Honolulu

I'm back to one of my favorite places in the US and brought a cold with me. :(

Am staying at the Hilton Prince Kuhio, very nice. I had a great view of Waikiki Beach. I think they are in the remodeling stages which explains the somewhat decent room rates. Very nice interior, very bright modern if that makes any sense. After staying at this hotel, it is a nice alternative to the Hilton Hawaiian Village and Doubletree Alana. The Prince Kuhio combines the best of Hilton HV and Doubletree. It isn't pretentious but has a nice resort feel. I like the turndown service - they left a small cupcake - and the executive lounge had an assortment of desserts I have not seen in any other hotel. Chocolate covered strawberries, an assortment of petit fours...awesome. All the new hotels have gone with flat TVs and DirectTV service. Very cool.

Went to Pukadog, www.pukadog.com, on the corner of Kuhio and Naohau(sp?) for lunch. I recall seeing them in the Travel shows on cable TV and decided to forgo my spam musubi quest and try a hot dog. I was pleasantly suprised at the tastiness. If you have a slight sweet tooth, you'll appreciate the dog. The bun is sweet bread and they have exotic relishes/sauces. I also LOVE garlic. All around, very tasty.

Went to Town, on Wailai Road, for dinner. Self titled as an organic American bistro, I must admit it was fantastic. I had an arugula salad with persimmons and hazelnut. Very tasty, there was a balance of flavors that even got me to enjoy the goat cheese in the salad. Wild boar, a trio of cuts - chop, sausage, and braised, followed. Excellent especially with the side of lentils. Again, the dish was very balanced. Of course, I had dessert - an apple banana panini. It hit the spot. My colleague, who is a vegetarian, was very happy with his salad, gnocchi, and sorbet. This will be one of those restaurants that I'll try to go whenever in Honolulu.

San Francisco (second time)

I'm back again and staying at the Palace Hotel. I can see why the hotel was designated a historic landmark. I do like the hotel, spacious rooms and very high ceilings. The conference food is above average. :D Another plus is that it sits right in front of the Montgomery Bart station. I know some people really like the Westin St. Francis but I would stay at the Palace hands down for the prices both hotels quote.

My only complaint is the pool and fitness area. Both could use a revamp, they might even get more guests to their hotel spa if the area was given a makeover.

Had good dinners at Washington Bar & Grill and Unicorn. The "washbag" is on Powell and Union, the italian fare was pretty good. The bread pudding was very good, better if it was actually hot.

Unicorn is a "pan asian fusion" restaurant. I'm always skeptical about Vietnamese fusion but I was pleasantly suprised by the tastiness of our dishes. Far better than Crustacean or Slanted Door and not as pricey. The desserts were ok, the poached pear was good but the fried bananas could have stayed in the fryer a little longer.

Sacramento

A friend once asked me what are my favorite airports. I promptly replied Changi Airport in Singapore. The question was revised to domestic airports and I struggled with that answer. Sad state of affairs that I can name international airports easily yet travel so much domestically. I finally said SFO because of the revamped United terminal. With that being said, I realized as I stepped into the Sacramento airport that I actually liked this airport. Free internet access is always a plus with me and the terminal seems fairly new. (Free internet is also available at Phoenix Airport, Syracuse Airport, and some more that I've forgotten.) Maybe it is because of Southwest. I've noticed that the Oakland airport Southwest terminal also went under a heavy revamp and is eons ahead of the other terminal in terms of aesthetics. Hmmmmm, there has been a heavy push to penetrate the California market as Southwest is also servicing SFO these days. Wonder if the strategy will work. They've also implemented a new boarding process to deal with the complaints of long lines in the "letter" lines. Seems to work and it gives them a go-around to actually assigning seats in airplanes.



Got to the car rental agency and found a pleasant surprise. Found a good deal over the internet to rent a prius at a price cheaper than a subcompact. I was looking forward to driving the prius again but found a shiny new red Pontiac Solstice with 9 miles on the car. I'm driving JAZZ!!! (For the non-comic sci-fi fans, Transformers movie came out this past summer.) My personal car is somewhat similar to the Solstice but I have to say I like my car better. Pros - handles corners well, nice solid feel, looks way cool, XM radio very nice, bonus on the auxiliary jack for my IPOD, good power, easy to park in small spaces. Cons - ABSOLUTELY no storage space, odd seat adjustment levers, lots of blind spots (even with the top down), bad idling (opinion may improve if drove the manual version).

Am staying at a Hampton Inn in the northeastern area of Sacramento. Seems very industrial around here, works for the night I'm here. Small Hampton as it only has two floors and odd off-freeway location. After coming the second time to the hotel, figured the best exit was the Howe exit (only because at night I can see the hotel sign better) off the 80 east.

San Francisco

Went to the Cal game and after suffering through 4 hours of rain, saw 'SC win the game. Thank goodness, I would have been hella pissed to sit through that miserable stadium to see us lose. I have to say that the Cal stadium pales in comparison to the Coliseum. Bench seating and the only concessions available are Subway and hot dogs and portable bathrooms. Yech.

I have had people tell me the greatness of living in SF compared to LA especially regarding traffic. I have to admit that I find it flawed. Having been to SF a zillion times now and actively take mass transit in this city, I don't see how people can gripe about traffic in LA. SF is only about 7 miles wide or long and it can take you an hour to go from one end to the other via mass transit or car (same goes for NYC). Granted, there are parts of LA that are horrendous to get through but not nearly as bad as people think. Although, the gas prices in the bay area would make anyone pause about every owning a car up here.....


Went to Chinatown for dinner one night. Decided chinese would be good and ended up at a Thai restaurant. Ironic but the "food review" posted by the restaurant sounded decent and the prices were cheap. Thai Chef off of Columbus was pretty tasty. Yellow curry was pretty mild and I liked the mango with sticky rice.

Stayed at the Hilton Fisherman's Wharf. I feel all the hotels in this area are very similar. I only say that because I've stayed at the Sheraton as well. The continental breakfast is almost ok at the Hilton. :D Although the $10 upcharge for hot foods in the buffet is a little outrageous.

San Diego

Drove down from Riverside today. Every time I say I go to SD, people tell me how much they love the city. A feeling that I have yet to share. Don't get me wrong, seems like a nice enough town but I don't get it. The gaslamp district is like any other retail/entertainment area of a city and the beaches are the beaches. Maybe it has to do with my hometown..... SD seems like a bigger version of Orange County.

Am staying at the Homewood Suites near Liberty Stations. Kind of cool to be close to the naval base, big boats nearby. I think this is a relatively new hotel, the in-room furnishings are fairly modern. Actually, it is the most modern room I've seen for a hotel of this type. LG flat panel TV WITH HD signals (watching sports in a hotel room has never been cooler), stainless steel fridge and dishwasher. Craziness.


PS. These pictures were taken with my Motorola Krzr...not bad, huh?

I'm always back to Riverside....

Staying at the Hampton Inn in Colton again. I was going to have breakfast tomorrow with a friend and catch up. She flaked and now I can enjoy the complimentary continental breakfast at the Hampton. Went to the Bob's Big Boy restaurant next door last time I was here and my memories of the restaurant were better.