Eating 1000 Meals

Went to this Internet Marketing seminar at the Paradise Point Hotel. It's a beautiful hotel near Sea World in San Diego. I met Jim Cockrum and his assistant Ron there. Speaking at this 2 day event were Gary Halbert, John Carlton, Frank Kern, Ed Dale, Rich Schefrens, Bob Serling and many more gurus.

Lunch was served in a lawn setting in the midday sun. There were salmon, beef, pasta and so much more. Good conversations, fantastic ideas. It was great meeting others with a similar mindset that we did it again the next day.

It's a weekend I won't soon forget.

Labels: san diego dining

Spent an hour walking around Old Town section of San Diego. Lots of history here. Nice museums. Passed by the most haunted house in California.

Quite a few restaurants here. Decided to check out Fred's Mexican restaurant. Seems like a party type restaurant with loud parrot in a cage up front. There's inside and outside sitting. We sat outside. Had a fajita, beer, salsa chips. The beer went down good.

The one noteworthy event that happened was - all of a sudden, a loud bang was heard. My friend was so shocked that he had the deer-in-the-headlight look. The expression on his face was priceless.

The bang might have been a car backfiring or someone shooting a gun. I figured it was the parrot and went back drinking.

Labels: vacation san diego dining

Visiting San Diego brings back warm memories. Last time here, 10 years ago, I remember saying I would like to retire here. Similar feel to Vancouver, only warmer and no rain.

We had heard that there were some nice restaurants on No. 3 St. As we drove by, noticed signs advertising the Taste of San Diego. Stopped by a couple restaurants, but since we are regulars at Thai Palace in Vancouver, the choice was easily made. As part of the Taste of San Diego, the restaurant had set up a table on the sidewalk to 'sample their wares.' They had Pad Thai and other food - the staff was continuously running back and forth.

Inside, we had a nice cold beer. Tiger, I believe. I had the Pad Thai. It was ok.

Even though the Mea Kwan Thai is run by folks from Bangkok, it wasn't like it was super-authentic or anything, as we do have a lot of nice Thai restaurants in Vancouver - some better, some worse. So we are kind of spoiled here.

What do you do, when you arrive in Vegas at 10pm, tired and hungry? Naturally, you seek out some good cheap eats. For years, we have gone to Arizona Charlies for their $2.99 steak and eggs. That is, until last time, when some of us had queasy stomachs afterwards after dining on oily eggs and chewy steaks.

This time, tried another cheap deal at the Hotel California's Redwood Grill in the Fremont district at about midnight. Their graveyard shift special included $3.99 steak and won ton min. Food was not bad, then again, it always seems that the first time you try a place, it's always the best. Subsequent visits usually change one's perception and reveal it for what it is - a cheap eat and all it implies. Law of diminishing returns.

This place has a huge Hawaiian following.

White Rock has certainly changed. What was once a one-fish-and-chip-shack town is now a tourist trap albeit a scenic tourist trap - especially along restaurant row on Marine Dr. The parking here is a bitch, but the view is nice. Sorta like Angelina Jolie.

Walked all along Marine Drive and finally settled on Troll's. It's not the greatest of places but it would suffice. The honey lager was good, the seafood clubhouse was not bad. Service was slow, but we had time to kill.

What better time than to reflect upon the changes in White Rock over the last 30 years. Was it all for the best? It's now bigger, but better? As more money is pumped into the local economy, there'll be more restaurants, condos, parking lots, everyday stress. The price of progress? or is there something inside each of us trying to seek a simpler life?

There was an opening for a guinea pig as Tim Horton's just had their own grand opening at the Waterfront Food Fair. The lineup was long with a confusing configuration. The location is not the best, way in the corner of the mall. They have multi-cash registers but there is first day confusion about whether there should be one line or multi-lines. I knew I should have brought my own yellow queue tape and traffic cone.

Long story short - the couple in front of me bought multiple items, but Tim ran out of an item, so instead of 2 they now had one sandwich. Then,one by one they started deleting items from their purchase. All the while I'm standing in line for 15 minutes, money burning a hole in my pocket. I won't be back until they are up to speed.

Old number 2 would be rolling in his grave now. (Trivia note - Tim Horton was a Toronto Maple Leaf hockey player who wore the number 2.)

Scoozi's is a Mediterranean restaurant I pass by every week. The patio juts out on a relatively busy sidewalk filled with tourists and business people walking up and down with the obligatory beggar occupying the corners.

I've always wanted to try the restaurant. Finally decided to visit on a Friday afternoon. Outside was full, so we went inside.

The skinny on this place is that while it's a nice restaurant with decent food, a personable host and wait staff, it's a tourist trap. The prices are much too high. The bill for 3 people topped out at $71. I had 2 beers and only an appetizer - tzakziki with pita ($6.99) as I had lunch elsewhere.

My colleagues had pasta. Their bills were much higher than mine.

We were not impressed.