Minions

This is just too cute to ignore. Ordered something on Amazon, and this was the first time we got this kind of promotion.

It's a minion decorated box. The kids were wonderin what the heck it was, thinkin it was something for them.

Things we never knew about you Joe

 I've never really understood what the hype is all about with Trader Joe's until maybe just three years ago. All this time, I look at their store as one of those specialty groceries boasting "out of the ordinary" food.

 I even tried to convince myself that Ralph's or even Walmart is a better alternative. But when you look closely to what you're eating, you'd soon realize that Joe's is the way to go. They have food which you may consider not 100% healthy but if you look at it closely, they have better selections, no doubt.

Back when hunting for these would give her this huge smile

 While I was trying to update myself about what's going on with the world, I came upon this article and I'm totally guilty that I did not know about most of these things either. I was even surprised that some of their products were popular in the Philippines such as the cookie butter above. It was so popular  that people back there would fork out as much as $10 per jar. 

Cookie Butter Sandwich Cookies

 We regularly shop at TJ now. Anna love's their salad while I'm in it for the best one's, their desserts. We may fork out an extra dollar or two for an item but you get good tasting and high quality food. 

Cookie Butter Cheesecake Bites

 I'm so lucky to even purchase one of their reusable bags a few years back. And we're using it up to now. Just shows how their products are well made.

 With most stores here in the US either closing (read some Fresh and Easy branches) or being taken over by big corporations, I wish that Trader Joe's would stay for a while all the way to my grand kids and so on without breaking the food quality or sacrificing food choices.  Kudos TJ!

Kula revolving sushi

Last time we've been to one like this was in LA a few years back. The first one we've been to was Genji-Greenhills back in PI.

They've been around in Cali, but most of their restaurants are located in LA. It's their soft opening and the line was an estimated 45 minute wait. I could just imagine what it's gonna be like on the grand. For me, it's another joint that serves sushi and maybe this is just a hype that San Diegans are clamoring about. Then they have a neon sign right by the door that says "$2.25 per plate". That made me think twice, just because the cheapskate in me kicked me in the nuts.

It's a lil on teh hi-tech side compared to the fancier one we've been to in LA. What i like about here is that they also serve ramen. You just order it through the screen. It's nothing fancy like in Tajima or Under Belly but a more straight forward one served in small portion.

There were three of us so we chose the booth but there's also a bar typically seen in Japanese restaurants.

Salmon skin roll

Garlic tuna steak
The concept is nothing new, but their technology is very innovative and practical. There's very little contact with the customer and staff anymore. Maybe the occasional buzz because you just want to ask what's the ingredients on a particular sushi and the checkout part where they would bring you your receipt.

Golden crunchy roll

Tamago

And since the food goes around, it's practically in your face all the time. And if you're super hungry, you would just constantly grab every single plate that would fancy your palate. Next thing you know, you've already reached 10 plates. Good thing about this is, after 15, you get a prize. A small red ball with some novelty item inside. For us, it took 11 plates till we said quits. But we're so close, we had to stuff our bellies with four more.

Real crab meat


Seared scallop japanese mayo
Fried takoyaki

Philadelphia tempura roll
The choices for the desserts were very limited and a bit pricey. Correct me if I'm wrong but I did see some 2 scoops of ice cream for $2. I would just go to Walmart and grab me a Ben and Jerry's instead.

Warabimochi

Crispy rice with spicy tuna
Price: 4 out of 5 ($2.25 per plate, except a few items that may range from $2.50 to $5)
Customer Service: 4.5 out of 5  
Food: 3.5 out of 5 (since it's going around in a belt, some items may have been there for more than 5 minutes)
Parking: 2 out of 5 (really bad, very limited specially during lunch and dinner hours)

Boathouse

 

The last day that we'd be able to go for Restaurant Week started on a lunch at The Boathouse Restaurant. 

 We had the Albacore Sandwich and  Mahi-Mahi. Im not much of a fish fan but $10 per meal is not something you can just ignore.

 Both meals are mediocre at best. Taste was so and so and the mahi-mahi was a bit overcooked. Again, for the price it's worth it. But i wont pay a dollar more for something that i can do better at home.

Ambiance: 7/10 (interior's outdated) We got good seats and a view

Taste: 6/10

Parking: 7/10

Price: 8/10 (SDRW), 6/10 (Reg price)

 Would we eat here again? Maybe on the next Restaurant Week. Would I recommend going here? No.

Bug out

Blame it all to The Walking Dead and the recent Ebola outbreak, I had to re-evaluate and re-assemble our emergency stuff. We're half way done and most of our supplies are complete. I even got my dad to buy some too when he was here.

Our primary stash is ready to go and our back-ups are almost set. All we're missing now is zombie killing 4x4 truck and chainsaws. Besides that, we're ready to go.

Imperial Beach

Did a photoshoot today with Sherri and family. The weather did cooperate and was great. Although I was hoping it would be a lil bit overcast and that would have made it perfect. Happy tagged along, but really bugged us mid way, insisting to play on the sand.