This is the food post from the States that is long overdue. When I was there, I was determined to try every single type of fast food there was. -_____- I should've resisted the temptation! At the end of the day, a burger is a burger, regardless whether it's In N Out or Jack In A Box or whatever. Haih, I'm no foodconnoisseur anyway! This time I'm only going to eat fast food sparingly and try to cook my own food or eat salads all the way. *determined face*
Been a right busy day the whole of Saturday. Had to go and change money for the trip (so-called weakening US economy, but the US dollar is stronger than last year. Last year it was 3.2 something, now it's 3.53!!! I feel so poor now), and then buy tickets for Gamarjobat, and then had to go for my colleague's wedding in Federal Hotel (congrats to David & Alice!). Whenever I buy theater tickets, I'm always astounded whenever I *do* manage to get tickets. No matter how highly promoted, how many accolades are HEAPED upon the performance in national newspapers... the turnout is always lukewarm at best.
Perhaps I should selfishly think that it's better this way because then I'll *always* get the seats that I want...
I'm way too sleepy to talk more about the wedding... because I have to wake up early and attend another wedding tomorrow. -___-" So here are some pictures of restaurants / food that I went to while I was in US the last time.
Cache Creek Casino
Erm... yes it's a casino, but the only place that I could take photos freely was at the restaurant that Ivan treated us to. Also, I don't know why Simon had to drive all the way up to Sacramento to gamble, but couldn't drive me to Gilroy more than once! Hmph! Really a troublesome thing when you need to depend on someone for transportation!
FYI, I gamble ... among family members. We gamble blackjack, mahjong, rummy... but it's ok because it's losing between family members! You don't feel the pinch as much. You could just think of it as, "Haiyah, just think of my losses as giving more spending money to parents / grandparents". I cannot wrap my brain around the idea of losing to some fatcat out there. Granted, you could WIN money from the fatcat, but over the long run.... if everyone made money from casinos, they would cease to exist, period.
However, since I was so bored waiting for Ivan and Simon to play blackjack, I played at the slots. Because you could sit down and just keep pressing one button intermittently and drag out your USD10 for as long as possible. -___- So here's one sneaky photo I took of the slot machine:
And here's the food from the buffet! US buffets are crazy! Each dish is practically a meal unto itself! Like, if there's something labelled "chicken chop", it's not like small pieces of chicken chop just for you to try how the meat tastes, but it's like, an entire chicken chop!! Something you would be paying like, RM20 for for your lunch! O____O
Mulligatawny soup and oxtail soup. I've read about mulligatawny soup before... and it sounds soooo exotic. It tastes like crap btw, couldn't finish the thing. In case you're wondering what it is, here's what I got from Dictionary.com : "a curry flavored soup of East Indian origin, made with chicken or meat stock."
Check out the size of the meatball in relation to the spagghetti it's supposed to accompany. O___O
The cherry pie I displayed in the earlier entry was from this buffet, and it was probably the bestest part of the buffet. Despite Simon saying that it was too sweet.
Jack In The Box
Nothing much to say about this place, except that I think the Sirloin Burger is much better than the coveted Double Double at In N Out. :P And that Ivan refers to it as "Crack In The Box".
Drive Thru eatin'... drivethru's in US are super efficient... absolutely no waiting time at all. O_O
The sirloin burger!!! Should photoshop in some sparkles or something to make it look more dramatic.
The cheesey wedges that have real cheese, but sadly, is not evenly distributed. -___-
Pizza Chicago
Before I arrive in California, Iza, my friend who is a pizza expert, said that I should eat at Pizza Chicago. Occasionally, in a bid to make me jealous, my boyfriend would also boast about this place, saying that the deep dish pizza is sooooooo delicious.
Basically, the pizza slices are much thicker due to it being cooked in a deeper pan, but it's also very oily. Ivan later explained that it's so oily because they have to pour in extra oil to ensure that the pizza is cooked through thoroughly. -____- I think it's due to the oiliness that the two of us lao sai for the next few days after having Pizza Chicago. But it was soooooo good. So delicious, but so fattening too. -___- And the service at Pizza Chicago was excellent. You know how sometimes people at the restaurant are quite stingy with their condiments? Not here. The guy practically kept on rattling random dips and sauces to go with the pizza that I didn't even know goes with pizza. Ranch dressing? Sure! Ketchup? Sure! Mustard? Okay! Sour cream? Why not! And the list goes on.
Fact of life.
Went to the restaurant to order, but took back home to eat in the comforts of an apartment.
And to watch High School Musical 2, haha.
What IS it made out of?!
Simon was sulking at me. Wonder what I did wrong...
The operators @ work say that I'm too demanding and "how can your boyfriend stand it la!"
Fact of life : women are not demanding, it's just that the men do not know how to anticipate our needs. If they could do so, then we wouldn't even need to VOICE out our needs, hence looking like DEMANDING people!
Would like to visit Chicago one day...
Would also like to watch Chicago on broadway one day... =D
Two pizzas for two people... gluttony is a sin.
You can read more about Pizza Chicago here.
Poor House Bistro
I felt so smart because I managed to find out about this place without Simon telling me! During my last trip, I did a LOT (and I mean a LOT) of investigation about San Jose. Tried to find out where all the good food could be found, what were the places of interest I could walk to... and one of the places that I read about was Poor House Bistro. The restaurant is about the size of a bungalow, seats available inside and outside the house. Jazz music can be heard all 'round, but we didn't manage to see a live band while we were there. :(
Also, it was ice hockey night, so the restaurant was quite crowded with sports fans, beer ready in hand. The people living in San Jose are pretty darn proud of the San Jose Sharks, and you can find the SJ Sharks merchandise everywhere. Anyway, the restaurant concept is a bit like fast food, but much healthier. They serve New Orleans food - jambalaya, gumbo, crawfish pasta... makes you feel like singing "Jambalaya on the Bayou", doesn't it?
This thingy will light up and vibrate when your order is ready. Keeps the lines moving and the customer doesn't need to stand and wait after placing the order. :) Great concept, eh? *jakun*
Quiet room... about an hour before the ice hockey match begins, so not many customers sit inside the restaurant. It was so cold outside! No way I would sit on the terrace!
:)
Cajun Popcorn - Tender shrimp corn meal coated with herbs and spices and fried, served with home made creole remoulade.
[I got this from the website... you think I can remember the menu description so well? HAHAH.]
Simon's Jambalaya .
My New Orlean's combo, that consists of gumbo, jambalaya and red beans and rice, served with corn bread.
This is insane... basically they expect me to eat 3 bowls of rice? O____O"
X-mas @ Ivan's House
One of the best meals that I ate while I was in San Jose was having Christmas Day lunch with Ivan, and I'm not just sayin'. ;P Basically, some good home-cooked food was much welcome after almost 2 weeks of eating out. Besides, Ivan is a really good cook, even his mom and dad say so. :) We had asparagus, a large side of ham and some shepherd's pie. Simon and I bought a large fruit tart over for dessert, but we were way too full after lunch to have some. :(
Oh, and Ivan has the cutest (and biggest) dog evar. She literally bowled me over when I met her because she jumped on me and suddenly me, who always feels like an elephant, became a tiny Asian that easily crashed to the floor upon her pounce. She's called Brandy and she's really playful. :) If you ever toss a ball for her, you're going to be stuck in the most mundane game of fetch for the next hour or so. But you can't help but to play with her because she's just soooo friendly. Haih, I miss you Brandy! :)
The shy chef refuses to take center stage, so greedy Simon ends up in the center of the photo.
The food! When I saw the asparagus, I was like, "Finally! Some vegetables make an appearance back in my life!" Hehehhe.
Our humble contribution... all the way from Safeway, haha!
A very nice photo of Brandy, if I may say so myself.
My camera actually has special setting for "pets". :O
After lunch with Ivan, we went to watch a movie.... I think we watched National Treasure 2. I don't even remember what it was like, because I fell asleep half way. :O This is why Simon should allow me to select the movies we watch instead. *demanding*
We also watched Enchanted and The Golden Compass while I was there.
I loved the former, not impressed by the latter... though we did end up buying Phillip Pullman's trilogy...
Random... I didn't even watch this show.
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