Restaurant Hopping - Kusakabe SF

Tasting Menu

Kusakabe just recently made it to 1 star Michelin Star Restaurant in 2015. Coming back from Japan, we were craving good Japanese foods and lucky for us, we were able to secure a reservation to Kusakabe a week after we were back. The Omakase menu is $95/person. Their menu is updated frequently, so check their website to see updated menu. After finishing with your Omakase menu, you will be presented with their a la carte menu, where you can order even more foods! We ordered both the toro and a5 wagyu beef for our last Omakase selections and we also ordered the uni and tamago from the a la carte menu. 

Foods are excellent! Instead of giving you a small plate for soy sauce, the chef already brushed the sushi with soy sauce. Each foods are outstanding and a different experience than any other Japanese restaurant that we've been to. 

Restaurant Information:
Kusakabe
584 Washington St. 
San Francisco, CA 94111 
(415) 757-0155

Plenty of street parking outside the restaurant. 

San Jose to San Francisco with Fiat 500e

I've always want to know how far my little Fiat can go, so last weekend we've decided to try going to San Francisco from San Jose. It's about 51 miles going from home to San Francisco zoo. We decided to take 101N instead of 280N. We started with a full charge from home. The dashboard is showing 86 miles. There were just 2 of us in the car and we were going about 70-75mph. By the time we reach the zoo, my car is showing 22 miles left. We use the free charger from the zoo(parking is $10 for the weekend). It took 3 hours for a full charge, not a big deal since it took about the same time to explore the zoo.

The dashboard was showing 86 miles when it was fully charged and we made 2 stops in Colma and Daly City before we head home. We decided to take 280S this time. We were going 75-80mph and by the time we reach home, we have about 15 miles left. Total miles drove was 112 miles.

So in summary, you can definitely make it from San Jose to San Francisco one way with a full charge. It takes a bit of planning to make sure you get a charger when you are in the city, but it's do-able! We're planning to try bringing the car to Union Square area next time!

Whiskey-friendly hiking/beach spots around Bay Area

Once or twice a month, we like to take Whiskey out hiking or to the beach. Luckily for us, there are a lot of places in Bay Area that allow dogs. These are Whiskey's favorite places to hang out:

• Villa Montalvo(15400 Montalvo Rd, Saratoga, CA 95071)
• Light, short hike with shaded trees and gorgeous views at the top.

Whiskey @ Villa Montalvo 

• Fremont Older Open Space Preserve(22898 Prospect Rd Saratoga, CA 95070)
• Light, short hike, use sunscreen, almost all of the area is not shaded, great views at the top.
• Monterey's Lovers Point Park(630 Ocean View Blvd, Pacific Grove, CA 93950)
• Light walk right beside the beach, gorgeous during spring time!

Views from Lovers Point Park

• Fort Funston(Skyline Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94132)
• Moderate hike and walk by the beach, dogs are allowed off-leash.

Views from Fort Funston and the stairs to go up or down from parking lot

• Santa Cruz Lighthouse Park
• Dog friendly park and beach, dogs are allowed off-leash, much smaller than Fort Funston(which is perfect for Whiskey and us)!

Look how happy Whiskey is!

I will try to update this page once we found more fun places for Whiskey!

Portland, Oregon p1

Disclaimer: This is our 2nd trip to Portland, so we skipped several must-visit places that we've been to before. Stay tune for next week's post for itinerary of our first visit!

Trip Duration: 4 days/3 nights

Hotel:

River's Edge Hotel & Spa Portland

455 SW Hamilton Ct

Portland, OR 97239 

The best thing about this hotel is breakfast! We got a great deal from Travelzoo that includes both parking($25/night), $20 spa credit/night and $9/person/night for breakfast. Unlike other hotels where breakfast is served in the lobby and you get either continental or hot breakfast, here, you actually have breakfast in their restaurant and you can choose from their brunch menu. If your total is more than the allowed voucher, you simply charge the rest to your room! The 3 nights we stayed there, we have different breakfast everyday in a nice restaurant with a great view of the river!

Things to do:

• The Grotto

Lower level of The Grotto

• Came to know this place from TripAdvisor. It's a Catholic shrine with a beautiful botanical garden on the upper level. You need to pay $5 to take the elevator to the upper level, but it's so worth it! It's very peaceful and serene. 
• Multnomah Falls

Multnomah Falls view from the bottom(without hiking)

• Breathtaking waterfall views without having to hike! In most places, you need to hike at least a mile in order to see the beautiful waterfall. Multnomah Falls is one of the gorgeous falls where you don't need to hike at all. You have the option to hike to the top of the falls if you prefer. The hike to the bridge is a short 0.2mi and to the top is about 1mi. 
• Crown Point Vista House

View of Columbia Gorge River

• When it's not foggy, you can have an amazing view of Columbia Gorge River from up here. This is the first stop that you see before going through a series of waterfalls. 
• Lan Su Chinese Garden
• It's a tiny park in the middle of Chinatown. If you are cramp on time, you can skip this place. 
• Portland Aerial Tram

View from the top of OHSU after the tram ride

• This tram is built to connect 2 of OHSU buildings. There's plenty of street parking, but in case you don't find one, you can park in the garage for $3/hour. The trip to the top is a short 4 minutes. Once you are at the top, you'll have a magnificent view of Portland from the top.  

There are also places that were on our list, but we didn't get a chance to go since we want to relax a bit, instead of rushing here and there:

• International Rose Garden
• OMSI
• Portland Art Museum
• McMenamins Movie Theater
• McMenamins Soaking Pools
• Wilamette Valley(wineries)

Foods:

• Pok Pok
• This place is the most reviewed in Yelp, so of course we have to try this! The line is long even at 2 in the afternoon. After waiting for 45 minutes, we are finally seated. The food portions are small. They recommended 3-4 dishes for the 2 of us. We ordered the famous fish sauce wings and Khao Soi. The foods are good, but not as good as I thought it would be given all the rave reviews.
• Screen Door
• Our favorite restaurant for the entire trip! Food portions are huge! Everything that we tried are really good. We ordered foods for to go, since the line is very long and we don't feel like waiting. Plus, parking is a hassle in this area. We got the crispy fried oyster, beef brisket, screen door plate(mac and cheese, pork chops and catfish) and pecan pie. I don't usually like oyster, but Screen Door's oysters are delicious!
• Luc Lac

Luc Lac

• Luc Lac is a great eating spot when you are in downtown area and need to get lunch(or dinner). We came in for lunch on a weekday after lunch rush hour(~1.30pm) and we didn't have to wait for tables. We ordered crispy rolls, pho and luc lac. Their pho soup is really tasty! Crispy rolls is pretty good, but the luc lac is a bit salty for our taste. 
• Andina

Grilled scallops with crispy onions

Semifreddo

• Street parking is pretty easy to find for a weekday dinner. We had a reservation, so we don't have to wait for our table. The party in front of us did not have a reservation and they were told that the wait is about an hour. We tried the grilled scallops with crispy onion(highly recommended), east west oyster(it was okay) and sashimi-style fish with corn salsa(nothing to rave about) from the tapas menu. We also ordered the lamb shank(it's good and tasty) and duck served 2 ways(the leg is very salty and the breast is hard to chew). The desserts are the star of the meal! We ordered the semifreddo and the alfajores. Both are amazing. Overall experience are just okay, I don't think we'll come back next time we're in Portland. 
• Bamboo Sushi -- Not recommended
• If you are craving for sushi, this is not the place for you. This seems like an American Japanese restaurant. We ordered chasing the dragon rolls(not good), albacore carpaccio(it's okay), wild alaskan salmon and wild alaskan king salmon(both are okay, just like any other nigiri we've had) and our favorite the black cod. Out of all of the foods, we only love the black cod.
• Blue Star Donuts
• We bought this home all the way to California and it still tastes good! Way better than Voodoo donuts without the line! They also have tiny doggy donuts and Whiskey loves it too!
• Samurai Blue
• After not getting a nice sushi meal @ Bamboo, we wanted to go to Saburo sushi, but they were close for lunch and it was our last day in Portland. We found this restaurant with a pretty good reviews on Yelp and decided to try it out. Their sushi is much better than Bamboo's. We ordered the sashimi and sushi lunch plate(good portion and price), deep fried calamari(good), fire in the hole rolls(good) and salmon nigiri(good). 

Photos

Itinerary:
Day 1

Landed @ PDX at noon
The Grotto
Lunch @ Pok Pok
Lan Su Garden
Check in hotel
Dinner @ Screen Door

Day 2

Breakfast @ hotel

Crown Point Vista House

Multnomah Falls

Dinner @ Bamboo Sushi

Day 3

Breakfast @ hotel

Portland aerial tram

Downtown Portland

Lunch @ Luc Lac

Woodburn Outlet

Dinner @ Andina

Day 4

Breakfast @ hotel

Last minute tax free shopping

Lunch @ Samurai Blue

Grab Donuts to take home @ Blue Star

Head back to airport

Restaurant Hopping - KEIKO à Nob Hill

Tasting Menu

Keiko is officially my favorite restaurant in San Francisco! Their tasting menu is $149/person for 9 courses, plus several amuse bouche here and there. Most places, when they have tasting menu, are filled with vegetables. I don't really eat vegetables, so a lot of times I hate doing tasting menu. With Keiko, they only serve tasting menu, and all foods are served at the same time for everyone dining that night. We enjoyed all of the amuse bouche and every single course. We had uni, salmon, caviar, lobster, fish and the best of all is a5 wagyu! The beef literally melts in your mouth! I would recommend Keiko if you want to splurge and have a good meal. The whole meal lasted about 3 hours. 
Restaurant Information:
KEIKO à Nob Hill
250 Jones St
San Francisco, CA 94109

There is a parking garage about 2 blocks away from the restaurant. Street parking is hard to find.

Arizona/Utah National Park Road Trip

Trip Duration: 7 days/6 nights

Hotel:

• DAYS INN CAMP VERDE ARIZONA
  1640 West Highway 260
  I-17 Exit 287, Next to Denny's
  Camp Verde, AZ 86322 US
• Red Feather Lodge
  300 Arizona 64  
  Tusayan, AZ 86023
• Courtyard Marriott
  600 Clubhouse Drive,
  Page, Arizona 86040
• BEST WESTERN PLUS
  Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel
  30 N 100 E
  Bryce Canyon City, Utah 84764
• Wynn Las Vegas
  3131 Las Vegas Blvd.
  South Las Vegas, NV, 89109

All of the hotels other than Wynn are okay hotels for 1 night trip.
For Wynn, we stayed on the 21st floor facing the strip. The view is amazing! Displays in the lobby floor are gorgeous! However, at night you can hear train noise and police siren from down the strip. Also, for some reason this casino smells smoke the most. Bed is too soft for me. Will not stay here again but will always stop by for a visit whenever I'm in Vegas.

Things to do:

• Heard Museum

Entrance to Heard Museum

• Sedona downtown
• Chapel of the Holy Cross

View of the Chapel from below

• Red Rock Crossing
• Grand Canyon South Rim
• We didn't actually see anything @ Grand Canyon when we went because they had fogs all day that day!
• 
  
  Antelope Canyon - guided tour only

Inside Antelope Canyon

• Horseshoe Bend

View of Horsehoe Bend

• Bryce Canyon
• Zion
• Zarkana Cirque du Soleil show
• Show is short, only 1.5hr. Good performance, stage is amazing! One of the prettiest cirque stages! Bought tickets from tix4tonight booth and got a free upgrade when we redeemed at box office. Check website and book early, they have student discount and online purchase discount. Worth the $$$!

Foods:

Since we move a lot, we pretty much just eat whatever restaurant we saw during lunch and dinner time. Other than the buffet and Max Brenner in Las Vegas, no restaurant stands out in this trip. Most of the places we went to are in small cities, so there are not many local restaurants to choose from.

• Max Brenner(Inside The Forum Shops @ Caesar Palace)
• Yummy foods and desserts! Everytime I go to Vegas, I always try to stop by Max Brenner to sip on their iced chocolate drinks! It's hot most of the time in Vegas, so iced drinks are always a good treat!

Foods and drinks @ Max Brenner

• Caesar Palace's Bacchanal Buffet
• This is my new favorite buffet in Vegas, replacing Wynn. Lunch is low $30s, more expensive than most buffet, but they have more selections. Oysters, sushi, prime rib, brisket, mexican, pasta, chinese, pho, ramen, udon, dim sum to name some. Desserts are very good too! Crepes, lava cake, bread pudding, cupcakes, creme brule and many more! If you like buffet, you must try Bacchanal!

Photos

Itinerary:

http://goo.gl/maps/Hx97g

Day 1

Flying to Phoenix airport

Pick up rental car

Heard Museum: http://heard.org/visit/mainlocation.html

Montezuma Castle: http://www.nps.gov/moca/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Overnight @ Camp Verde

Day 2
Sedona downtown

Chapel of the Holy Cross: http://www.chapeloftheholycross.com/
Red Rock Crossing

http://www.sedonaverdevalley.org/attractionshighlights/redrockcrossing.html

Overnight @ Grand Canyon South Rim

Day 3

Grand Canyon South Rim

Overnight @ Page, AZ(Antelope Canyon)

Day 4

Antelope Canyon

Horseshoe Bend

Overnight @ Bryce Canyon

Day 5

Bryce Canyon

Zion

Overnight @ Las Vegas

Day 6

Las Vegas
Watch show(on this trip we opt to Zarkana Cirque du Soleil show @ Aria)

Overnight @ Las Vegas

Day 7
Drop off rental car

Flying back home

Oahu, Hawaii

Trip Duration: 4 days/3 nights

Hotel:

Sheraton Waikiki

2255 Kalakaua Avenue

Honolulu, HI 96815

The hotel is within walking distance to beach, restaurants and shopping area. Most of the time after dinner, we just stroll at the beach or do some shopping. They also have an infinity pool facing the beach as well as kids friendly pool.

Things to do:

• Iolani Palace(Tour Close @ 4pm)
• Nice place to visit, they have parking inside and there are also street parking, but read the sign for street parking to make sure your car does not get towed! The basement area was under construction when we visited here, but still a must visit place in Oahu.
• King Kamehameha Statue
• If you watch Hawaii 5-0, you would notice this statue instantly. This statue is across from Iolani Palace and in front of Aliiolani Hale(Hawaii Supreme Court). After you take picture with the statue, make sure to go inside Aliiolani Hale. They have museum there and this is also another spot you'll notice in Hawaii 5-0. 
• Polynesian Cultural Center 
• Expect to spend the whole day here. If this is your first time to Oahu, you need to include this in your must visit list. We reached here just before noon and it's the perfect time. This is what we did in order:
• Island of Hawaii 
• Island of Fiji
• Iosepa
• Lunch
• Canoe Parade
• Samoa show
• Aotearoa
• Tonga
• Canoe ride
• Luau Dinner
• HA Breath of Life
• Dole's Plantation
• It feels like a waste of time going here. We took the train rides(it was ok) and also the maze(it was wet so not so fun having to step on soggy grounds). The pineapple ice cream is such a rip off. It was really expensive. The store has some really interested stuffs I never seen outside Dole's. If you have extra time, you should do a short visit here, but if not, it's ok to pass on this.
• Pearl Harbor: Arizona Memorial, USS Missouri, Bowfin Submarine Museum, and Pacific Aviation Museum
• Make sure to reserve your tickets early! If not, you'll have to line up when they open(7am I believe) to get your tickets. Tickets to Pearl Harbor is free, but if you want to visit USS Missouri or the submarine, you would need to pay extra. We visited all these 3 spots and I would say it's worth the visit! 

Foods:

• Helena's Hawaiian Food
• We went here straight from the airport. It's pretty close from the airport and on our way to the hotel. The short ribs deserves 4* but everything else is just ok. We ordered 2 menu D with 2 ahi poke, tripe stew and mac salad for 6 people and the portion is just right. Worth coming just for the short ribs!!

Close up of short ribs

Menu D

• Doraku Sushi
• Try to come during their happy hour(5-7pm everyday)! We were seated 2 minutes before happy hour ends and our server was so nice he still let us order from happy hour menu. Everything in the happy hour menu was $6 or less, including drinks!
• Duke's Waikiki -- Not recommended
• We have a reservation, but we still have to wait around 20 minutes before we get seated. The foods are average, but the location is nice. It's right by the beach. The foods here are expensive. There are better foods around the area, you are not missing out if you don't eat here. 
• Marukame Udon
• We lined up here about 15 minutes before they're open and the lines got longer and longer closer to opening time. Luckily the line moves pretty fast. They don't have a lot of seats inside and it's cafetaria style where you line up to get your foods first, pay, then sit and eat. 

Marukame Udon and extras!

• Tea Time Taiwan
• Ask for half sweet. The place is pretty clean and they have variety of drinks.
• Spicy Ahi & BBQ
• We love sushi, so when we found this place, we were in heaven! Fresh salmon and ahi, need I say more?

Salmon and Ahi Tuna Bowl

• Bubbies Mochi
• Their mochi ice cream is amazing! The place is hard to find, they are in the back of the complex. It took us at least 10 minutes to find it. Parking area is also small. 
• Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin
• Tonkatsu sandwich here is a must. Since there are so many foods we wanted to eat, we decided to buy this for to-go and eat it in the plane. Even when it's not hot, the sandwich is still really good!
• Musubi Iyasume
• Awesome snacks on the go! Every morning before we go, we always stop by this place and buy several musubi for breakfast and also to eat on the road. It's cash only, so make sure you have cash ready!

All the different kinds of musubi

• Leonard's Bakery
• The malasadas here are great! You need to eat it while it's hot though. We tried the regular/sugar, chocolate filled and custard filled. All are amazing! Must try when you are in Oahu!

Photos

Itinerary:
Day 1
Landed @ Honolulu Airport

Lunch @ Helena's Hawaiian Food (Cash only)
Iolani Palace
King Kamehameha Statue & Aliiolani Hale
Check in Hotel

Dinner @ Duke's Waikiki

Day 2

Brunch @ Marukame Udon(check first to make sure they are open)

Polynesian Cultural Center 

Day3

Pearl Harbor: Arizona Memorial, USS Missouri, Bowfin Submarine Museum, and Pacific Aviation Museum
Lunch @ Spicy Ahi & BBQ
Dole's Plantation

Dinner @ Doraku Sushi

Day 4

Stroll around the hotel
Check out and head to airport