A Saturday at Santana Row

We didn't realise that San Jose has such a charming place, until we were introduced to Santana Row by the Leow family! It's like Santa Monica in LA, but so much better without the tourist crowd.

Mind you, it's still an upscale (read: expensive) place in terms of dining and shopping. For an afternoon of chilling and window shopping though, it's perfect.

In the evening we went Left Bank, a French brasserie, for dinner with the Leow family and friends. The ambience was great given that they were celebrating Bastille Day the next day. And there was live accordion music by a friendly musician!

For food, since we've just eaten lunch at 3pm, Panda and I ordered one serving of Poulet Roti to share. We mistakenly thought that we had double ordered when it arrived - the chicken was huge! Our friends' steak, salmon and pasta were more aptly portioned.

We ended the day with drinks from Fantasia, chit-chatting outside the tiny cafe and listening to the throbbing club music from El Jardin. When we left around 10pm, Santana Row was still abuzz with people enjoying the cool, breezy night. We love the vibrancy of the place, and will definitely be back!