Trail Tuesday - The Rail Trail Cafe

When my golf buddy called and asked if I wanted to go for coffee, I thought about it and then agreed after he mentioned that we will be checking a different quaint spot.  When we got there, I recalled that I had been there but only to check out what they were selling.  What I didn't realized was that they had a small seating area for coffee, treats and even soup and sandwiches.  We ordered our coffee at the counter and my buddy had the cinnamon roll and I had their ham and egg croissant.  Everything was delicious and it was a great mid morning place to sit in and actually have a conversation.  The owner/employees were friendly and attentive.  Anyway, I decided to take a photo of my breakfast and some of the other treats available.  Their prices were reasonable and the service was great.  Anyway, if you are ever in the area, please checkout this quaint place located on Kalamalka Lake Road, Coldstream, BC.  It is called the Rail Trail Cafe. 

Willingness Wednesday - You have to at least try

As part of our Valentine's weekend, Jeff and I golfed with another couple Man and Tran. This was a great idea of Man to take our spouses out to play golf and dinner afterwards.  He picked the perfect day to play and we finished our round in four hours.  We were very happy to have our spouses come along because they are not really into golf, but would go anyway because it's part of the give and take in a relationship.  It was a relaxing day at the golf course and I believe everyone enjoyed the round.  Of course after four hours, we were all hungry.  Man suggested we try this new restaurant near the golf course.  The name is Shabu House.  This is our first time trying out this type of restaurant where you are seated across and there's some sort of circular stove in the middle of the table.  The menu was not very big but the portions were suffice for our appetite.  Basically you are given two types of broth that once they turn the stove on, the soup/broth stays very hot.  Once everything is set, you cook your own choice of meat and vegetables.  Everything stays very hot and you can take as much time as you wish.  We can't believe we finished all the items on our plate.  I was really surprised how Jeff was willing to try some of items that is not his choice of vegetables.  

And at the end of the meal, they offer a small bowl of green tea or red bean ice cream. 

Magnificent Monday - Restaurant with a view

There's a restaurant along the coast of Highway 1 in California that has a perfect view.  It's called Rocky Point Restaurant.  We stumble upon it when we took Susan to tour Carmel and Monterey while she was here during the Superbowl weekend.  It was a beautiful day to go on a day trip and since we were already in the area we decided to go for lunch.  We arrive at the restaurant and there was no line up although it took them a bit of time to seat us.  There were at least three workers that said, "they will be with you in a few minutes".  Finally a man arrived and we assumed he was the Manager.  We asked if we could seat outside and his response was "it will take at least 20 minutes".  So we decided to just take what was available inside.  Not even after 5 minutes, we see some tables open outside and sure enough the receptionist escorts a couple, then a party of 3 and another couple.  We really did not understand what was happening.  Anyway, we decided to order our food.  On the menu, it looked good but when we actually got it, it was what we expected.  Although the view was magnificent when we walked outside after our lunch, it was not worth coming back to take our visitors.  There are other restaurants that have the magnificent view, great food and great service.  Check out the photo of our lunch.

The view if you are lucky to have an outside seating.

Rocky Point Crab Louie

Crab Sliders and a bowl of fruits.

 

Terrible Thursday - Review of restaurants

Although I am not a food critic nor an expert in the service industry, sometimes I like featuring great restaurants that we have visited and share our experience.  Since I am visiting the city of Edmonton, we have made plans with friends and sometimes just stop for a bite because it was a perfect time to have lunch.  I've taken some photos to share but would also share our recent experience.  One thing for sure is that I can't really enjoy my dinner when there's a non stop screaming of kids beside, behind or across your table.  Don't get me wrong, I love children but not when you are trying to have conversation with friends who have not seen for a while and you can't hear each other. The other negative issue about some of these restaurants is that they don't tell you right away that they ran out of a particular dish, you will order it and a minute later say that is not available.  It doesn't happen just once, twice and even three times.  Some of the dishes are expensive and some of the dishes are easy to make and my sister can cook these dishes better and very inexpensive.  So check out these foods and if you are ever in the area, you can just try and be your own judge.

My friend Patti made us her black bean spaghetti salad with greens with miso dressing.

Mixed grill (chicken, pork and beef) from Manila Grill - full of flavor and tender.

Halo Halo from Max's -we didn't order this but the other patrons allowed me to take a photo.

Crab Fried Rice from Max's - lots of garlic but great flavor.

Fried milk fish also from Max's - not greasy, boneless and crunchy.

Whet Wednesday - Restaurant with Brewery

Every now and then, we like checking out new restaurants with their own micro brewery.  It seems like it has been months since we have done this.  While searching for photos to share on my blog, I found this one that was taken by my friend Jean.  They took us to a place called Rock Bottom in the Campbell area.  Now I remember why we decided to go there.  We had tickets to see the Four Tops and I just found our ticket also. It was mid May of this year.  So that's been at least five months ago.  Having the micro brewery in the restaurant means they have several variety of beers plus all the other name brand beers.  Jean and I couldn't decide what to have so we ordered the sampler.  

It's very interesting that Jean liked the first three from the left and I loved the other three from the right.

Just in case you are in the area, here's a list of the places we have been and have tried their beers.  Not only that their beers are awesome, the variety in their menu are also wonderful.  This is almost the end of October and I'm happy that I was able to post something related to Octoberfest.

• Los Gatos Brewing Company
• Gordon Birsch Brewing Company
• Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery
• BJ's Restaurant and Brewery

 

Freebie Friday - Not the best way

It was around 700 pm and we decided to have dinner at place called Johnny Rockets.  It's probably not the healthiest type of food, but I was hungry and craving for hamburger.  Jeff loves this place specially their milk shake.  We went to the one close to home as it was on the way.  The place was not overly busy which was perfect.  We sat in our usual spot - in the bar area - although not a real bar.  The waitress gave us the menu and shortly after another waiter took our order.  While he was talking to us, two guys seated a couple of bar stools away, stood and started heading for the door.  The rest of the staff was busy and for some reason I ask our waiter, "did those guys just left and not paid for their meal".  The waiter was behind the counter and really couldn't jump over and ran after the guy.  He continued to take our order, spoke to his supervisor who immediately went out.  By this time the two guys have driven off and I was too late to get the license plate number.  It was a bit shocking to me that people would do it so casually and with other patrons in the restaurant.  Now the poor waiter will be short and will have to take a cut in his pay for the day because of some inconsiderate people who just ate and left.  What is interesting is that there's a big plaque on their wall that says - PLEASE PAY. The waiter said "maybe they were illiterate and couldn't read. I wonder if the two guys do it all the time to get a free meal.  It's too bad the restaurant did not have a camera so they can print the photo of the two undesireable people of San Jose.  On another note, the smores milk shake was awesome, the sweet potato fries were crispy, the hamburgers were cooked to perfection and the service was great. 

Where Wednesday - Mexican Food

If you were to visit our area and you ask where you would get a real authentic Mexican food, I would recommend Casa Teresa on the corner of Santa Teresa and Snell.  Since my move to this area, Jeff and I as well as my MIL have tried several Mexican Restaurants.  Today it proved even more that we shouldn't be trying out others because they don't even come close to the flavor and the service that Casa Teresa offers.  Of course you can try the others yourself and here's the list of where we have been and in no particular order.

• El Amigo
• Castillo's Mexican Restaurants
• Burrito Factory
• Casa Lupe
• Aqui's
• Chipotle Mexican Grill
• El Torito 

Casa Teresa is truly our favorite because anything in the menu taste like home cooked meals and it taste the same every time.  We have taken friends and family who were visiting from Canada and they all enjoyed their meals.  So if you are in the area, make sure you stop by and I know that you too will agree.
   

Located at 6039 Snell Avenue (corner of Santa Teresa and Snell)

Timely Tuesday - The renovation man is back

It's not just any renovation man, this is my own hubby who is a very handy man.  Now that the tiles have arrived he will be starting the fireplace hearth and mantle project.  Once that is completed he will tackle on the front entry way or Foyer to some.  The marble tiles looks very classy and rich in colors.  He has drawn up some designs but as you know somethings look good in paper but not on site.  I know he will be doing some tweaking with all the designs as he goes along to ensure that it is lined perfectly and there are no tile that's out of line.  As far as the mantle goes, the design has been finalized and he needs to get some of the materials.  Home Depot seems to be his favorite for these kind of project but we had to go to a special tile store for a more specific marble colors, the ones I posted a few days ago.

While Jeff is doing all of these, I will be concentrating on catching up with my housekeeping chores which includes my ironing basket.  I have just been placing them in my basket and once its full to the brim, then I take an hour and iron them all.  I don't mind ironing and to some this is one of those chores they hate or not even in their vocabulary.  I usually do it while watching golf, tennnis or some movie that I don't need to concentrate while ironing.  Just remember that I have one load of whites to do this morning before my tennis game.  Have I shared with you the tennis shoes that I tried to design on Nike.com?

I am still debating on ordering it as it cost a little more than what I usually pay.  But because it will have my special NIKEid at the back of the shoe, it's probably worth it as I love the colors.  Let me know what you think.  I would love any comments or suggestions.

Simply Saturday - Tennis Anyone?

Can you believe that I played tennis on Thursday morning – outdoors.  It was pretty cool at 8:30 am, but if  3 senior men can play when the temperature is at 40F (+5C), then I can play too. We played doubles for 2 hrs. switching partners after each set. This tennis group sort of adopted me. One of the players who I met at the golf course, invited me to be a substitute and from then on, I am the regular sub.  They have one player who organizes everything and all I have to do is show up.  Sometimes after tennis we would go directly to an executive golf course and play 9 holes. Since the tennis court is close to Jeff's workplace, we would take one car so we can use the Carpool lane. I would drop him off, play tennis, and sometimes I would meet Jeff and his co-workers for lunch. For the rest of the afternoon, I would window shopping for real bargains and sometimes I get lucky and find some. When Jeff is ready to go, he would text me so I can return to pick him up. We usually time it so that we can take advantage of the carpool lane on the commute home. 

Thursday evening I attended a Living Well with Diabetes Classes. You would think that after all these years I should know everything. It was a two hour session and it was a full house. The one thing that made me feel good was the fact that I felt skinny compared to the rest of the students. Each time the teacher ask a question, I knew the answer except I did not shout the answer because I did want to be that one student that everybody hates. There are 3 more classes and I have to pace myself.  Half the class were recently diagnosed, the other half is doing remedial. But as we all know, every class there's always one or two that never stops talking (asking too many questions or sharing TMI). I thought I should complete the rest of the sessions because the last two sessions covers healthy choices and counting carbs. This is something I need to learn because I am not doing the Canada Food Guide anymore. Now it's all about how many GRAMS of carbs I am allowed (between 45 to 75 per meal). The final goal of this class is to have better Diabetes Management.  DO EVER WONDER HOW MANY CARBS YOU EAT PER MEAL? 

Last night Jeff and I went out with for dinner with my tennis friend and her husband.  We were trying to get together during the holidays but due to busy schedules, we agreed to go after new year. We ended up going to this restaurant which one of our favorite place to go for drinks and dinner with our other couple friends. We tried the GB select which a little darker but not as dark as Marzen. Check out their site.

http://www.gordonbiersch.com/locations/san-jose-ca/happy-hour-san-jose-ca
After dinner we checked out another bar/restaurant called AZUCAR.  The special drink for the evening is MOJITO. So everyone tried a different kind from Classic lime, to Mango and  pink guava.  We did not really get to the dancing part but we all agreed we will try another venue next month or so. If the weather is nice for the weekend, Jeff and I will be playing tennis as our weekend workout. During the week, we have been walking around the neighborhood after dinner. As some of you know, I like to do fun type exercise. So it takes a lot of encouraging for me to complete an hour of walking.