New flavors from Oasis Ice Cream Parlor

After our lunch at the San Diego Poke Co., nephew #2 drove us all down.

to our favorite ice cream place in the South Bay...

Dole Whip, Belmont Park

Today was the last Friday before our Fall Break ended. Bert took the day off to be with me, TC and a friend. We spent the morning over in Mission Beach, specifically Belmont Park...

The Dole Whip truck didn't open until noon so we made sure to come back later once we had lunch...

Turkish Delight from Balboa International Market and Harvest International Market

Last week Bert and I had some free time and decided to check out a new ethnic market...

I'd just read Cathy's recent post on Balboa (linked at the end) and remarked to Bert that we should check it out.

It's kind of hidden on Balboa Ave (behind Mr. Fish and Chips) and in the same strip mall with Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore and Sufi Mediterranean Cuisine...

Pokirrito

With our second week of break nearly done, I took TC and her good friend out to the lunch spot of their choice...

which was in one of the parking lots from Heck on Convoy.

The new 85C, National City

Another "late to the party" thing for me...

was the new'ish opening of 85C Bakery in National City.

It's diagonal across from Jollibee and next to a Mission Federal Credit Union...

Public Square Coffee House

After our quick stop at Papa's Donuts (yay for mini malasadas!), TC and I headed to downtown La Mesa...

to give a new coffee house recommended by Cathy a try...

Because I don't like using parking meters, we parked several blocks away on Finley (near Sprouts)...

San Diego Poke Co.

I know I'm "late to the party" for the poke trend...

My sis and her son (nephew #3) wanted to give San Diego Poke Co. a try....

Facchini's

Another super hot day for the books...

Today, I was solo when I met up with Mary of This Tasty Life up in her 'hood...

Mr. Bread

The striped awnings with a cute stylized happy baker on it lured me in like the Millenium Falcon to the Death Star's massive tractor beam...

Bert already knew from the look on my face that we would have to go in...

Moreton Bay Fig Tree + scenes from Balboa Park

Another beautiful sunny day in San Diego...

(heading east on the 163 approaching the Cabrillo Bridge that links Uptown to Balboa Park)

Hey look, the building where I was born eons ago...

(The old Balboa Naval Hospital)

We were on our way to Balboa Park for a photography meetup that TC wanted to attend...

Bear Buns Bakery

Across the street from Maggie's Cafe was this cute steep roofed building...

which houses the Bear Buns Bakery shop.

Astroboi has actually had baked goods from here before and I wanted to check a particular item recommended by Mary...

Bert's belated birthday dinner @ Cafe 21, Adams Ave

September was nearly over and Bert had a free birthday meal to use up...

Usually, we've gone to Cafe 21 for my previous birthdays. This time, it was his turn...

Maggie's Cafe

It's always a good time for a coupon adventure. This time

it was a breakfast meetup with my dear friend Astroboi...

Swami's Cafe, La Mesa

Bert had the day off yesterday which was a treat for me and TC...

He had driving duty (as always) to La Mesa where I was recently with the teen.

This time, we would have breakfast in La Mesa's downtown district...

Return to Papa's Donuts

At the northern end of the strip mall is Papa's Donuts.

When I was last here in April, it was a very tiny space with only room to walk in and no place to sit. No longer...

Patty's Cafe

Yesterday TC and I braved the morning traffic...

From the 125 (thank goodness for my fast pass) to the 8 east...

Over to La Mesa in the strip mall with Papa's Donuts (revisit post is forthcoming), Big Lots and Goodwill...

House of Pancakes

When you hear the words House of Pancakes, you usually think of the breakfast type of pancakes, like IHOP.

You won't find those here at this establishment...

Refill

Late last month we made the trek to Hillcrest...

to try out a new coffee/crepes place...

just a few steps away from the now defunct lesbian bar, The Flame on Park Blvd...

Return to Marco Polo Ice Cream

Yes, it was the return to Marco Polo Ice Cream...

I noticed that formerly dead patch in front had now sprouted grass...

Mellow's Cafe

One thing that we really like about the motel we were staying at was its proximity to the L-Taraval Streetcar.  If we wanted to, we could go downtown for the one-way fare price of  $2.25  (youth ages 5-17 are only $1). With that, the ride would also take 45 minutes. No, our destination was just going to be nearby Taraval St.

The motel actually gives earplugs to guests who find the noise bothersome especially at night. For all of the times we've stayed here, it's never been an issue for any of us having a problem falling asleep because of the noise.

For me, whenever I'm in a different city, I am more accepting of the ambient street noise I suppose.
There were several places we wanted to go on Taraval, the first one was another request by TC...

Philz Coffee, Burlingame

At the time of this writing, I learned that San Diego will be home to a future Philz Coffee in La Jolla and Encinitas.

It was the Philz in Burlingame that we visited during our Spring Break...

Return to Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia (formerly known as the Pez Museum), Burlingame

Has it really been this long since we were last here?

Bert and I first visited this museum when it was still called the Pez Museum...

Return to SFSU - the Filipino student mural + a college track meet

In keeping with our usual MO whenever we visit a city, we  made a stop at a local university...

It had been about sixe years since our last visit...

Strawberry Hill, Golden Gate Park

During our last trip to SF, Bert had this place on his "must see" list...

It's a spot in Golden Gate Park with a picturesque name...

and in the middle of a small lake in Golden Gate Park.

Return to Twisted Donuts & Coffee

Once more, we were here at Twisted...

since it was right across the street from Home Cafe...

Spring Break Road Trip 2016 - Day 5: Return to Noriega Produce + hipster toast & drinks at Home Cafe

It was great to be back in this part of the city.

I much prefer the quiet neighborhood vibe rather than the hustle and bustle of the city itself...

Pho Duyen Mai

Last night we had a TC-less evening. She was out with some friends in the Convoy area for Korean BBQ.

The kids were nearby (as were the birthday celebrant's parents who went to a nearby ramen place). We were across the freeway at a newly opened Vietnamese place...

Return to Andytown Coffee Roasters

Over by 43rd and Lawton...

was one of our favorite coffee roasters...

Return to Pineapple King

Okay, I lied. Before we crashed at our motel, we went to the Inner Sunset...

to this popular bakery,

to Pineapple King once more...

Marnee Thai, Outer Sunset

From the Presidio to the Sunset District...

where we would finally have a square meal after having been to so many places since the crack of dawn...

The Yoda Fountain + Lucasfilms Headquarters

The last time Bert and I were at the Presidio was for a wedding more than twenty years ago.

This time, we were back, in a different part of the Presido to see yet another permutation of a certain 900 year old Jedi Master...

Admission is free and so is parking, so if you're an original Star Wars trilogy freaks like we are...

Pappalecco, Kensington revisits

Ever since they opened in early Spring, we've been to Pappalecco in Kensington a few times...

I had an online coupon that "needed" to be used, heh heh.

TC was with me during this particular outing...

The last stops: THH & Cream Pan

Behold...the new Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet sign on the I-5...

The road here has been widened and was one of the surprises we discovered while on our way home from our Spring Break trip earlier this year.

Our last stop was House Roots Coffee in Granada Hills...A few hours later, we were passing by downtown LA...

House Roots Coffee

Literally a few minutes away from Ninong's Pastries & Cafe was our third and last stop in Granada Hills...

I also found out about this while doing a "coffee" search online and saw that it was really just a "pop up" on the second floor of a Korean Methodist church...

Ninong's Pastries & Cafe

Earlier this year, one of my older nephews posted a photo of his pancake flight...

which was from this Filipino owned and run eatery in Granada Hills...

We all wanted to try that pancake flights and well, here we were...