. This was the bf's first time, and he ate all of his and the rest of mine. Sorry I didn't have a pic, I was chowing down! You can check it out during one of my other trips.

Day 2:

Aroma Espresso Bar
205 E 42nd St
(between 3rd Ave & 2nd Ave)
New York, NY 10017
Neighborhood: Midtown East

A few blocks away from our hotel was this coffee shop to fuel us for our last day.

I ordered a Vanilla Latte and the bf once again orders something he doesn't know - an Iced Cappuccino ($3.25 each). We both thought the drinks were ok. All of his ice was melted because the frothed milk was hot...oh he has so much to learn.

Museum of Modern Art
11 W 53rd St
(between 5th Ave & Avenue Of The Americas)
New York, NY 10019
Neighborhood: Midtown West

We love art and NYC has some of the best art museums in the world. We wanted to see the Metropolitan Museum of Art too, but in the end, MOMA was closer to walk to.

This place was huge and featured some cool and weird stuff too.

So many famous paintings where there! I teared up when I saw Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night. The bf's favorite painting was by Salvador Dali.

Pop Burger
14 E 58th St
(between West 58th St & 5th Ave)
New York, NY 10022
Neighborhood: Midtown East

My girl NV introduced me to this place the last time I visited her. Unfortunately I didn't get to see any of my NYC friends, but I wanted to show the bf this cool place.

The Pop Burgers with cheese ($10) and French Fries ($4.25). These fries are so crispy, I love them! The burgers are small and have a thousand island sauce on it. Delish.

This was my first time in Central Park and we only hung out for 20 minutes because it was hot and we had to get back to the hotel for our bags. Being there reminded me of Sex and the City.

Wafels & Dinges
New York, NY 10011
(866) 429-7329

On the edge of Central Park was a food truck I saw on Throwdown with Bobby Flay.

We ordered De Throwdown Wafel (spekuloos spread and whipped cream) for $6. OMG it was amazing. Spekuloos is made of ground up Belgium speculoos biscuits (closest thing to a graham cracker/gingerbread thing). The texture of the waffle is more dense. It was refreshing to wash down our snack with a San Pallegrino.

Radiance Tea House
158 W 55th St
(between Avenue Of The Americas & 7th Ave)
New York, NY 10019
Neighborhood: Midtown West

We walked and took the train everywhere! It was so hot outside so we decided to grab another refreshing drink before leaving the city.

The tea house was very nice and had a large variety of traditional teas. Peaceful environment, even though the wood doesn't help with the chatter. The staff was super nice too.

Left: Pineapple & Mango (Indian black tea, pineapple and mango fruit pieces) for $5.
Right: Southern Joy (Radiance Classic Black, fresh lemon, rock sugar) for $4.
Both were refreshing and tasted like tea, not just sugar.

Our trip was way too short, but it was a  fun weekend that we enjoyed (and probably gained 10 lbs from). Hope you guys can check out some of the places we tried!