A different take

Given what we felt was a very limited time to travel Japan, we had to maximize and make the best out of our stay in Kyoto. One of the places we've had in mind was the Starbucks covered up as a traditional building/house in Kyoto's popular geisha district, Gion.


We saw this at one of the YouTube videos prior to our travel. It was packed when we got there on a midday after a long walk coming from Fushimi Inari Taisha. It was not easy to find as everything is subdued to keep the look and standard of the town. There was not your typical green sign big enough to see from afar. The coffee shop was huge by Japanese standards and the volume of customers was just too much on a Sunday. What sets this Starbucks branch apart from the regular ones was the tatami section depicting the Japanese tradition. The tatami section was located on the upper level and relatively smaller in person compared to what we saw on the YouTube video. To gain a spot, you must arrive very early in the morning. Needless to say, we did not get our chance.


Honestly, nothing was really out of the ordinary except for the ambience. They still serve their regular coffee and pastries. The only real attraction was the tatami seating accommodation on the second floor. You get your coffee/order at the back of the store.


Food: They carry the regular Starbucks menu items
Parking: None
Address: starbucks 349 Masuyacho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, 605-0826, Japan

Fits the name

This is day 2 of our Japan trip. At this moment, we're in Kyoto for 3 days. The sun is already down when we got here. Just went for a quick walk to the nearest mall to grab whatever has Uniqlo can offer.

On the way back to the hotel, we had to make a quick stop at Lawson around the corner. We were only to buy water, but I had to get my ice cream fill even though its 40 degrees outside. But then, the keto in me had get my regular fill of fried goodness.

All these convenience stores here have their own version of different sorts of deep fried chicken, shrimp or whatever meat they can deep fry. This is my second time to actually buy deep fried goodness from Lawson. I got the hot/spicy chicken and the minced meat ball. Both are so good that I can actually see myself eating these things almost everyday.

And these things are so cheap with an average price of $2 each, buying multiples would not hurt your pockets

And we are here

Japan was on our top list of go to places. We maybe Asians, but Japan was totally foreign to us. The knowledge that we had are from YouTube videos and feedback from people that have been there.


The moment we stepped out of the plane, we had to do several things right away. We had to looked for the kiosk where we need to pick up our hotspot gadget. I ordered it online from FoxWifi, I just had to give them the info of my airline and date of arrival. And it was mailed at the post office by the airport.


Next was to pick up our JR pass. To my delight, there were rows upon rows of capsule toys that would greet tourist before boarding the train. You can also pick up Suica cards here, but we opted not to. And another important thing was try not have your money changed here, since the rates are not as good compared to having it exchanged at the city.


And by the time we boarded the train, we definitely recommend getting the JR Green pass before your trip. The extra dollars would save you more at the end of the day.

Bibigo

After coming from a kids birthday party, we went over to Fashion Valley to get us our Nespresso supplies. My decision to head over here instead of the one from UTC La Jolla was mired with regret. It was our first to buy here, and thinking that Bloomingdales had a huge section for Nespresso. It seems that the supplies here are limited and the line for purchasing and trying out sample were only one.

It took us a good 20mins to get through everything. And with that, that was the last time we'll go here.

Beef Mandu
Another first was when we caught a glimpse of a new opened up Korean restaurant called Bibigo. Place looked interesting. We then headed inside. It's not the type of a sit down restaurant but the ambience feels like it.


Interestingly, it the same place that Anna normally goes to when we're at LA Jolla UTC. But this place seems fancier. Menu also looks different and they have more choices here. Since our diet restricts us with a limited amount of carbs, it was a challenge.

Serving was small and looks fancy. But for the price, I would not hesitate to choose any of the Korean restaurants over at Clairemont. I would get the same quality, more portions, for less the money I paid for here. I admit that I'm cheap (and my family and friends knows that), but when it comes to food, I don't mind paying hundreds for a meal as long as it's justified.

Korean Fried Chicken Wings
I had mixed reactions with this place. Majority of them are negative. But one thing is for sure. No repeat for me.

Price: 2 out of 5. It's one of those fast food restaurants that's contemporary in style
Customer Service: 3 out of 5. No table service. You order in front, pay and then the bring you your food.
Food: 3 out of 5. The kimchi seems it was just made hours before
Parking: 4 out of 5. It's packed during the weekend and don't bother goin here when it's raining, unless you have a boat

Address: 7007 Friars Rd. #357B, San Diego, CA 92108

Men in brown

Patients, family members and sometimes the friends too, are the worst customers. Emotions are always high and keeping your cool with a smile on your face is a big talent for most hospital staff. I’ve had my fair share of incidents and still have to keep an open mind about everything.

And now, being on the other side of the fence, as the customer, I felt the services rendered to me were unsatisfactory. On Wednesday, ironically 9/11, I were to get package delivered from #UPS.  With the tracking info stating it will be arriving by the end of the day. To be more precise, I took the liberty in updating my information to include text update alert option it offered. Perfect, right.  Let's keep going.

By the end of the day, it was a no show. Insert all the feels of 9/11 attack here rushing in me.  Then magically the status went from in transit to reschedule. Boom!  It was already 8 at night and at this point i cannot fathom a logical reason as to why it was rescheduled. Unless of course -- and again insert all the 9/11 attack feels here-- IT.IS.LOST.

*Breathe*   *Breathe*   *Breathe*

I tried to get a hold of customer service but they were closed. It was the friendly robotic automated customer service.

Just like any other customer would, I gave them a call the next day and a customer rep over the chat app was not much of a help. Apparently, #UPS reps can only relay the concerns on the facility and you just have to wait for a call back. I asked if I can have a number that I can call the facility but again, they don’t do that and you just have to wait for a call..... I don't know, to test my patience?!

     

I waited for hours on the day.  And when they finally called back, it was to say IT IS NOT IN THEIR SYSTEM (and wait, this gets better)... THEY WILL "LOOK" FOR IT.  Hearing that, this now tops off the 9/11 feels as steam now comes out of me being pissed livid.  By around 5 PM, I was told they CANNOT FIND my package and that no reason, whatsoever, was stated by the courier driver as to what happened to it.  Finally, they had the audacity to tell me what to do: file a claim for lost item. 

Sure I fu@*ng would!  Best believe I AM ON IT!

How can #UPS mishandle/loose/magically make disappear a huge box that weighs 11 lbs.


***Breathe***   ***Breathe***   ***Breatheeeeeeeeee****


I went online again to ask for an explanation and yet it's the same unacceptable answer. The #UPS person on the other end just said that the facility would have all the info I need.  At this point, just any logical person would, I trust no one.

By the third day, yet, ironically Friday the 13th, I was given the same explanation/excuse/crap that I was already made aware of -- they cannot locate it physically nor electronically.  And that they would  give me a call (AGAIN) by then OR... get this: FILE A CLAIM, yet, again. Wow. Just wow.  So I emailed #UPS about the issue, this time without any faith as my good guess and instincts dictate this would be dumped on their pile of complaints.

This is not the first time it happened to me...and for sure this wont be the last. These men in brown are just something else. Certainly on a different level of customer service that equates to crap that their company color matches on how they treat customers.  Mind you, this courier service is not cheap and trusted enough to handle something of grade and value.  But yet, out the window, goes the service and trust built in many years.  Easily a waste.

#UPS you suck.  Did your team member realize that my item on hand was sent by the one and only grading company, it is post graded and now of greater value and decided to keep it?  Was the driver a collector and sniffed my item to keep?  In case you can't tell, I am now stooping low to the level of your crappy customer service.  This way maybe you would give me a truthful answer?

Not what we expected

Upon finishing this entry, I had to make it brief and revise it, since the rant is rather too long.



We saw the postings about the SD Asian Night Market on Facebook and kinda relieved that the event was being held in the SDCCU Stadium, formerly known as Qualcomm Stadium. It was a bigger venue and parking is abundant.



The event does not start till 4pm and ends at midnight. So heading there around 6pm would not be too bad then. Upon exiting the freeway, there was traffic already heading to the stadium. I then proposed to just make a U-turn and head on towards the other way. 45 minutes later, we were still there waiting in the car trying to get to the parking lot.

There was a huge turn out, thinking the place must be packed with all sorts vendors. We then parked and was now greeted with a line that's very reminiscing of last weeks Comic-Con. There's only one entrance going inside the event. And it does not matter whether you bought tickets ahead of time.







And now were inside, and the merch vendors were very sporadic and spread out rather far apart. There was maybe a good number of food vendors lined up on the sides but with very, and I mean very long lines.

We immediately went from one stall after the other, looking at menus and trying to choose which ones to line up for. We then chose Cross Street Chicken. By this time, we are so hungry. 20 minutes waiting in line (again) and maybe half way on ordering, the staff then said that there's no more chicken and they only have fries.



We have to look for another place to eat and had to settle for Japanese. It was also a long wait, and the price was decent and we actually liked the fried squid. WE then bought refreshments at Mind Squeeze and again the line was maybe 30 minutes. It was lemonade and no surprise to us, the mason jars ran out so we had to settle for the novelty giant baby bottle.

We wanted to get more food, but it was not worth lining up again for another 30 minutes or so. We then just walked around to see the merch vendors, but there was not a lot. We then decided to head on out and get food by convoy instead.





The event had potential. The traffic would have been handled way better. They could have at least maybe put 3 or 4 entrances. They should have just made the area smaller since there was not a lot of vendors. Your time at the swap meet would have been way better compared to here. It seems that the event was organized by a bunch of kids that had nothing better else to do on a weekend.

I did set up two events in my younger years, and they were near disaster. This one was nowhere close to that. This one should be lock in a closet and should never see the light of day. Massive fail for this one