beno "dj beno" h.'s Profile

we're from up in norcal, but we visit socal every so often because my wife's family's down there.  up north, i'm used to seeing restaurants that care about using fresh, organic, locally grown ingredients every so often.  it's nice to see a restaurant like this in orange county.  there are so many great choices on the menu, and it's nice to have the option of sitting inside the sleekly decorated dining room or out on the patio with the fresh air (well as fresh as it gets in socal, eh?).

the service is really great.  the servers actually know and care about the food.  both of the servers we encountered were really great.  there was a girl and then a guy named joon.  both were really nice, hospitable, and helpful.

for me; disneyland, especially when paired with disney california adventure, is the ultimate theme park / amusement park experience.  it's totally over the top, above, and beyond.  i personally have not been at an amusement park that tops this.  it's really expensive ($105 for a 1.day, adult park.hopper ticket), but i can't say that it's not worth it, especially if it makes your kid(s) so happy.

disneyland is very clean.  most amusement parks and carnivals have so much litter, but not here.  i love how they pay such close attention to details of their appearance.  it's great how all the staff members (cast members) work in costume (or at least some kind of fancy uniform).  all the decor, artwork, and architecture is very well designed, laid out, and maintained.  also, all the workers at least make an honest effort to be polite.

we brought our 2.year old toddler son there for his 2nd birthday, at the end of december 2011.  disneyland is especially special during christmastime.  i love how they deck the place out.  when you visit during christmastime, you've _got_ to check out the special christmas version of it's a small world!

disney california adventure is really starting to reach the level of disneyland.  i still think disneyland is a little more magical and thoroughly thought out, but california adventure is much better now at the end of 2011 than it was when i first visited it sometime around 2002, a bit after it first opened.  right now, there is still a bit of renovation and reconstruction going on, but it is still extremely fun and really surpassed my expectations.

the decor, artwork, archictecture, and general ambiance has improved and can now really take you away.  also, the rides have improved.  the twilight zone tower of terror could become a classic.  it has potential.

a bug's land, neptune's carousel, mickey's fun wheel, and monsters, inc. are great for toddlers.  the twilight zone tower of terror is a fun ride for adults and older kids.  i rode it at night and think it it would be more fun at night than during the day.  the tron area has a lot of good house/electronic/techno music at night.

i'll tell you straight up that it costs $298 to sell a car at wheels & deals.  well, it costs $99/month to show your car there.  it costs $298 if the car sells.  also, it costs $45 each time a customer test drives your car.  i'm sure so many people would ask, "why pay all that when you can sell your car on craigslist for free?!"  oh, man... _i'll_ tell you why!

when i upgraded my subaru forester to from a 1999 to a 2011, i didn't wait too long to list my old car on craigslist.  being smart enough, i looked up its blue book value.  i took the honest value of the car and knocked in down a few hundred so that it would sell fast.  then i put it up on craigslist.  oh, man; that was a big mistake!  it was such a headache dealing with the scumbags that called me from craigslist!  you know, i priced the car to sell, but these guys would all supposedly be mechanics and they would try to say this and that was wrong with the car and that it would cost a fortune to fix and then they would all try to cut the price in half.  they were _so_ full of it, and they knew i knew, so they didn't try hard; but it was so annoying to deal with those phone calls.  i understand now who they were.  it's like how in the early 2000s you had all those "real estate investment" seminars where they would tell you just to go try to buy house for cheap and then turn around and resell them at a normal price.  those supposed business "gurus" would tell you just to keep trying and keep asking.    those lowballers from craigslist were like those lame "real estate" investors.  they figured, "oh, i'll just keep calling seller after seller.  eventually, someone will fall for my 50% offer; and then i can sell the car off and make a good profit."  *roll eyes*

well, after dealing with those scumbag lowballers on craigslist for a couple of weeks, i got fed up and just stopped trying to sell my car for a while.  it was christmastime anyway, so i was really busy.  once spring rolled around, i realised that i needed to sell off my car.  after all, i needed to pay the property tax bill.  a friend suggested that i try wheels & deals.  that was the best car.selling advice i got from my friends, and my friends offered _a_lot_ of car.selling advice!

i cleaned up my car, jumpstarted it, and brought over to scott at wheels & deals.  (i think that was his name.)  he was a nice, honest guy.  he explained all the fees and services up front.  sure, it's not super cheap, but he was honest about everything; and their service was exactly what i needed.  i signed the contract, and they displayed my car on their lot.

right away, i started getting calls, and these calls were from good, honest, real buyers.  after all, they had _seen_ the car in the lot, and they made a serious choice to give me a call about it.  by the next weekend, i had a serious, good buyer on the way to a sale.

we met at wheels & deals one afternoon.  we quickly took the car to a shop to get it tested.  then we came back and signed all the paperwork.  he gave me cold, hard cash; the exact price we agreed to over the phone, which was just a _slight_ discount from the price which i listed it at but which was still _much_ more than i was getting from the scumbugs from craigslist.  i knew my car was a good car, and i wanted it to go to a good new home, and i feel totally good with the buyer that wheels & deals got me, and i feel good that my _buyer_ felt good with the deal he got.

seriously, forget craigslist.  go straight to wheels & deals!  it's better for everyone, for the buyer and for the seller. Show owner comment »

i don't currently go here, but i wouldn't hesitate for a second to recommend this place wholeheartedly.  this is the box where i first tried out crossfit, and i'm glad it was.  the instructors are so friendly, supportive, knowledgeable, and helpful here.  they really know their stuff, and they know how to teach beginners.  when you walk in, especially if you're a total newbie as i was, you'll be amazed by how athletic some of the regulars and all the instructors are.  however, don't let that scare you off.  even though some of the regulars are crossfit competitors, many people just enjoy the workout and all the health benefits.  the box has all you need: a couple of clean bathrooms / changing rooms; a waiting area with a couch; a water cooler; and great, motivational music.

the instructors lead a good class, starting with warm ups and skill development, teaching new techniques, checking progress, and correcting form.  then, of course, there's the important wod (workout of the day).  it's all very time.efficient, and you'll end up very satisfied with how much you'll accomplish within an hour.

right now, i'm doing crossfit at a different box just because it works out better with my schedule and commute, but i wouldn't hesitate to come back to crossfit silicon valley if my situation changed.

this is a fun place to browse for good, healthy groceries even if it's out in stanfurd territory.  their assortment of healthy and locally produced goods really amazes me.  i'm personally on a paleoesque, grain.free diet, so i appreciate having stores that can sell healthy food in the bay area.

i didn't feel as bad for spending $12.99 for raw organic almond butter at sprouts when i saw $18 almond butter here.  yeah, this place isn't necessarily cheap, but they have good quality stuff.  they sell grain.free macaroons ($3.59 for a small pack) that are made in pleasanton.  i can eat those.

i feel the employees are cheerful and friendly.  i like that they have samples available for skincare products and for a couple of green drinks in the back.  i get raw milk delivery and they take the bottles back for deposit here.  that's great.  i found a coupon for this place in the chinook book... or actually my wife found the coupon.

i typically go snowboarding about 20 days a season, mostly in tahoe.  mt. rose was one of my last remaining unvisited destinations just because it's kind of out there, not really in tahoe proper but really in reno.  because of the distance, it's not the ideal place for a day trip out from the bay area; but it's a great stop on a multi.day reno trip.  the drive over to the slopes from the airport area of reno (for example, if you're staying at the grand sierra) is very easy.

people seem to consider it a locals' gem, and it is.  the locals here are more of an experienced skiers crowd, probably drawing much from the reno retiree community; which is different from the locals vibe you get from some other local's spots that are not quite in tahoe proper like bear valley or those central sierra spots.  you can tell its a locals' spot because of all the season passes.  i'm sure these locals are trying to avoid the tourists that flood tahoe proper.  one reason it has more of that locals' feel is that it's not one of those huge, "corporate" mega.resorts like northstar, squaw, or heavenly.  it's still one of those spots where the terrain park features aren't plastered with sponsored ads.

the terrain at mt. rose has a bit of that big mountain feel of a resort like kirkwood or alpine meadows but just on a slightly smaller scale.  i'm sure that's why it can bring out a lot of skiers as opposed to just snowboarders.  some snowboarders like me don't mind riding just any ol' crappy snow as long as there's good terrain park material around.  however, yeah... i still can appreciate fresh powder.  i'm not _that_ much of a park rat.  on the other hand, i think most skiers still hold out for "good" snow, and mt. rose can provide.  well, the day i was there was right after a _huge_ dump, one that left us waiting on the 80 for two to three hours right at the peak, right after the exit for boreal.  thus, yeah, it was easy for me to be impressed by the powder and the relatively natural terrain.  i didn't find many fast, downhill groomers that day; but i can imagine that they have more of those when it's not the day after such a huge dump

i found two terrain parks that day: one on the back side and one by the bunny slope.  neither was really big, but i don't always need big.  i can amuse myself for a long time just jibbing small boxes and rails.  i had fun in both of the parks.

the staff is very friendly, and parking seems to be pretty easy.  so... if you're staying in reno, mt. rose is a good place to go snowboarding.  if you're coming up for a day trip; well, not so much, unless someone else is driving or if you're taking a snowbomb bus.

i just came back from a birthday party at this park, a party for my cousin's one year old daughter.  it's a nice park.  it has a softball field, lots of grass, tennis courts, walls for bouncing balls against, picnic areas, and a playground.  i wish it had a playground for smaller kids since my son's still only two, while the playground is for kids five and up.  obviously, i also wish it had a skateboard park because every park ought to be a skateboard park, and that's because skateboarding is good.  the picnic area has tables and grills.  the ground is pretty clean, and i couldn't smell the landfill on a late winter afternoon, which is good.

bear valley is not really in tahoe, not even south tahoe but more toward the central sierra area, near yosemite.  because of that, it ends up being one of the resorts with the least amount of attitude.  you don't get snobby, elitist skiers nor jack@$$.inspired, punk snowboarders.  on the flipside, the average level of snowboarders and skiers that ride and ski here is knocked down at least a notch.  thus, it might not be a great place to _watch_ amazing riding and skiing, but it's still a fun place actually to ride or ski yourself.  you'll notice that the resort is not as corporate as the big resorts in tahoe.  not only is it _not_ owned and operated by vail, but you don't get corporate, "monster energy drink" or "red bull" sponsors on all the terrain park features.  it's a no frills resort and reminds me a bit of what you can find down in southern california in big bear.

i'm a snowboarder.  most seasons, i ride about 20 days, driving up from the bay area.  i don't get to go quite as often now that i have a toddler son; but my wife and i still try to get at least 10 days on the slopes each season.  i'm into riding terrain parks.  as i kind of touched upon earlier, the terrain parks here aren't as flashy as, say, at northstar.  however, they are fun.  they set up some nice boxes, rails, and jumps.  they have the cub park in the front, and (sometimes) the kodiak park in the back.  oftentimes, the kodiak park isn't open.  i guess they open it when they have more snow.  the kodiak park is the full.size park, whereas the cub park is the baby park.  baby parks are fun.  however, one drawback to the cub park is that the slope is a little too flat in that area.  in other words, you really cannot speed check at all.  otherwise, you'll end up stuck on the table of a jump or atop a box or rail.  yeah; basically, you really don't want to speed check in the cub park but just speed straight down into each jump/ramp.

even though bear valley is not a big resort, it _does_ offer some nice powder in the sidecountry, through the trees and all.  i mean, that all depends on current weather conditions; but yeah... after a good dump, the area off to the side of the runs can have good powder... if that's your thing.  i prefer freestyle/slopestyle; but, yeah... i'll ride powder with my friends when it's fresh enough.

the cafeteria at bear valley is pretty no frills.  they can make a decent protein.style cheeseburger.  they have a mexican food bar that supposedly serves lengua vaca.  i would love to try it someday, but it wasn't open the last time i visited.

they start parent participation ski lessons for toddlers at 18 months, but that's only on sundays.  i'd love to try that someday too.

obviously, one of the best points about bear valley is they participate in the snowbomb dot com snow fest free ticket thing.  there's no better reason than that to head up to bear valley.  it's also closer distancewise to the bay area.  however, the roads are narrow once you pass angels camp, so you might end up stuck behind a local yokel that's in no rush to get anywhere important.  that's a common problem once you get out of tahoe proper.  i experience that on the 88 to kirkwood too.  some locals seriously just get on the road to slow you down.  they feel it's their duty.  anyway, as a bay area visitor; i never feel it's quite right to stir ish up with the locs...  and as i said, at least people at bear valley have less attitude than those in tahoe proper, and that includes the locals, i guess.

up until now i was totally sure that paris baguette café was the ultimate korean cake bakery franchise to end all korean cake bakery franchises.  i still think paris baguette rocks, but i think cake house is totally giving them competition / a run for their money.

cakes are not cheap at either Paris baguette or at cake house, but they are delicious and beautiful.  i figure these two are like "high end" korean cake bakeries.

on christmas day (yesterday), my family stopped by the galleria market food court for lunch.  we decided to pick up a cake to bring to the big family gathering that night.  we ended up choosing the strawberry tiramisu cake.  it was beautiful!  i wish i took a picture of it.