Back from vacation....

I just got back this afternoon. And I am glad to be home after the annoying incident at San Francisco airport with United Airlines.

Usually I don't get annoyed with airlines and I have only complained twice and got results with Air Canada.

But today, I was checking in at United at Terminal 3 and I noticed that gate 35 is in Terminal 1 so I took the shuttle to go to 1 and after getting to gate 35, it was announced that there was gate change and now it will be gate 70 which is in Terminal 3 so I took the shuttle back to 3. When I looked at the departures board, it says there gate 77B.

Finally, I asked the agent if it was 70 or 77B and she replied she did not know yet but there is gate change for sure. A while later there was an announcement that it was gate 70.

Now you can do pre check in on line and they issue a boarding pass. You still have to check in your baggage and there have to do another check in and you have to print your boarding pass. So what is the point of doing it online 24 hours before a flight. And then once in the gate, you have to get your boarding pass checked to get the DOC OK stamp.

Oh, the hassles of travelling after 911. And to top it off, we had to get up really early to be at the airport 2 hours before your flight. At least I do not have to do it again until before Christmas which is worst because of it being the holidays.

Vacation....

Yes, today I am on my way to visit my sister and to join her when she celebrates her big 60. Oops, I don't know if I should that number but I know she won't mind.

We have a lot to do and she had planned on a trip to go to a casino which will be our bonding day. Then I guess we will be busy shopping, shopping and more shopping. Also, preparing for her party.

I am sure we will try to play tennis and eat at restaurants I want to try, one of them is Johnny Garlic owned by Guy Fieri of the Diners, Drive-ins and Dives Fooe Network show.

My flight is so early that I am thinking of just not going to sleep so I would be so tired and just sleep on the plane and the flight would be short. Or I can just read, of which I forgot to buy a book. I should just get Kindle.

Anyway, I don't know how often I will blog but I will try.

See you when I get back..../enjoy the long weekend and the warm weather although I saw forecast is rain for the next few days.

Famoso pizza.....

This is supposedly one of the best pizza places in Edmonton. There was a lot of buzz when it opened and I guess they lived up to that reputation.

So tonight, some of us friends and a family member decided to order as they were saying as well that is what they all heard about this place. So we ordered their pepperoni and roasted mushroom with additional smoked mozarella, capriciosa which has artichokes, Italian ham, olives, mushroom and something else and an order of mozza balls. We only had to wait 10 minutes and order was ready.

So we went to pick pizza and one opened the box and it smells good. When we got home, we got ready to eat and each took a piece and one mozza ball. When we started eating the center part, a big part of the pizza was so dought, it was not even edible. Everyone complained how bad it was and we also started to watch a movie on demand and nobody was watching the movie as we were all busy complaining and givine comments of how bad it was and it was the worst pizza ever.

I have taken pictures to capture but it did not do it justice.

That is the top of the box...which says what you can see there. Well, this one did not last long as it went to the garbage right away after we took photos.

 

That was the first were two people took slices and this was moved to a pie pan to see if we could get it in the oven to save it so we could eat it. But everyone decided it was not worth saving.

 



This is the other pizza where I took my one slice and it went to the garbage like this. The only edible part was the 1 1/2 inch of the edge. They were supposed to be thin so you would think it would be cooked and not like raw dough.

This was my plate with just the edge eaten and the topping.

Most of the other plates were almost the same maybe a bit worse as they just left most of it uneaten. It was not even worth it to drive back to return and show them.

 

I was so upset that we talked of doing reviews on Yelp, Urban Spoon and all the other on line review sites but I was thinking they, the management would not see it.

So I called them up and complained and told them I do not want anything from them but that I did not want any other customers to have the same experience. The manager asked for my name and I gave it to her and she told me there will be a certificate waiting for me there. I can tell you now, that certificate will remain unclaimed and that would be my last and I will never ever ever (just like that Taylor Swift song) go back there. And all of us have said when we hear about that place again, we will mention our experience. The worst so far and I have been to a lot of restaurants here and abroad and my gosh that was on the top of the list of the worst ones.

Two thumbs down.



Happy Mother's Day......

To all the moms out there.....Happy Mother's Day.

A special day dedicated to us but I believe this should be celebrated more than just a day. I know all the hard work mother's do for the family.

They have two jobs....one they go out to and the other one when they get home. So for us mothers, the job never ends.

I am sure for the lucky ones, the family appreciates all the time and not only on this day.

I received an orchid plant one Mother's Day. I prefer to get plants or flowers than being taken out for dinner. That's just me. The plant will last longer than the dinner.



Baking and cooking......

For quite a while I have been baking and forgetting to take pictures. I found it hard to blog about baking/cooking when I do not pictures to go with it. I have also been trying same recipes but refining or adjusting it to my personal taste preference.

I have tried so many corn bread recipes and now I think I may have found the one I like but then again when I was at Smokehouse BBQ and had their bacon/jalapeno shortbread, I now want to find something like it. It was really good.

I don't like cilantro and I love Mexican and Vietnamese food. It is hard to request not to have cilantro in their salsa as it is prepared with it. The Vietnamese restaurant we go to all the time has been very accommodating and will omit cilantro when I ask not to have it in anything I order.

Today I am trying yet again another banana bread/muffin recipe. This is the only way to use my over ripe bananas.

Chewy peanut butter cookies

 

Pineapple/orange chiffon cake....I had a hard time cutting it as it was so soft and moist and not too sweet

 

Spaghetti a la carbonara....I made this after that disastrous carbonara my grand nephew ordered at an Italian restaurant and this was a lot better, I put a little bit more bacon.

 



Too hot.....

I never would have thought I will complain but today it was too hot. At home and in the office, the air conditioner has not been turned on yet and I do not have any electric fan. I gave it away when I moved here as I never had a need for it.

Now, I wish I had one. The temperature went as high as 31 degrees....whew that is too hot for me. I would not want to walk in that kind of temperature. I saw on the Weather Channel that there is forecast of rain tonight. I hope that cools it down a bit.

When the weather is like this, I do not even try to cook. I made myself a glass of strawberry margarita, ate some mixed nuts and some taquitos. That was supper.

Then I watched The Voice. There are some very good singers this year and I like the way Usher is coaching his team. I will wait until Shakira's and Blake's team tomorrow and I will pick who I think I would like to win. I will choose one for each team and see if I can choose the winner.

For those of you who like hot weather, enjoy while it lasts.

A nice warm weekend......

Finally spring here but the temperature is like summer weather. I will not complain. On Friday at lunchtime, I went to see another tower to check out if the place is nice and what kind of view they have.

I thought my river valley view was spectacular but this was 10 times better than the view I have at present. I hate moving but my building has gone through 4 managers and it has not been good for us residents. Besides that, they are increasing the rent and I could get better and great places for the amount I will be paying if I renew.

Of ourse I forgot to take my phone to take pictures. I have put my name on the waiting list. I walked here from work and it was about 5 blocks so I can walk winter and summer. Saturday, the temperature was 21 degrees and Sunday was 26. The only problem is I don't know if they have opening for the month I want to move in. I will keep my fingers crossed.

Next weekend I will check out some other places. It was nice going for a walk with the warm weather upon us. Now I can really have my winter tires taken out.

Enjoy the work week....

Dinner out with a friend.....

Every few weeks when we both have free Friday night, C and I go out to dinner and it has been our way of connecting and chatting of what has gone on in our lives.

When we go out, we always look for and try new places to eat and this time we went to Smokehouse BBQ which was closed because of fire when we went to try it a few weeks ago. This last Friday, they had reopened.

The place was clean and decorated simply. The menu has all kinds of smoked meat. C tried the Works which is a sandwich made with all kinds of smoked meat, pork, beef and chicken. It was presented well and it had the deep fried pickle on top of the bun. I tried the smoked chicken wings with just salt and pepper. There are 4 different sauces you can pick.

The service was good and as usual we always have dessert and this time it was presented in a very different way. We had lemon pie in a jar.



This was real lemony and you can taste the lemon rind.

I will go back to this place.