Last day of 2014 - breakfast plus dinner and a new dessert

Earlier this morning....

like waaaaay fkg earlier (5:30 am)....I had the kitchen set up for today's breakfast with some very good friends. Yeah, I'm pretty anal and set things out with labels a night or two ahead of time. Actual breakfast wouldn't be until a few hours later but I had to time things right with time to spare because that's how I roll...

Recent visits to Pho Hiep Grill Chateau

About a week ago, my sis and I went to one of our favorite Vietnamese spots down South for a late lunch...

We'd just attended our uncle's funeral service and didn't want to go to VIP Oriental buffet afterwards, so...

Pigs need love too? Brunch at Gelato Vero with Bert

See this cute thing?

Babe/Wilbur isn't served here...

and despite me having gone there twice before for brunch...

for some reason, my brain blanked out on their lack of meat in their  menu...

J & H Hopia & Filipino Desserts

As I was looking at all of my "unfinished" posts, I came across this one buried in the queue...

Late 2013, I had the ambitious plan of doing a series of hopia posts...

asides from my dad's (which are the best of course), this quest took me to various Filipino bakeries throughout San Diego...

Christmas Eve Desserts, Christmas lunch and the day after Dinner at Manna BBQ in Chula Vista with friends

This is what the parking lot looked like Christmas Eve (okay, late afternoon of Christmas Eve)...

It was crazier than normal with folks (myself included) buying last minute items...

You gotta love their version of the tree by placing Filipino foodstuffs as decor...

The reason I was here? To buy desserts for dinner...

Thai trio - Noodles Noodles,The Green Bar, and Krua Thai

Sometime during the winter break we had our Thai fix at various places in the South Bay...

I think I've pretty much covered all of the Thai places down here. Noodles Noodles is in IB in the same strip mall as Rally's....

Christmas Time is Here Again

Merry Christmas...

(Christmas tree in Graffiti Beach shop in South Park)

and best wishes for a prosperous, happy, and healthy new year...

Beef 'n Bun Whistle Stop

We were recommended to try Beef 'n Bun in El Cajon...

a place that has been here "forever" it seems...

How can you say no to this penguin holding a burger?

Trinitea Tea

We actually passed this on our way to Cowles Mountain and I was excited because I had a coupon for this place....

It was just a few minutes away from Cowles and also very close to our eventual breakfast destination...

Cowles Mountain Coffee

At the corner of Navajo Road and Golfcrest is this building...

which is right at the base and main trailhead of Cowles Mountain...

Highlights from this morning - Cowles Mountain

Finally, after all these years of living in San Diego...

We finally did it...

Christmas Videos - Pop Culture faves

I guess it's because I don't have a small kid anymore that I didn't know what the big deal with this was...

"The Elf on a Shelf", which apparently has its fans as well as detractors....

Soup Three Ways Part 2 - Pho, Arroz Caldo & Ramen

Sometimes I get a craving for soup...

La Ley and I were here recently; it was her second time and my umpteenth...

A trio of additional 85c visits...

On a few recent Sundays TC did some community service and while she was out, Bert and I went to 85C for breakfast...

Rare clouds in sunny San Diego while en route on the 5...

Christmas Decor....

I didn't put out too many decoration this year...

On top of our piano is this...

Zion Food Court + Paris Baguette

Last weekend, we met up with Bert's oldest brother and his family. Instead of meeting up north in La Jolla (ugh), I made the (strong) suggestion that we meet in mid-San Diego for an early dinner...

More specifically, at the Zion Food Court which has a lot of choices plus some great desserts. I thought the teens would enjoy that more than a stuffy restaurant with shitty parking...

Christmas books Part 3 - The Golden Books

See the Pez with the green "body"?  That's the newest Christmas Pez.

 I like it so much better than the previous elf (not shown) which looks a bit on the creepy side. This one is more cute. Plus he's green!  Some of the Pez dispensers have candy in them, but I don't really eat the candy. To be honest, I don't know how old some of it is, so yeah, that would be gross to ingest it. But I digress, this post is about books....

Porto's, ice cream from Ralph's, return to Juice Adventure, Mandarin Chinese + treats from Trader Joe's

Last month, we celebrated the youngest niece's birthday which was also the same night of the Pacquaio fight. I stayed for the birthday party but left for the fight so I could decorate the living room early for Christmas (pre-Thanksgiving weekend) because I'm anal like that.

Anyhow, Bert texted me these photos...

To which I replied, "Well bring some of that home then!"....

Christmas Books Part 2 - Pop Culture figures

Another sign of Christmas for us is bringing out  the decor, which include my Christmas Pez collection...

which are on top of the TV in our media cabinet...

Christmas Books Part 1 - "A Charlie Brown Christmas"

You know it's Christmas time when you see these in Seafood City...

Red wax covered imported Edam cheese. Yes, Just like the "bola bola" cheese heralds the Christmas season, so begins the Christmas traditions in our household...

Beach Chalet murals at the Golden Gate Park Visitor's Center

After seeing the bison and windmills at Golden Gate Park, we headed over to the Beach Chalet at the end of the Great Highway...

I'd read about this place on Roadside America...

and me being such a geek for history and trivia definitely wanted us to pay a visit...

La Nueva Bakery 3x + Parol Festival 2014

Earlier today was the Pasacat Parol Lantern Festival...

Like last  year, it also rained, but luckily, not as hard. As you can see, the sun did come out that afternoon. However before heading to the building, I first went to the bakery across the street from Asian Cafe...

Virgin of Guadalupe 2014

Holy Mary!

Uh, was that sacriligious of me?

Today is the feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe (heretofore referred to as the VoG)...

Clockwork Coffee Shoppe

This past weekend, Bert and I had another 'morning' date while TC was out during practice.

This was actually our second stop (the first will be posted in a combo post later) which took us to the College Area...

Sushi Diner & Up2 You Cafe revisit + K Sandwiches

Sometime during the Thanksgiving Break, TC and I went here once again...

this time with one of her friends coming along...

New favorite dish at Asia Cafe + price hike in their menu

We escaped the parking hell in North Park and headed south to 47th and Market Street...

Yes, to one of our favorites....

Return to Nomad Donuts

Alright, I just had to come back and give this place another shot...

Darlene's Zagat report on Nomad came out on Wednesday and while this place wasn't quite one week old into their soft opening, there was already a line at 10 am this past Saturday morning (and 17 up from 9 reviews from Y***)...

I sure hoped they had some donuts left by the time we hit the counter...

The new Up2You Cafe.

During the recent South Bay food crawl, Jinxi mentioned that Up2You had a new location. Wut?  I totally missed this as they have been open since early summer.

It's right up the street from K Sandwiches and Sushi Diner, in the same strip mall that has Homestyle Hawaiian...

Sushi Diner

Around the corner from K Sandwiches is a duo of hole in the wall restaurants, sharing the same building, Mien Trung and Sushi Diner. This post is about Sushi Diner (not pictured below).

This is the parking lot behind Sushi Diner which is near a hidden beauty shop. There are only a few parking spaces in the back and we got lucky snagging one that afternoon, dagnabbit.

I'd never paid attention to the sushi place next door to Mien Trung until recently...

Nomad Donuts

As San Diegans experienced this Wednesday, it was wet and miserable from the storm and if you had to take the freeways, it totally sucked.  This coming from me, the person with the five minute commute. I know, wah wah wah, right. But man, it was a white knuckle drive for me until I got to surface streets.

(the random store on the corner of 30th and University is going out of business!)

I had the day off to attend several appointments and from the 805 all the way up the 94, it was a damn nightmare with traffic crawling along. Out of frustration, I got off on the 94 instead of going up to the El Cajon Blvd exit. I thought to take the "long way" up 30th to get where I wanted to go....

85C Bakery, San Diego

Last week during the break, I took TC along with me to do some errands. The first one was a trip to the Superior Court to talk to a clerk about me finishing my online traffic school class. Yes, we waited 40 minutes to have a less than one minute interaction with the clerk. It was quite fun indeed.  To sweeten the deal, I promised TC that we would stop by the newly opened 85C Bakery...

Here is a shot while at the red light...

Look for this sign....

Return to TJ Oyster Bar (3rd location)

During Black Friday weekend,  we had a craving for tacos and since Bert hadn't been here yet...

it was a good excuse for a revisit...

Bart, a sorpresa, more yarnbombs at BGCB, and baklava cake from Donut Panic

[Update - Broke Girls Coffee Bar closed May 2015 and is now Backyard Cafe]

From City Farmers Nursery, we drove up the hill and turned on Fairmont Ave...

before taking the "scenic" route through El Cajon Blvd. to get to Normal Heights to our favorite bookstore...

Sunflower Coffee Company

It was time for some cold drinks...

containing caffeine...Of course, diligent readers already know (or have a 50/50 chance of guessing) what I ordered because I'm predictable like that...

Bunny Kitty, Christmas display windows,yarn bombs, pastries at Rebecca's and Stop Target poster...

Originally we were going to take our Christmas photo near the Bunny Kitty mural in South Park....

It was a good thing we didn't since there was some sort of yard sale going on...

City Farmers Nursery

In early September,  the Educator GF's and I celebrated TORC and D's birthday at Nate's Garden Grill. We also took a peek at the adjacent City Farmers Nursery...

It was a pretty hot summer if you recall...

Our anti-Black Friday - Return to Nate's Garden Grill

Shopping on Black Friday has never really been our thing. Instead of heading off to the mall with the rest of the angry hordes, we put up our Christmas tree and once it was up, headed off to lunch...

over in City Heights, right off Home Ave from the 805...

As you can see, not a cloud in the sky...

Return to Grant's Marketplace

Last weekend, we headed over to South Park to take our family Christmas photo in the parking lot of abandoned laundromat on 30th and Redwood.  Why there? They have awesome street art murals and I wanted something entirely different from last year as well...

We did "photo shoot" first, then it was off to breakfast in the same neighborhood...

South Cali Steak Burger Bar

A few days ago TC and I were down in south CV which gave us an opportunity to finally go here...

The South Cali Steak Burger Bar on the southwest corner of Third and Montgomery. Back in the odle days, this used to be a mariscos place for the longest time...

Thanksgiving 2014

It was so nice getting this card in the mail earlier this week...

I have such a thoughtful hairstylist who is "old school" in that she loves to send cards for all of the major holidays. I like that and who doesn't love getting something nice in the mail?

This year, Thanksgiving was once again spent at my parents' house...