A digital travel diary. · WP v1.08 · Updated
Since March 2020, Alex has been trying to retake the A.C.T. test for college admission. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, all of these registered tests in California have been canceled.. . . . . . When the air quality in San Jose deteriorated due to nearby fires, we rented a house at Laguna Beach to escape the horrible, smoky air and take advantage of the work-from-home…
Read More: Vegas, Baby!
Due to the raging wildfires in the San Francisco Bay Area, the air quality deteriorated to some of the worst values in the whole country. The Air Quality Index (AQI), usually around 25-30, now exceeds 160 on multiple days. Hiking and mountain biking were now out of the question, and even our short walking in our neighborhood or around Vasona Lake became unpleasant due to…
Read More: Laguna Beach Workation
For Inna's Birthday dinner, I made reservations at Evvia - one of our favorite Palo Alto restaurants.. . . . Our dinner started with two glasses of sparkling wine and "Tzatziki & Pita.". . . . We also ordered some freshly picked crimini mushrooms.. . . . The mushrooms were incredibly delicious and one of our all-time favorites. Being conservative, I ordered "Moussaka" as my…
Read More: Inna’s Birthday Dinner at Evvia
For pre-Valentine's Day, I reserved an 8:00pm dinner at The Plumed Horse - a 1-star Michelin-rated restaurant in Saratoga.. . We have always enjoyed eating at The Plumed Horse - even more than at the 3 Michelin Star-rated Manresa in downtown Los Gatos.. . . . The Chef's Tasting Menu consisted of the following delicacies:. Roasted Brussel Sprouts - parsnip, grapes, lemon verbena streusel .…
Read More: Dinner at Plumed Horse
For Father's Day, Inna surprised me with a dinner at the Black Sheep Brasserie in Willow Glen. I selected the hard Washington Apple Cider for drinks, but I did not like it (it was too sweet). Inna tried one of the unique cocktails - the Lava Flow Punch - and she liked it a lot.. LAVA FLOW PUNCHST. BENEVOLENCE RUM | GIFFARD BANANE DU BRÉSIL…
Read More: Dining at Black Sheep Brasserie
For Inna's Birthday, I took her to Bouchon, a Michelin 1-star restaurant in Yountville, CA. I made dinner reservations in advance for 15:15 using OpenTable.com.. . . . When we arrived on Saturday at 15:15, our table was ready, and we sat down quickly. We ordered the following items from the Bouchon menu:. . Appetizer. Liver Mousse (Patte). Salads & Soups. Salade Maraîchère au Chèvre…
Read More: Inna’s Birthday Dinner at Bouchon
I decided to try the Bellagio restaurant in downtown Campbell for Valentine's Day dinner with my wife. It had excellent reviews on Yelp and Google and was nearby.. . The Valentine's Day Menu was $75/person and included the following items:. . . San Valentino, February 14, 2019 . . . Antipasti . Crab cakes, fresh crab, lemon, garlic, aioli . . . Insalata . Organic…
Read More: Dinner at Bellagio
For our 17th Wedding Anniversary, we decided to have a nice, romantic dinner at the Evvia Restaurant in Palo Alto. At first, I made dinner reservations at 21:00 on Sunday, October 14th (using OpenTable), but I could book an earlier time (by calling the restaurant directly).. . The last time we dined at Evvia was on Bella's 83rd birthday, and we enjoyed our dinner a…
Read More: Anniversary Dinner at Evvia
Since returning from our incredible summer trip to Japan (where we tasted the most delicious ramen at a small restaurant in Matsumoto), we have been looking for a similar experience in San Jose. One of my co-workers suggested I try the Hokkaido Ramen Santouka place at the Mitsui Marketplace (Japanese grocery store) nearby.. . Although I lived nearby, I have never been inside Mitsui Marketplace.…
Read More: Eating Ramen at Hokkaido Ramen Santouka
Since it was my son's 16th Birthday, we decided to treat him to lunch at the Michelin-rated Alexander's Steakhouse in Cupertino.. . . . I made reservations for Saturday, August 4, at 13:45. Before eating lunch, we decided to stop by for a couple of bowling games at Bowlero in San Jose.. . . . We played 3 games, and I scored 111 on the…
Read More: Alex’s Birthday Lunch at Alexander’s Steakhouse
I have always liked the entrees and desserts at the Plumed Horse - a Michelin 1-star restaurant in Saratoga. When it was time for Valentine's Day, I reserved a spot for my wife and me.. . . . The Plumed Horse prepared a special Valentine's Tasting menu for $225 per person (quite a steep price).. . When we arrived, we were quickly seated at our…
Read More: Plumed Horse, Saratoga
On the way to Hallstatt from Vienna, we stopped for lunch at the beautiful village of Bad Ischl. The drive from Vienna was relatively uneventful except for traffic approaching Bad Ischl and Hallstatt. On the way here, we saw many beautiful Austrian lakes and houses decorated with flowers.. . . . Bad Ischl is a small, beautiful village with a highly rated Kaffee Zauner (used…
Read More: Lunch at Bad Ischl
For Inna's birthday with our family, we decided to try the well-rated Hult's restaurant in downtown Los Gatos. We have always wanted to try it since it's supposed to be run by a former Swedish Hockey player.. . . . . When we arrived at Hult's on Saturday evening, Valet parking was available for $6, but I decided to find free parking nearby. Although Hult's…
Read More: Inna’s Birthday Dinner at Hult’s
For Inna's upcoming birthday, I made a reservation at the well-rated (but perpetually unavailable) Nick's Next Door restaurant in downtown Los Gatos.. . When we arrived at Nick's on Thursday evening, we found plenty of parking on East Main Street. We arrived at a fully packed restaurant but were quickly seated. Inna thought the restaurant would be very romantic, but it was extremely loud and…
Read More: Inna’s Birthday Dinner at Nick’s Next Door
After work (due to heavy traffic on 85), Inna and I decided to stop by for dinner on Castro Street in Mountain View.. . We usually eat at our favorite Oren's Hummus Shop, but this time, we decided to be adventurous and try the nearby Bushido - a Japanese Sushi restaurant. We chose to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful, warm November weather. It's much…
Read More: Harakiri at Bushido, Mountain View
Before seeing "The Hard Problem" at the Geary Theater, we stopped by for dinner at the well-recommended Cafe Claude in San Francisco, conveniently near the Sutter-Stockton garage.. . . . We made reservations in advance, but Cafe Claude was not very busy Wednesday evening. Cafe Clause serves a limited number of French dishes in a casual setting.. . . . Our waitress recommended the "Brandade…
Read More: Enjoying Cafe Claude in San Francisco
For our family day, we decided to try playing Bocce Ball at the local Campo di Bocce restaurant and Bocce ball game center. I made reservations for 1:30pm (90 minutes of playtime) on Sunday, October 2nd.. . . . While playing Bocce Ball, we ordered a few appetizers and entrees from the restaurant.. . Alex selected the following dishes for himself:. Garlic Bread. Caesar Salad.…
Read More: Campo di Bocce, Los Gatos
For my birthday, Inna surprised me by making reservations at the newly opened Bywater Restaurant in downtown Los Gatos. Since this restaurant was newly opened by David Kinch, the famous chef of the 3 Michelin-star rated Manresa (also in Los Gatos), we were eager to have a bite there.. . When I lived in Houston, CA (after graduating from Georgia Tech), I got used to…
Read More: The Bywater Restaurant in Los Gatos
After the Potted Potter show, we had dinner at a nearby restaurant. However, finding parking was a struggle, and I drove round and round. Eventually, we settled on Chubby Noodle at 2205 Lombard Street - a quirky little place that serves exciting dishes.. . . . We ordered a "Spicy Garlic Fried Chicken" entree, "Korean Pork Tacos," a "Duck Wrap," and a "Green Papaya Salad.".…
Read More: Chubby Noodle in San Francisco
Back to Maui!. . Having scheduled a very early 7:20 a.m. departure from San Jose (SJC) airport (bound for Kahului, Maui, we woke up groggy at 4:30 a.m. We decided to try using Uber to avoid parking at the airport, and I had a driver at my house in 10 minutes! We arrived at the terminal by 5:30 a.m. and had plenty of time to…
Read More: Relaxing in Grand Wailea, Maui