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Showing posts from May, 2009

The Promenade @ Westfield Santa Anita

As I hoped, we were able to visit the mall last weekend. I decided to bump this post up, just because I am always behind posting with what is new onto this blog! I haven't even talked about our visit to Encore during its second day of opening. That was about 6 months ago. And the Promenade has been opened for several weeks already, but not everyone knows about it yet. So, not wanting to be behind, I am posting them today rather then later. Contrary to what I had thought, the parking was STILL not enough during the weekend. When we visited during Mother's day, the new parking lot was not very full. Now? Completely filled up. Tons of cars were moving around, looking for a space to park at. Disaster. Luckily though, we found a spot, and using their escalators (or elevator if you want to), we were able to get out of the parking lot and right into the Promenade. What is very interesting is that the Promenade still isn't fully completed. And so there are tons of billboards right

Banana Milk

"Get some of this energizer drink too!", said the lady at a breakfast buffet while I was in Beijing. I had just gotten some milk, and now she hoped for me to get the energizer drink. What was it anyway? I decided to get some too. After all, if I didn't get it, the rest would go bye bye into the drain; the buffet was almost over, and that meant the leftover food (well most of it) would have to get discarded. Going back to my table at the buffet, I started to drink the beverage. It was very familiar- a blend of bananas and milk (and maybe some other added ingredients too). And that is when I noticed this "energizer drink" was something I had made at home for many years. This so called "energizer drink", or banana milk, was a great way to use up ultra ripe bananas which were on the point that they could have been already thrown away (in a school cafeteria, that equals when black dots form on the banana). At this point, the banana was very sweet, which wa

Thai Paradise

Before I start even talking about Thai Paradise, I think you probably already have a question about this place. And that is, what is that plaque in the photo above? Well, what it says is "Certificate for Quality Thai Cuisine- This is to certify that Thai Paradise Restaurant is a restaurant approved by Thai Select- December 15, 2003". Nearby President Thai also has this type of distinction. But both restaurants seem to cater to a different crowd. You see, President Thai mainly has coupons and ads in your local magazine. However, Thai Paradise looks more for the Asian community- putting commercials on the Chinese TV Channels, et cetera. Certainly, there are some differences too other than the crowd. The food is slightly different in terms of ingredients and preparation. Which place we have been to longer? Well...about the same- we used to only just visit here, but then we then started only visiting President Thai over this place due to that Thai Paradise usually had problems wi

Fresh and Easy's Ice Cream

Can store bought ice cream be better than some ice cream from an ice cream shop or soft serve? Can it be better than some frozen yogurts which are very popular these days? My opinion? Definitely. Fresh and Easy's Ice Creams are a tasty option in the store-bought category. It's more expensive than the competition at $3.99 a tub (but now it is on sale for the price of 2.99 until May 26) , but there are definitely things that are special about it. Due to the fact it was recently on sale (and even once mistakenly put on sale as 1.99...which they then had to retract), we stocked up, getting the two tubs of ice cream you see above. Previously, we had tried the Neapolitan ice cream which allowed us to sample three flavors. We liked the vanilla and chocolate flavors the best though. Strawberry, the third flavor, actually has real pieces of strawberry in it, but there is only a hint of strawberry flavor in it. I wish they can some more strawberry juice or strawberries into the ice

Attractions Index

The Attractions index basically has things that you can visit that are other than restaurants. Examples could include a market (which would also be accessible via the Food and Dining Index), a shopping mall, an amusement park, et cetera. -China-   Hong Kong : Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre/ Golden Bahunia Square- Wan Chai, Hong Kong Hong Kong Park- Central, Hong Kong -United States of America-  -California- Anaheim, CA: California Adventure- Anaheim Arcadia, CA: The Arboretum (Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden)- Arcadia The Promenade at Westfield Santa Anita- Arcadia Buena Park, CA: Knott's Berry Farm- Buena Park Los Angeles, CA: Little Tokyo- Los Angeles University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)- Los Angeles Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica Beach Santa Monica Place Stanford, CA: Stanford University- Stanford Universal City, CA: Universal Studios Hollywood- Universal City: Part 1 West Hollywood, CA: Steinway Piano Gallery-

Knott's Berry Farm's Angel's Diner

I recently went to Knotts Berry Farm along with my school for a "scavenger hunt" (aka graded assignment) for about 5 hours last week. And so, within that 5 hours, we decided to eat too at this place which never really showed it's real name at all in the exterior. From the outdoor signage it just said American burgers, shakes, etc. Nothing about the name of the place! Only the map and the receipt mentioned Angel's Diner. What is also very interesting is that they say they have milkshakes (as shown in the photo) but do not. You have to go to another restaurant for shakes. Mainly, we decided to eat here as part of the scavenger hunt. One of the rides which we needed to look at was really close by. And if you were wondering what some rides/things were nearby, they were: Perilous Plunge, Sky Cabin, Wipeout, Supreme Scream, Log Ride, and the Xcelerator. We lined up in to the line which was pretty empty considering that it was an amusement park. And right in front of us, the

Mother's Day at the Santa Anita Westfield Mall: The New Promenade and Lunch at CPK

I always like to go visit any new thing in town, if I have time that is. A few years ago, I was able to at least drive by the new "Restaurant Square" expansion, and that was very amazing at first. The blue lights, modern architecture, and huge parking structure amazed me. It was very different than what one would expect. Westfield recently these years then started to make a plan for "The Promenade", which seemed to be a counter arguement for Caruso's "Shops at Santa Anita". They fought for at least a year or so. Westfield made a group called Arcadia First! to stop Caruso. Caruso won- they received building rights from the Arcadia City Council. But what happened? Nothing happened. The south parking lot of the Santa Anita Racetrack is still...the same. Meanwhile, the Arcadia City Council seemed to be frowning at Westfield at the Promenade. Parking was already a pain during weekends. With the expansion, things could only get worse right? NOT. Westfield re

California Pizza Kitchen Index

Here are all the posts on California Pizza Kitchen. Arcadia Location: Mother's Day at the Santa Anita Westfield Mall: The New Promenade and Lunch at CPK Arcadia's California Pizza Kitchen Irvine Location: California Pizza Kitchen- Irvine

Sesame Grill- Another Early Bird Visit.

Special deals are always a good reason to revisit a restaurant. And so, during a weekend which we got hungry earlier in the afternoon, we decided to visit Sesame Grill again for their Early Bird Specials, which they have been promoting for a while now. Want to see the menu again? Well, here it is: This time, the manager was also around and was very happy to see us as we constantly visit her place. She was exceedingly busy on that day, taking orders, offering suggestions, and more, and she still even managed to talk to us. The dining room was also pretty filled up, but still not as much as before. At least it wasn't empty; that would be pretty unfortunate! It was also fairly bright with the good sunshine. They didn't even need to light up the candles this time! Like usual, the meal started off with some of their freshly baked bread, which was warm, crispy on the bottom, and soft on the inside. Butter was served alongside. We dipped some of the bread in this: This was the "F