Experiences

Gift Idea Under $30

July 12, 2018 By Kat

A hobby I’ve been playing around with is flower arranging. There’s something so beautiful about flowers and the process of arranging them is so creative and artistic. I feel like an imposter saying that it’s my hobby though because I’ve only done it once (ha!). But nevertheless, below is my first creation.

I had grand plans of doing custom flower arrangements for all the women in my life as celebrations came up – bridal showers, birthdays, etc.. I think it’s a thoughtful handmade gift – like an equivalent of baking something sweet for someone (except my baking skills are nonexistent).

I even bought another vase, but it just sat there for months with no flowers in it. (By the way, I got the vase at Michaels. I used the 40% off coupon of course.) For these special events that came up, I either got too busy or planned my time poorly. Hence I didn’t have time to pick up the flowers and do the whole artistic process of sticking in flowers, judging if I like it or not, and pulling it out, etc…

GRANDMA’S BIRTHDAY

For my grandma’s birthday recently, I decided I would make time for this! But by the time I left the house that morning, the flower shop I wanted to go to was already closed for the day. -_- So I decided to stop by Whole Foods.

FLOWERS FROM WHOLE FOODS

Oh my! I should have come here sooner! I’ve always seen the beautiful local flowers on display at Whole Foods but I didn’t look too closely at them because I figured they would be expensive like everything else in this “Whole Paycheck” store.

I did notice that they sold flowers in smaller quantity stems though. So I decided to pick out a couple types of flowers, and then go home and arrange it. They also have small bunches of mixed greenery that you can buy – they add lots of dimension to a bouquet!

It took me FOREVER to decide which colors and flowers to mix and match. (Can you tell I have an issue with indecision? hehe)

I liked some peach roses but they were wilting already, so I asked the lady who worked there if they had anymore.

She disappeared into the back and came back with a slightly different color they had: sage roses. I liked them! And they were very fresh!

FLOWER ARRANGEMENT

She handed them over to me to add to my existing flower selections, and I was about to go pay for them, when she said the glorious words, “Would you like me to arrange them for you here?” I was like “…really??”

I thought about all the time I would save by not needing to cut stems with stubborn scissors (meant for paper not flowers) and sweep the leaves off the floor at home if I did it myself. So I eagerly said YES!

But then I didn’t have an actual vase, and I wanted the flowers to last longer. So I told her I’d be right back, and I literally went home to grab my empty vase and came back.

By the time I returned, she had already trimmed all the stems and arranged it nicely into a bouquet bundled with a rubber band. She held it next to the vase to eyeball the height. Then she chopped off the stems in 1 fell swoop, with what I can only describe as a giant paper cutter for flower stems.

She plopped the flowers into the vase with water and even gave me a nice box for transporting it and some tissue paper and flower food. Oh and she spritzed the flowers with water for an extra oomph.

When I paid, it only came out to be $26.16 for the flowers!

I walked out of there so proud – for getting myself a great deal and saving time LoL! My grandma loved the flowers by the way. Hooray! So it wasn’t entirely homemade, but I was part of the creative process! 😉

Anyhow, just wanted to share this little tip in case you need a gift for a special someone in your life. Especially for people that already have everything they need. But I think most people would love flowers to brighten their space!

Thursdays at Buffalo Wild Wings: Boneless Wings Deal

June 24, 2018 By Kat

What an oxymoron. Boneless wings. Regardless, it’s basically like chunks of fried chicken. Who can say no to fried chicken?

The price can be different based on the locations. When we went earlier this week (Thursday night) to the San Jose location, it was 70 cents a wing, and we ordered FIFTY wings for 3 people. Needless to say, we had so much leftover… They said it was because I didn’t do my part. But I didn’t feel the need to order FIFTY in the first place! We also got an appetizer sampler platter and fries. Oy, so much food! 😮

Here’s the official BBW website for Boneless Thursdays which I quote from them is “the greatest day of all time.” And here’s the list of locations. It’d be best to check that the location nearest you offers this deal.

It’s not the first time we’ve went to BWW, so here are pics from other trips, where we also over-ordered. Sometimes I try to eat salad. Trying to maintain some amount of health, here! 😛

P.S. The lemon pepper flavor tastes better on wings with the bone, not so good on the boneless wings.

Hope you enjoyed this tip!

Friday Night at the Observatory: Looking at Stars

June 14, 2018 By Kat

I love looking for fun and cool experiences to try out around the Bay Area. San Francisco and San Jose always have lots of things going on, but I live in between those two cities, where there’s less things to do because most people go to sleep early (including me, ha!).

I heard about a place where you can see the stars on Friday nights at the Observatory at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills. It’s about 20 mins away from Downtown Mountain View, not too far.

My boyfriend and I were excited to go check it out, and wanted to bring our friends from out of town (the ones we brought to Napa in this vlog). The website says Friday nights from 9-11pm, and we rushed to finish dinner and get over there in time. But when we arrived, the parking lot was empty. Wah wah. As a cop car drove by, we asked him about it. He said they probably don’t have it because it’s Memorial Day weekend. So we went home instead, without seeing any stars. 🙁

A couple weeks later, my boyfriend and I decided to try again! We went back and this time, there were other cars there! Signs of civilization are always great.

If you haven’t been to Foothill College, you need to pay to park, even if it’s in the middle of the night. Otherwise you could get a ticket. And we’re not THAT wild to live life on the edge. We found the parking pay station to pay $3 for a spot, and the machine ate our money!! Twice!! And then we realized that the printer was just stuck, so my boyfriend stuck his hand in the machine and pulled out 3 tickets… apparently someone else got jipped too. -_- Anyhow, we managed to find other people to give those extra tickets to.

Then we approached the observatory. And there’s this ominous staircase that looks a bit sketchy, not going to lie. We stared at each other. I wanted HIM to walk in first, and he wanted ME to walk in first. LoL. So I finally grabbed his hand and dragged him in, up the narrow and winding staircase.

At the top, it was very dark, except for a few red lights. There was maybe about 10 people already there, sitting or standing around a big a** telescope. Never seen one so big in my life. One one side, someone (who presumably knew what was going on) was sitting in front of a computer that has some stars on it.

Apparently you line up and wait for your turn to look through the telescope. There’s also a stepstool for the vertically challenged folks (like myself) who need an extra boost to reach the eye piece.

When I looked into the telescope, I saw a big white circle and small white dots around it. I thought it was the moon and 4 stars around it. The guy was explaining later that it was Jupiter and its moons. Whoops. Other people said they could see the rings on Jupiter, and even when I took a second look, all I could see was a white circle for Jupiter…

Once everyone had a turn to look at Jupiter, then this was the most exciting part. The guy told everyone to stand back and remove the stepstool, he hit a couple buttons on the computer, and then the telescope started moving on its own!! It switched to some other position, and then the entire ceiling overhead started moving as well. I was like WHOAA. I don’t have a better word to describe the ceiling thing, but it’s some type of dome enclosure on the building and there’s a gap where it’s open to the night sky. The open gap was just adjusting based on where the telescope was now pointing at. So anyways, the telescope switching positions was the most exciting part.

There’s an interesting echo in there as well because of the shape of the room, so you can hear what’s going on in the other side of the room. For half the time, my boyfriend kept nudging me to ask the guy, “Can we see Earth? C’mon ask it!!” -_- LoL

It does get a little chilly up there. And while you’re waiting in line, you can entertain yourself by looking at the other stars with your naked eye, which is pretty cool.

Also when we were standing in line for the telescope, and standing near the outlet for the telescope, my boyfriend said, “I wonder what will happen if we unplug this thing.” LOL I think you can tell what type of personality he has. Anyhow, it was amusing to experience this with him.

We also saw another view – I think it was a glob of stars in Hercules. I frankly couldn’t see much. I think it’s because of my bad vision. But it looked like a cloudy gray thing in the middle. Apparently you can see it clearer when you don’t look directly at the center where the stars are. My peripheral vision is not great either lol.

There was a whole bunch of people there and it got more crowded as the night went on, but people trickle in and out casually. Some kids were there because of their science class I think. They have to see 3 different things and take notes. Then the guy says the kids usually bolt after that. Some people brought their families with young kids. I imagine it would be cool to experience this live if I was reading books on astronomy as a kid.

Anyhow, it wasn’t quite what we had expected. My boyfriend thought it would have been more romantic, haha! But it was still fun to try! And when things are dark, it ups the excitement level.

This is life in the suburbs, people.

Here’s the link if you want to check it out: Foothill College Observatory Admission is free. Parking is $3.

Open Paint Night

August 16, 2017 By Kat

Earlier this month, my friend Jodie and I dropped by a free Open Paint Night in downtown Redwood City at a cute little bicycle themed cafe called Cyclismo Cafe. I found out about it on Facebook and the concept sounded really cool! The event was put on by CATA (Community Advocacy through Art) which creates public art spaces and street art murals throughout Redwood City. Next up, I think they’re going to create a mural on the side of a local Whole Foods store. I love the idea of more street art, adding more flair to our neighborhoods!

At each paint night, they promote a local artist and a local nonprofit. That night, an artist named Cristal Chen (@sweetbloomsco) was being featured. She had her artwork and prints in one corner of the cafe by the window. Super cutesy flowers and plants and some abstract design elements. Sorry it’s a bit hard to see in this picture, you can check out her Insta page for a closer look!

She also designed some large canvases as a color-me-in, so anyone could go up and just paint it. It’s kind of neat for random strangers to just build on each other’s work in an art piece – sort of like the graffiti messages you find on the walls of bathroom stalls. 😛

Cristal also made some kokedama – these little plants that were hanging off the spokes of the bicycles that lined the cafe walls. I never knew such a thing existed! You can spot a tiny one hanging in midair in the picture below.

Some other people doing cool things were from Incredible Edible Peninsula, the featured nonprofit of the night. Apparently, they have planted over 20 fruit trees in a local park for community sharing. Anyone can basically go up and grab a fruit. How awesome is that! A snack in the park if you’re feeling the grumbles in your tummy. In addition, they have garden shares, where people can share the excess fruit/veggies they have grown in their backyards by swapping with what others have grown in their homes. Too bad I have nothing to offer. 🙁

Anyhow, I loved the vibe of the event. It was a great place for people, young or old, to come and create, and learn about some new things happening in the community. The cafe was quite packed, people were sitting on the tables inside and also outside on the patio. Jodie and I managed to find open seats to sit down and paint. Here’s our finished Picassos! 😛 For some reason, I really like painting leaves.

Here are some shots from outside on the patio. This woman was painting a horse and it was so amazing, it blew us away.

If you’re interested in attending a future Open Paint Night, they’re held on the first Thursday of every month (link here).

After we had our fill of artist time, Jodie and I headed over to our favorite Indian restaurant for dinner. On the way, we passed an outdoor movie night in the courthouse square. There was still daylight, so people were staking out a good spot with their lawn chairs in front of the outdoor screen to watch the movie of the night – La La Land! Haven’t seen it yet, but we were hungry, so we kept on moving!

We headed into Broadway Masala. It’s finally reopened again after the remodel, hooray! They even have fancy tablets with photos of the menu dishes on them (see below). We had the butter chicken and a lamb dish, and of course GARLIC NAAN, as well as some chai tea and mango lassi. No pictures of that, we were too busy stuffing our faces. We were so happy and full afterwards.

Overall, it was a great night in downtown Redwood City, seeing people out and about enjoying themselves. I love living in the Bay Area!

Making a Candle

July 17, 2017 By Kat

Glow Candle Lounge

The Monopoly Game at Safeway

May 26, 2017 By Kat

OMG, guys, this game is ridiculous.

THE GAME

If you aren’t familiar, every year, the Safeway grocery store has a Monopoly game where you collect game pieces and try to win some prizes – money, scholarships, free food, cars, homes, etc…

When you buy something at the store, the receipt tells you the number of Monopoly game tickets the cashier will give you. If you buy “Monopoly bonus game ticket” products, you get an extra ticket. On a normal shopping trip, you may earn anywhere from 1 – 20 game pieces, if you had a full cart of groceries.

Sometimes the cashiers (either being really nice or don’t give a crap about the game) hand you a stack of tickets instead of counting out the number that your receipt says. YES! More to open!

THE PIECES

When you tear off the ends of the game ticket, you unfold it and see either a coupon of some sort and 4 thin game pieces that go on the Monopoly game board. Similar to the game we all played when we were younger, if you collect all the pieces within a category like $1 million dollars, then you win that prize.

Anyhow, I’ve never bothered to stick the pieces onto the board because you’ve got to hunt around to find where it belongs. This takes an insanely long time. There’s a ton of duplicate pieces, so sometimes you don’t even get the satisfaction of sticking it on the board! What a letdown.

MY SISTER

My sister had the patience for this. Last year, she emailed my whole extended family asking people to give her their Monopoly tickets. For months, she collected stacks and stacks from family members and methodically put them on the board. The whole time, she was 2 pieces away from $1 million, but couldn’t find those last two pieces. They were probably only a couple of winning pieces somewhere in the vast expanse of this country. Or the winning pieces were at the bottom of someone’s trash can.

MY COUSIN

This year, my sister has a baby, so she ain’t got time for this no more. Instead my cousin, full of eagerness (and more importantly without any kids), emailed out to the whole extended family asking for their Monopoly tickets. And so the craze began. Except she has a wedding to plan for this summer, so she is swamped with other things to do. Too bad there’s no Monopoly prize for a free wedding that plans itself.

MY OTHER COUSINS

Anyhow, one time, she delegated the work to my younger cousins, who are in middle and high school. That’s the age in life when you love collecting and sorting things (it was stickers and pencils in my day), so they loved playing the game. I was hosting a cousin get-together at my house and prepared all this food for a taco bar feast, but my younger cousins just ignored the food. They were just too enthralled by the hundreds of Monopoly pieces that needed to find their resting spot on the board. I walked over to the living room and sat on the couch nonchalantly. Then I got yelled at by my younger cousin for stepping on all the organized piles of pieces on the floor and ruining their system. Oops.

THE INSTANT WINNER COUPONS

Anyhow, this game is just a hilarious waste of time, but it’s so funny how people get so into the game for bursts of time (including myself) juxtaposed against people who absolutely do not care about the game but get wrapped up into it somehow.

Collecting them is addicting. It’s like lotto tickets but instead of winning jackpots, you can win things like a loaf of french bread or a bottle of aspirin. This one time, I passed by a hungry family was sitting outside Safeway asking for spare change. I didn’t have any more money on me, but I gave them the coupon for a free pound of bananas. They looked very confused, but I hope they redeemed it.

For me, these tiny prizes can be just as exciting. Hey, fresh produce is expensive these days! So my basic workflow would be to first open each ticket to see if I got any instant winner items (like free groceries), or coupons for things I would normally buy ($1 off soap or 50 cents off frozen veggies). Then I would neatly store away all the board game pieces in an envelope for my cousin.

MY PARENTS

When I visited my parents, they handed me a fat envelope full of unopened game pieces. Since I’m unemployed (see last post), they figured I had time on my hands to open all of them. Eh, makes sense. I gleefully did so, and found that they had earned free flour, aluminum foil, and bread, as well as a long-tail of random 50 cent off coupons. I enthusiastically shared my discoveries with them, and they brushed me off, telling me to redeem them because their eyesight isn’t good enough to read the tiny font on the pieces. (The game makers should think about accessibility next year!)

My cousin would get wide-eyed with horror when I would hand her these envelopes bursting with pieces. She just saw hours of her life flash before her eyes as she thought about having to sort through them. Haha poor girl.

YOU WIN… MORE TICKETS

Sometimes the Instant Winner coupons said you win 2 more free Monopoly tickets. So I went back to Safeway to redeem those additional tickets, and presumably some of those would also tell you that you won more free tickets. It’s a vicious cycle that you can’t escape.

One day, I was at the grocery store with friends. I handed the cashier my “more free tickets” coupons and he handed me AN ENTIRE BOX of tickets. He was like “Here. The game is ending today anyways, and we need to get rid of these.” I was OVERJOYED and couldn’t believe my luck.

This caught the attention of my friends, who had not heard about the game, but now their interest was suddenly piqued. When we had reached the car (not even reaching home yet), they began tearing them open, trying to find some free stuff. One of them was moving across the country, and needed to re-buy his stock of spices, so a coupon for free salt was very exciting to him.

PEELING THEM OPEN

I was quite shocked. Here they were, my friends coming all the way from out of town, wanting to spend an afternoon opening these Safeway Monopoly tickets. Simple minds have simple pleasures. Haha just kidding. They’re actually very smart engineers, and one’s a doctor, but they totally jumped onto the Monopoly train that leads to basically nowhere. Of course, since they’re engineers, they’re very analytical, so they started sorting the tickets into categories of free stuff and coupons, as well as prioritizing them based on usefulness. It was a sight to see. I overheard, “50 cents off paper plates!” “Oh NICE! …Hmm we know we’re becoming adults now by what we get excited about.” 😛

Upon their insistence, we went back to Safeway two more times that day. Golden Gate bridge got nothing on this Safeway. My friend tried to bargain with the cashier to give us another box, but they only gave us a meager stack instead. But as soon as we got inside the house, the 3 of them ripped through those lotto tickets in 10 minutes – fully sorted and incorporated into the sophisticated coupon prioritization system as well. I was impressed.

Upon surveying our winnings, we decided that we could feed ourselves off of free food for the rest of their visit in California. We could have free buttermilk waffles and greek yogurt for breakfast. Then for lunch, we could get free bread, tuna, and macaroni salad. For dinner, we could have free pasta, pasta sauce, cheese, iceberg garden salad, can of corn, and 1 avocado to be split among 4 people. Oh and don’t forget, free mentos for after-dinner mints.

Here’s a snapshot of only a portion of the coupons we redeemed.

Other local friends would come over to visit these out-of-town friends. They would be flabbergasted at my kitchen counter now filled with Monopoly tickets. They laughed in shock / horror and secretly thought to themselves, “Do these people have nothing else better to do with their time??” Nevertheless, we convinced them to take some coupons like the free Shutterfly photo books or custom reusable tote bags. I mean, who doesn’t want their own face on a reusable bag? (Not me, that’s why I tried to get rid of them.)

Some of my friends don’t really eat carbs, so there was too much of the bread left over. As a result, I decided we should make bread pudding. Tastes pretty good! Harder to say no to bread that’s covered in chocolate. 😀

Note: Chocolate not included in winnings

THE BURDEN

My friends eventually flew back to their own homes. I had the box of game pieces, which I promptly dropped off at my cousin’s place. She politely tried to decline them, “Oh, you don’t need to drop them off.” But I insisted. “Oh I’m already nearby. TAKE THEM!! And have some bread pudding too.” She accepted. Muahaha! When I handed her the box, I could tell by the less than enthusiastic expression on her face that she was not going to be putting those pieces on the board.

My friends also left a gargantuan stack of coupons and free stuff for me to redeem. Being Asian, I can’t let free stuff go to waste. The coupons apparently expire in one week. I had to go on multiple trips to different Safeways to redeem the stuff because everyone else in town also freaked out that the coupons were expiring soon. Hence, the stores were out of stock of the 74-ct tissue box, salsa, 25 sq. ft. aluminum foil, and etc…

I did manage to convince the cashier to give me a box of 75 sq. ft. aluminum foil for free, in exchange for 3 coupons of 25 sq. ft. aluminum foil. Math comes in handy, kids.

I also got 2 free containers of iodized salt. I was pushing my cart around the store, and then ran into another lady who had a cart filled with 7 containers of the same iodized salt. Nothing else. Just salt. I don’t even know what it means for salt to be iodized, but seeing her made me want to go get more salt. I had more coupons for that too. But unfortunately, the shelf was now completely empty. She had taken all the salt! 😮

As I was doing self-checkout for all my items and ringing up my dozens of coupons, I kept getting errors where I had to wait for assistance from the cashier. I was having a friendly conversation with him, and he said that the problem was that I had exceeded the coupon limit for a transaction. He had to manually override the system to allow each coupon. Wow, exceeding the coupon limit! Never thought that’d be on my list of accomplishments. I don’t know if I should be proud or extremely sad.

GIVING UP

After the checkout machine printed out the longest receipt of my life, I walked out of the store with 2 huge bags of mostly free groceries (I did buy some stuff for money). However, I STILL had a handful of coupons. Darn it!

At this point, my mom came over, and I decided to hand the rest over to her and throw up my arms in defeat. There was still 27 coupons for free donuts, so I figured my dad could bring them to his work. Who says you can’t buy popularity in the form of donuts for the office? I also gave my parents the 5 coupons for free hot dog buns – that’s like 72 buns! Memorial day is coming up soon and BBQs are a thing. Hmm, but our big family even isn’t THAT big. Oh well, it’s their problem now! I also gave them the remaining free loaves of french bread. I can only make so many trays of bread pudding before I run out of new people to feed it to. (I’m making my last tray tonight for my church group.) WHEW! And that’s where my story ends – unless Safeway restocks their 5 lb bags of flour.

OMG I’ve wasted so much time on this game, including writing this blogpost. And now I’m wasting YOUR time as you read this blogpost. LoL. *Shakes fist in the air* Curse the people who created this game!!!

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Let’s Go Eat At That Place That Had The Thing – Bay Area Restaurants

May 6, 2017 By Kat

Sometimes we forget the names of restaurants. We resort to other quick-hand ways of referring to them based on location, a memory we had there, or a particular dish they serve that is seared into our tastebuds. When those cravings arise, we pester the closest human body nearby, “Hey, when are we going to such-and-such place?” We anxiously await the burst of joy in our hearts when our glistening eyes meet the dish as the server brings it to our table and sets it down in front of us. We proceed to inhale it, savoring every last crumb on the plate. And then we feel whole again.

On that note, I’ve decided on more appropriate names for my favorite Bay Area restaurants and wanted to share these good eats with you.

the dumpling place

I always order the three delight dumplings (pan-fried), vegetarian egg dumplings (boiled), $1 bowl of hot and sour soup, and green onion pancake. Even if I get seated in the narrow hallway to the bathroom, I’m a happy camper because I got my dumplings and nothing else matters. (Tong Dumpling – Cupertino)

the garlic bread place in Los Gatos

My friend and I stumbled on this place accidentally. We were overeager and filled up on the garlic bread and free bread (both spectacular). As a result, we took most of our entrees home in to-go boxes. Months passed and we forgot the name of this place so we didn’t know how to come back. After a lot of intense Yelp searching and browsing user photos of restaurant decor, I tracked this place down. Once I sunk my teeth into the spicy garlic bread again, it was all worth it. (The Pastaria & Market – Los Gatos)

BWW

Ever since I discovered 10 cent wings in college in Boston for happy hour, I love me some wings. It’s not 10 cents anymore and I can’t eat as many as I did in my early 20s, but this place hits the spot. The best flavor and only flavor I eat is lemon pepper. Don’t forget to have a celery stick to cover your dose of veggies for the day. (Buffalo Wild Wings – Fremont)

the falafel place

My friend introduced me to this place, and I was ecstatic eating a falafel sandwich on a cold winter’s night on a picnic bench under a heat lamp. A couple days later, I convinced my sister that she was also craving Mediterranean food, so I could buy us some for lunch. Twice in one week, it was THAT good. (Falafel Stop – Sunnyvale)

best bread pudding in town

This bread pudding is like heaven. The rest of the food is amazing too. Warning: don’t sit at the chef’s table (bar facing the cooks) because you’ll see all the dishes as they come out, and you’ll want to order EVERYTHING!!! *Eyes following the waiter as he walks away with a glistening pile of onion rings atop a teriyaki skirt steak* (Town – San Carlos)

the egg tart place

Okay, here’s the thing. They’re so successful that they can go on vacation. A lot. Sad customers find a closed shop with a sign but no egg tarts in sight. If you happen to catch them when they’re open, don’t just buy one! Buy a dozen or actually, buy more than you think you will ever need/want. That should last you until your next craving. Also pass them out to friends and family so they get hooked as well. (Golden Gate Bakery – SF)

the pork belly quesadilla place

I never knew this place existed! It’s like one of those mirages that disappear. It’s hard to find this restaurant because the sign blends in with the trees or something. You have to know exactly where it is and look head on at the restaurant to see it. The other stuff on the menu is okay, but the pork belly quesadillas are BOMB – a heart attack in a pocket of tortilla. (Mandarin Roots – Palo Alto)

gelato bar place from my cousin’s wedding

The owner is a sweet old man. There is no customer storefront. It’s more like an office/warehouse, and you have to setup an appointment to go. He works with hotels and airlines, but also does catering events. If you want to do a small order, you can call and pick up a box on a weekday morning. Hint: Try the chocolate gelato bar. If you can’t say no to gelato, sorry for introducing you to your downfall. (A-Lot-A Gelato & More – Belmont)

tapas place where I drank too much sangria

This one is an obvious choice. Everyone and their mother knows about this place in Mountain View. The mushroom empanadas won’t let you down. Anything with prosciutto melts in your mouth. If you can come on the company dime, even better. Then you can try all the plates and order a pitcher of sangria! The pitcher is not really meant for 2 people, hence the title. 😮 (Cascal – Mountain View)

the japanese tapas place

How to describe this place? I took my friend here when she was visiting from Seattle, and now she dreams about the food here. She’s coming later this month, and I think her dream was a not-so-subtle hint on where I should take her. 😛 (Gochi – Cupertino)

it’s past 9pm, we can go to kirin

Cheap asian food after, you guessed it, 9PM. The fish fillet porridge is my comfort food. Yes, sometimes it’s 8PM and I’m hungry, but I wait an extra hour to get the late night menu. A penny saved is a penny earned! (Kirin – Mountain View)

chimney cake food truck

Well I haven’t been here, but I’m dying to try it. I have already imagined I will love it, otherwise I will be heartbroken. Chasing food trucks is hard though. They’re in the Target parking lot only on Friday and Saturday nights. Last weekend we got there too late and it was nowhere in sight. My dashed hopes could not be assuaged with tacos from the truck that was there instead. (Sweet & Yummy Bakery – Mountain View if you’re lucky)

That’s a wrap! Hope you liked this list. If you have any other suggestions on hidden gems in the Bay Area, let me know in the comments. 😀