Seaworld San Diego, California

Following San Diego - Part I, here is the famous killer whale in Seaworld, San Diego.

San Diego, California

For some reason, San Diego just did not attracted me that much. We took a short road trip from Bay Area, California to San Diego, California. And really, San Diego Seaworld has been over-hyped! The rides were so-so and the shows were ok. We made it for the Sea Lions show, Dolphin Training, and of course Shamu, Shamu, Shamu!

This is the Dolphin Training Session.

 
 









Flamingo Walk

Up next! The ever famous whale :)

California Strawberries

Strawberry picking time! We headed for strawberry picking in the morning, at our favorite U-Pick at Swanton Berrry Farm. Bad news bestowed! The strawberry field was quarantined due to suspected moths (an agricultural pest!)! Heck! I thought only humans were quarantined for the H1N1 swine flu! Now, our favorite strawberry field has been quarantined too! With just a little good luck on our side, we were recommended to go to their neighboring fields. Phew! It sent bright spark to all our faces. We thought we have spent ONE HOUR down Highway 17 for nothing. Ok. At least, there is something. Some 'healthy" strawberries for us to pick.


After that mild exercise of picking strawberries, we drove further down to our favorite cioppino stall. I am sure Phil's Fish Market is no stranger to those who have watched FoodNetwork since Phil was featured before. And this is definitely not our first time there. With A&S with us this time, we ordered more food. Seafood chowder, fried calamari (rings and tentacles) and of course, a huge bowl of slurpilicious cioppino. It was completely satisfying!


Indian food @ Peacock, Santa Clara

In our one week in the Bay Area, we also tried two establishments that serve Dum Biryani. We had take-out from Kabab and Currys, at Santa Clara (famous for its Dum Biryani) and dine-in at Peacock, also at Santa Clara(above).

Dum Biryani is a famous Hyderabad dish, where the meat (chicken, mutton or lamb) is layered with the rice and cooked under low flame in a sealed container. This style of cooking is sometimes called Dum Pukht. And naturally, biryani cooked this way is called Dum Biryani. Yum yum yum! and not *Stupid Dum Dum* ... ... ^o^


I like basmati rice a lot - and so what happens when basmati rice is mildly infused with the aroma of the chicken and lamb and all the spices ? I love thee even more!

Avenue of the Giants, Humboldt Redwood State Park.

It was no surprise where we were.


No, we did not travel back to California to see the California redwoods. It was a short day trip during the week we were there.

Avenue of the Giants, Humboldt Redwood State Park.

More photos and food here.

Winchester Mystery House, San Jose

Some said she wanted to keep the ghosts away from her house because of the many deaths caused by the Winchester rifles. Or she just makes a bad architect?

This is...the Winchester Mystery House.

The door to nowhere:


Stairs to nowhere:



Ceiling where rivets are half-driven in:


Door with no lock:

Meyer Lemon, Petaluma

Meyer lemon (Citrus × meyeri) is a citrus fruit, native to China, thought to be a cross between a true lemon and a mandarin orange or sweet orange. These lemons are available from November through May in specialty produce markets and some supermarkets. Can't wait? Meyer marmalade...bottled availability.



Meyer lemon was introduced to the United States in 1908, popular as a food item in the United States after being rediscovered by chefs during the California Cuisine revolution.

We visited Petaluma sometime earlier and got ourselves some California sunshine in a jar. This marmalade is made from state-grown Meyer lemons, cane sugar, and pure water - prepared long enough to draw the natural pectin from the fruit.



Pastel purple soft fluffy loaf into slices...


and slathering marmalade ...


A sprightly lemon flavor, well balanced with sweetness and light in texture.

Tag: meyer lemon, taro toast, snacks

Cider Pub in Sebastopol, California

Located in Sebastopol, California - in the middle of Sonoma's wine country - Ace-in-the-Hole is America's first, and maybe just about the only cider pub.

Ace-in-the-Hole Pub
3100 Gravenstein Highway North
Sebastopol, CA

Interesting taster sampler presentation. You get 4 ACES and a Joker.


Clockwise from 12 o'clock - Joker (the only one with 8% alcohol), ACE of Apple, ACE of Apple-Honey(made with Sonoma wildflower honey), ACE of Perry, ACE of Berry.

The color of cider starts to darken as you go clockwise. In addition, you begin to explore more complexity as the mix of berries blends with cider in ACE of Berry.

With 8% alcohol, no wonder it's a joker among all the other 5% ACES.

Joker - Strong and dry with Champagne-like flavors


ACE of Perry- A light refreshing pear flavor and natural vanilla from Madagascar


ACE of Apple - fermented apple cider


The fermented apple cider ~ made from six different local apples varieties

We can't drink with empty stomachs...give us some meat!


Sausage plate of chicken apple & English bangers with ACE apple sauerkraut

Sonoma Farm Trail:
Fruit Farms
Cheese shop

Tag: cider, hard cider, food review

Pepper Jelly - Petaluma in Sonoma Farm Trail

Well, I was supposed to look at cheeses in a cheese shop but instead distracted by these colorful bottled jellies at Marin Cheese Factory in Petaluma, CA. These assorted pepper jellies sound hot, sweet, spicy, fruity, peppery and savory.

I'm new to jellies. Are jellies the same as jam?


Mango/Plum Ginger Pepper Jelly and Raspberry-Jalapeño Pepper Jelly


Apricot-Jalapeño Pepper Jelly and Sweet Onion Jalapeño Pepper Jelly


Cranberry Pepper Jelly, Habanero Pepper Jelly


Jalapeño Pepper Jelly and Marioberry Pepper Jelly

I was so fascinated and confused by all the varieties and finally, decided not to buy any and ended up with a small block of cheese instead.The cheese tasting station at the cheese shop even had some cranberry pepper jelly slathered on top of of Brie. I tried them on crackers, and the savory Brie really gel well with the subtly sweet-tangy- peppery cranberry pepper jelly. What a colorful treat!

Continue reading about Asian pears along the Sonoma Farm Trail, California.

Tag: pepper jelly, food review

Sonoma farm trails - pears, apples

FALLin' in love with pears and apples! This pear chart is absolutely captivating. Click chart to enlarge and know your pears tis' season.

At Gabriel Farm in Sebastopol, CA, I saw many of my favorite Asian pears - crisp texture and juicy flesh.

All the pears varieties were at $2.50/lb and I got myself some Ya Li - the alluring Asian pear that takes the shape of a bartlett or any European pear, lightly flavored, crisp, juicy and aromatic; Shinseki - yellow colored, flavorful, crisp with a hint of citrus flavor, and Niitaka - tanned, crisp and juicy.

There were others such as Honsui, 20th and Shinko ... and oh gosh...I did not know there were so many Asian pear varieties. You could find out more about each Asian pear variety here.


Papa and Mama pear. Where is baby pear ?

I did not find them in Gabriel Farm but did see the cutest baby mini Asian pears at another farm in Petaluma, CA.

Baby pear is here! Now, where is Goldilocks! :P

Gabriel Farm also grows Fuyu Persimmons, also known as Fuyus. Full orange in color, you can eat them hard or soft. A sweet tasty late fall treat. That explains why the persimmons are still green, unripe, on the tree since we are only one step into autumn/fall.

Persimmon tree

Golden asian pears hanging high on the tree, so tempting...

Pear tree

Apples...nice and red, ready to be picked

Apple tree

Do you like Asian pears ? Or prefer the classic apples?

Tag: fruits, pears

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Staring at these jellyfishes, is so therapeutic somehow. (Click to enlarge the picture)

They move slow and convey a message to the fast-paced world out here - Slow down and appreciate life.

Hmmm...jellyfish is heartless and brainless. So what does that make you if someone were to call you a jellyfish ? :O

This aquarium really wow-ed me (as if I have visited many). I only visited Underwater World back in Singapore many many years ago.

I found these videos and unfortunately my javascript was not enabled to view them. If you could view them, I believe it should be worth a treat? Tell me if it's not.


Haha! This should make Singapore proud! Satu, Dua, Tiga, Empat - is this some kind of animal-exchange program ? wahahaa!

(Answer to the quiz: The egg yolk so named because it's an egg yolk jellyfish. The egg yolk jellyfish and the sharks fin exhibit can be found with in the same Monterey Bay aquarium) . That's their commonality. This is the answer I was looking for but that might not be the only answer. I guess some of you that mentioned proteins might be right too.

Tag: monterey bay, aquarium, travel

Olallieberry U-Pick

"Live each season as it passes - breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit". You have heard this before, and now you are hearing it again. But I can't emphasize it enough. I've gone to pick berries again. I thought it would be my last time but the fever seems to have spread from here to there and back here again.

Berry nice! Berry fun ! Berry Berry! Gone ~berry berry~ picking. “Olallie” is a word for berry that was used by the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest. Berry Berry U-Pick! Olallieberries U-Pick! (oops, tigerfish gone berry crazy!).

Olallieberry (pronounced oh-la-leh). My first encounter with olallieberry was almost a year ago, after tasting an olallieberry pie in Duarte Tavern and blogging about the fruit.

Olallieberry certainly has a complicated heritage - a cross between the loganberry (itself a cross between blackberry and raspberry) and the youngberry (itself a cross between blackberry and dewberry). Berry complicated. As the olallieberry has blackberry on both sides of its parentage, it exhibits many similar characteristics of the blackberry.

Looking alike some special vineyard variety


Berry speaks: I'm just here for a short while for you...1st three weeks in June


Most berries have high antioxidants levels


From here...


To here...


What's best - at $2/lb, these olallieberries are organically certified

With four punnets, I paid 6 bucks (hey, $6 for these organic berries is relatively inexpensive, ok?), and I'm not going to make any pies or bakes out of them, for reasons you know why. It'll just be berries as-is, with yogurt, with breakfast cereals, smoothies...hey, that's soooooo berry boring. Ok then, berries anything else ?

Tag: olallieberry, U pick, bay area food

Strawberries U-Pick

We picked Swanton Berry Farm as our U-pick destination, a morning getaway. I want my organic strawberries. I want it NOW! I want it CHEAP! And I want it SWEET! Swanton Berry Farm has it all. You just have to turn laborious , do some legwork and you can have it NOW, CHEAP, and SWEET. Organic too! Nothing is free in this world, right? If you want it, work for it!

Currently, the strawberry field is opened for U-pick and strawberries are at $2/lb. Are you ready to join the fun ? Find a nearby U-pick location near you. Just make sure to call any location you have chosen to make sure the fields are ready for U-pick.

More about Swanton Berry Farm:
Swanton Berry Farm has two ranches that are open seasonally to the public. The Farm Stand is open year round selling baked goods and organic strawberries. It is also the site of our u-pick strawberry fields. Located approximately 1.5hrs south of San Francisco. The Farm Stand is approximately 10mins north of Santa Cruz.


More information found here

Alcatraz Island by the cruise

If you come to San Francisco and wish to take a history lesson, take a cruise to Alcatraz Island .

See that seagull ? The worst time to visit is early summer (late June-ish) when nesting seagulls create a stink! Spring and fall will be nice.

Coming Fall 2008, Alcatraz Cruises will feature an air, wind diesel-powered ferry for visitors visiting the island. This 600-passenger trimaran will emit about half of the pollutants of similarly sized conventional boats.

Cheap and Good Eat, go to New Hai Ky. Review found here

First day of Spring

Winter is finally over. It's Spring time!


Winter's outcome: You see less greenery and blooms


Spring is here!



Sunnyvale Baylands
November through April there are no parking fees (off-season)
May through October there is a single car entry fee of $5.00

Catch them mating. It's an elephant. It's a seal. No, it's elephant seal!

Where can you see them ?
Ano Nuevo State Reserve
The Reserve is located on State Highway 1 between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay, about 1.5 hours south of San Francisco.

When? There are Breeding Season, Birth, Nursing, Mating and Gestation, Weaners, Molting, Feeding and Development. See the website for more details.


Look like elephant or seal ?

Ski trip at Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley

How could I have forgotten about this ? My ski trip back in Jan 2007 !

Taken at Squaw Valley

We took the Bay Area Ski Bus. This time, no driving! Stress-free! Slept all the way in the bus from pick up location to the ski resort! Continental breakfast and after-ski refreshements included as well! I'm in exclamation because this is really superb if you want to save your energy for skiing. There are add-ons and options for ski/snowboard(including lift tickets), beginner ski/snowboard package(including lessons, and rental equipment- ski, poles, and boots).

I'm not sure if skiing or snowboarding is easier to learn for a true beginner. We chose the former in the Tahoe Overnighter. On the first day at Alpine Meadows, it was terrible. I fell and fell upteem times, and I did not master any basic ski skills. End of that day, I told myself I was not going for the ski lessons on the next day. Once fallen hard, twice shy - can you imagine how I felt, physically ? If I were 10 years younger, I would have been more adventurous and "pain- and bruise-resistant".

Second day at Squaw Valley - it was so windy and cold at an elevation. The wind blew with ice-bits hitting our face - the only body part not covered and protected. The lessons carried on still, despite the windy conditions. I was disappointed (I was hoping for it to be cancelled, in fact).
Hey, this instructor at Squaw Valley was much much better. She taught us the basics and were detailed to correct our mistakes in terms of ski positions, and techniques. I DID NOT FALL! Yes, I did not fall during the lessons, and when on my own! I am starting to love this! The sensation of skiing down the terrain at that down-slope speed was simply beyond description. A sense of freedom! A sense of accomplishment beyond the usual physical attainment!

We concluded that for beginners, ski and snowboard can be both easy to pick up, depending on which ski resort you go to - the terrain, and the availability of experienced instructors ARE IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION FACTORS!