Canada 2012 - Night 1 - Zet's

Okay...here goes!

After arriving in YYZ late night, we got our rental car and were wondering where to eat for dinner. I find that sometimes the best recommendations come from locals, not guide books that want to steer visitors to tourist traps.  We wanted someplace that was open at night. Someplace near the airport and someplace good. The guy at the rental car lot recommended several places, such as Swiss Chalet (a Canadian chain that specializes in chicken) and Zet's...

"Zet's...That's Zed-E-T-S!" he told us....

He gave us some simple directions and off we went in search for a late night meal...

Return to Nordstrom Cafe

Today I had the pleasure of joining both C from CAB Cooks and Kirbie from Kirbie's Cravings for lunch...

A view of the historic Keating Building, which houses Croce's (corner of F and Fifth) in the Gaslamp Quarter...

Bamboo Garden

Last Spring, we noticed that there would be a new restaurant next to Tastea Grill called Bamboo Garden (see post here). Although I never did get to try it out, Bert told me it was Chinese food.

Then, we noticed this sign stating the restaurant was under new ownership...

and it was now a Thai place!

Of course TC and I just had to check it out...

Airport dining...and back home!

We arrived in the wee early morning hours at the Sudbury Airport...

No one was there yet except for the workers!

Craving...

Here is more of that day when I went out with CAB...

Since she was down South, we made a stop at Teresita's...

Sweet Sisters 3x

I forgot to post this before we left on vacation...

After our lunch at Memelas with CAB, we headed over here for something sweet...

The Bomber Complex and Cheese Sandwiches

When we saw the word "Bomber" we knew we were in the right place...

As an avid seeker of all things odd, I  knew we just had to see this roadside oddity...

Things from Another World comic shop

Whenever we visit a city, we usually try to visit several places - a college or university for TC, an ice cream place for all of us, a wierd roadside attraction or museum for me...

and a comic book store for Bert and myself...

Searching for Dark Horse...plus Wunderland in Milwaukie

After cranking out those Canada Highlights posts, it's time to return to Portland.

We're still on Day 4, which was spent with KDB. We had just dropped him off after our ice cream break at Salt & Straw, and were headed to Milwaukie...

We passed by the Sheridan Fruit Company on SE MLK...

We also drove past the Carts on Foster food pod on SE Foster Road. KDB told us he was planning to order cannolis from Holy Cannoli for an upcoming party.

So many food pods...so little time! Let's carry on shall we?

Canada Trip - Day 10 Highlights

This was to be our last full day before leaving at the ungodly hour of 2 am to get to the Sudbury Airport.

But first, breakfast!

Made by C's dad. He got this corned beef (with Chili) at an Asian store in Montreal. The meat are actual chunks not the smashed up block like Hereford's brand. He mixed it up with eight eggs and made a torta...

ABC Music Humpday Videos 2.0 - "Y" is for...

I just realized this image is pretty close to the one I used for "X" (since it had flames)...

Getting down to the last two...

Canada Trip - Day 9 Highlights

C's friends were gracious enough to let us stay at their place again before we headed back to the Island. Before we left, the husband took us on yet another quick tour of Ottawa.

One of the original uses of this ornate building was housing farm animals for exhibits (circa mid to late 1850's)...

And because we weren't able to stop at C's favorite bagel place in Montreal, her friend's husband took us to a local place that did it "Montreal style"...

Canada Trip - Day 8 Highlights

We spent the night in Montreal...

Here's one of the sitting lounges at our swanky hotel...

Although we got a tiny glimpse of Montreal's Old Port at night, we wanted to see it during the day before we headed back to Ottawa...

Canada Trip - Day 7 Highlights

C's friend joined us for breakfast at a very popular QC spot...

FarmerJohn pouring syrup over the breakfast special...

Canada Trip - Day 6 Highlights

We did a change up in plans and decided to stay in Quebec City instead of going to Granby (at C's friend's sister's place - it's farther out, like three hours away from QC).

Anyhow, here are some Canadian snacks. Crispers are like Wheatables. Bits & Bites are like Chex Mix...

The drive times between the cities were hellaciously long!  Plus their freeways are always in a state of construction...

Canada Trip - Day 5 Highlights

After our 8 hour trek from the Island to Ottawa, we spent the night at C's friend's home in the nation's capital. Their neighborhood is about a twenty minute walk away to Parliament Hill...

Of course, we didn't walk that day. The heat and humidity were oppressive.

We headed over to the city's oldest market...

ABC Music Humpday Videos 2.0 - "X" is for...

"X" marks the spot...

Other than the punk band "X" from L.A., there was no other fitting choice than this group...

Canada Trip - Day 4 Highlights

It was nice to be back in Tehkummah with C and her family...

It's such a slower pace of life here...

Canada Trip - Day 3 Highlights

Even while on vacation, I just HAD to consult Kirk's blog for a recipe...

Made, of course, with a few key changes...

Canada Trip - Day 2 Highlights

The next day we headed out to Sudbury to meet up with our friend, C of Life on Manitoulin. It had been two years since we last saw each other.

We saw this space ship looking movie theater as we were trying to get to HWY 400...

Ready for blast off, eh!

Canada Trip - Day 1 Highlights

Hey now...we are in the land that spawned Gedde Lee, Justin Bieber, Mike Myers (not the serial killer in "Halloween"), Ryan Reynolds, William Shatner, David Cronenberg, and Bryan Adams!

Highlights to be posted when possible. Full posts to come upon my return and probably stretched out over the next few months (or years, heh heh! I'm not even done with our Portland trip!)...Day 1 doesn't have too much but here goes anyways!

We touched down quite late in YYZ. Based on the recommendation of the rental car guy, we went here for dinner at 10:30 pm...

Sadly, we did not eat here (if only to say the awesome name). Actually it was next to a Canadian convenience store...

I'm sure the night shift clerk thought he was nearly done until we walked in at 11:45 pm. foraging for snacks for the next day and also waters.

"Aaah shit!" I can't lock up yet! Get out so I can go home!" (was probably going through his mind)

Yeah...we got these chips here. Don't hate until you try 'em...

Return to Memelas

Today, TC and I had the pleasure of having lunch with C of Cab Cooks...

It was also another excuse to come back here! Yeah, man!

Can you see it?

I went and did it...

I had my hairstylist put in a streak of purple in my hair. Since I'm on vacation, I figured it would be fun to try something new. Once work starts up again, I can always dye it back to black. Or not!

It's not that noticeable unless I am in the light.

I haven't dyed my hair before. She had to bleach the hair a tiny bit to strip the color, then added the "Purple Passion" hair dye (forgot the brand). The first brand didn't take so I went back later to have another brand put in. This time, you could see it.

Maybe she should have bleached it at 30% instead of 10%, then kept the color in for longer. It was only on the foils for 25 minutes. Gawd, imagine if it was my whole head of hair, this would have taken FOREVER. As it was only a small swatch of hair, I thought it would be a fun experiment to do. It still took about an hour and fifteen minutes. How do all these women carve chunks of time to do highlights and all is beyond me!

Anyhow...that's that!

I love purple!

Snacks at K Sandwiches

Immediately after our lunch at Mien Trung, we walked over to K Sandwiches...

I wanted to pick up a few snacks for now and later...

Mien Trung

This weekend we were craving something new...

It was high time to visit this place that I'd been hearing and reading about for years...

Salt and Straw

We had enough of the dark at Ground Kontrol. It was time to get out into the gray daylight once again. After parking down the block, we passed by this roller skating store. They had cool gear there. Maybe it's for the roller derby chicks...

Across the street was the ice cream place we wanted to go to...

Let's go in, shall we?

ABC Music Humpday Videos 2.0 - "W" is for...

This week's installment is of course from the 80's...1987 to be exact!


A very special year this was...

Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade

We crossed one of Portland's many bridges to get to the outer edges of downtown...

We were headed to a place I'd read about that I knew Bert would love...

Mr. Potato - Otay Ranch Farmer's Market

I hadn't been to the Otay Ranch Town Center (aka Mall) Farmer's Market in ages....

As I passed by this booth, the word 'Borek' caught my eye.  I had to try at least one...

Return to Good Food Here pod - Viking Soul

As promised earlier, we made a return trip to the Good Food Here pod.

We were especially curious about this cart...

Mazama Mountaineering Center

Oops, we didn't go to the food pod right away after Mike's Movie Madness....

Instead, KDB wanted us first to see the lodge for his mountain climbing club...

Mike's Movie Madness - Part 2 (the Return)

After picking up KDB, we headed back towards his favorite video store...

It was past 11 am and my curiosity was killing me...

McD's 'n shades...

I'm not above posting on McD's...

Not when I had a coupon to use...

Movie and a dinner...

Last week we made use of some free movie tickets so we could watch Thor Snow White and the Huntsman

I was expecting to see Iron Man appear in this movie...just kidding! It's been a week and so far it's #1 at the box office...

Memelas: Tacos+ Thai + Rock

Hot off the press!

If you're ever down in the Bonita area, take the 805 South to the Bonita Road exit. 

Don't be afraid to drive down south.  Immediately, you will see this tiny strip mall (which used to house Pier 1 ages ago). Now look closely. Is that a horned rock 'n' roll salute you see? Holding a taco?

OMFG, we are SO THERE!  After months of passing by this place, it was finally time to stop by...

Return to Sweet Sisters Bakery and Cafe

Today TC and I had the pleasure of having lunch with MFH. Since I had tried Sweet Sisters Bakery a few weekends ago, I thought it would be a good opportunity to try their non dessert items...

There was construction near the art deco El Primero Hotel on Third (past the Downtown Chula Vista sign). If you want to park for free, you can go to the parking structure near Fuddruckers like we did and just walk across the street....

Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden

This was a Portland travel magazine that KDB let me borrow. In it, you can see the different neighborhoods and "quadrants" of Portland...

During our 2nd visit to this beautiful city, we pretty much went to almost every neighborhood and quadrant, but we preferred the SE the best...

As mentioned in the previous Portland post, we had some time to kill. We just bought some snacks from An Xuyen and now we were on our way to a garden located near Reed College...

Another baby shower...

This past weekend was quite busy! The bazaar and also a baby shower!

Yes, another baby shower in  less than a month! This time, it was for MFH's daughter...

Bazaar food...

This past weekend, we paid a visit to the annual St. Charles Bazaar in South San Diego. They have it every first weekend in June...

Lots of choices...

Memorial Day - Dogs 'n Burgers

This past Memorial Day we kept it low key...

It was just us three and an opportunity for Bert to fire up the grill again...

Russian Elegant Food...and return to An Xuyen Bakery

Our attempt to visit Mike's Movie Madness was a bust. It was still too early in the morning. KDB needed to get some stuff done for work so he suggested that we drop him off and pick him up in  a hours. We had some to kill so I asked Bert if we could check out this Russian place we passed by on the way to KDB's:

Elegant? I noticed that there were quite a few ethnic eateries and bakeries along this particular stretch of road...

ABC Music Humpday Videos 2.0 - "V" is for...

This week's entry is one of these (it's a noun):

Here's one of the earliest known examples from the 70's:

and one from the 80's (which includes one person from the first example):

Ooh now....still wondering?