10 days of chilling at FC

Time flies and before we know it, Sheena has come and gone! This trip was rather unplanned, in a nice way too because we didn't have to rush from attractions to attractions, place to place. No long road trips, just short excursions to nearby places for food and coffee.

Since it's her second time here (ahem, in half a year) and knew exactly how she wants to spend her time, we just jotted down a list of to-eat and to-do. The highlights are:

1. New eating places!

Silver Lake is along El Camino Real and we went there on Panda's recommendation (his colleagues brought him there for lunch). At $18.90 for a set of three main dishes and $1 per pax for rice, we couldn't ask for a more value for money lunch. We especially loved the salt and pepper ribs, and tofu rod cod pot!

We stopped by Soho Café on our way to Livermore Premium Outlet - it's just one exit away. Even though the reviews on Yelp are average, we liked the food there and I think it helps if you place your order in Cantonese! I tried their satay mee and it was yums.

Sheena is a ramen lover, like me! We had a girls lunch at Ramen Parlour because it's one of the best around, together with Ramen Dojo and Santa Ramen. I chose the garlic lobster pork soup base - thick and fragrant. The ramen also came with half a soft shell crab! Verdict for us: I think it's as good as Ramen Dojo (I love thick soup bases) but Sheena still ranks Hotaru's curry ramen as her favourite.

Spicy Empire, omg... I've been craving for Sze Chuan food for ages and Sheena gave me the perfect excuse to go because Panda doesn't take spicy food! We asked Vic to bring us there for lunch since he loves spicy food. I'm so in love with the 水煮鱼 and 蒜泥白肉. Will. Be. Back. Burp.

We sort of decided on King of Thai Noodle House at the last minute because we didn't know what to eat while we were in the city. It's a convenient choice since it's located near Union Square. The portions are just right. Their pad thai is better than their fried rice. And oh, Hoi Jor is good too.

Panda and I got a bit worried when Sheena disappeared for the longest time at the Great Mall food court. Turns out, she was queuing up for Great Khan's Mongolian BBQ. So you pile your bowl with as much food and condiments as you can, then someone will dump a pile of noodles on your bowl, and the chef will then cook them all up for you. How it taste is all up to you! But I must say it looks fun... trust Sheena to find this!

2. New gallivanting places!

We have no long road trips this time around, so we mainly hang around nearby places. I took Sheena to Philz Coffee at Palo Alto, and she liked it so much that we went back for a second time with Panda. (Actually, we went to the Facebook HQ branch without knowing that it's only for employees. Oops!)

Anyway, back at Palo Alto, we took a stroll along University Avenue. Love the Rocket Fizz Soda Pop & Candy Shop, which sells all sorts of quirky soda and candies, and Paris Baguette because their café mocha roll is so good! Cream, which sells ice-cream sandwiched between two cookies at only $2.50, smells lovely and there was no queue! A pity that our tummies were too full!

For our city tour, we skipped the pier because we've been there, done that. Took a walk along Chinatown instead, partly because we haven't really check out Chinatown before, partly because I wanted to look for good lup cheong! We didn't know all the good bakeries are along Stockton Street, since we went by Grant Avenue. We will save our tummies for next time!

3. New recipes!

Well, not exactly new new. Sheena tried Jo's guacamole dip in her last trip, so this time round she tried her hand at making it, under the supervision of Chef Jo. We also made many bags of potstickers, and baked shepherd's pie at home for the first time. I love it when we have simple home-cooked dinners!

For breakfast, Sheena also made us frittatas with bacon. It's quite yummy and the recipe sounds simple! I will try to make some in future too.

4. New shopping places!

Other than the usual outlets and malls, I brought Sheena to the Nike Clearance at San Leandro. We also shopped in the city for the first time. Among her goodies are two new pairs of TOMS from Sports Basement, and one new pair of boots at Skechers (I think she looks awesome in them!)



This sort of summarises Sheena's 10-day long break at FC. With an extremely relaxed and flexible itinerary, I hope she feels refreshed, satisfied (tummy-wise) and happy with her loot. Because I do, with my own shopping and eating craves fulfilled! Heehee!