Angela W.

3/11/2021

It's pillowy.
It's fluffy.
It's warm and oh so fresh to death out of the box.
It's slightly sweet and even a little caramelly.
It's 2 maybe 3 bite sizes of heaven in your mouth.  It's perfect for parties, family get-togethers, brownie points at work, neighbors, everyone really.

What is it, ya ask?!

Cue Justin Timberlake's SENIORITAAAAA.. BREAD!!! I feel for youuuu... cuz if ya don't know, now ya know.

If you think you only want 10, get 15. And if you want 15, get the 20 pack. It's just never enough. Actually just get the 60 pack. Treat yo self... and your loved ones. Life is short. Don't say I didn't warn ya. Excessively addicting, just sayin'.

6/6/2018

HOOOOMYGOLLLYYYY-KELLYCLARKSONNNNN!!! THIS HURTS LIKE A *%$&ING MOFO.

I swear, I'm not a little baby when it comes to pain, but this was no joke. Well, beauty is pain, right? Go ahead, lady, rip my face off! Just make me look like a SUPAMODEL, mmmkayy??!! Thanks.

You would think a facial would be nice and relaxing with some ohhhhmmmm music and all the feel good vibes but noooooo. I mean you get a little bit of that but then she picks all the crap out of your face. Then again, that's what you're there for.. embrace it. I swear, I'm not a baby.

You do get a pretty sweet massage after you endure all the pain. Surprisingly since you're laying face up. She has a way of getting down on your back and neck and then the feel good vibes come back.

Extra points for having a parking lot!

4/7/2016

I can't get no satisfaction
I can't get no satisfaction
Cause I try and I try and I try and I try
I can't get no, I can't get no

Saturday night, the craving hits
And I try and I try and I try and I try
To get dem chicken wangggggzzzz
But no I can't get no, I can't get no
Line is 2 hours deep
Oh no no no

Tuesday night drive-by
Can I get some chicken wings tho?!
No no no the crowd is fierce like San Tung kimchee
I can't get no, I can't get no

When I'm driving around the town on a Thursday, is today the day?
Oh yes oh yes I'm getting the wings!!
And the five spice beef noodle soup.
And the string beans.
And maybe some eggplant too.
But for sure the wings. Those crack-a-lackin, stick to your teeth, gooey, sticky icky icky wings.

Really, though.. What else needs to be said with 5,000+ reviews?

I can't get no satisfaction... Without my San Tung chicken wings.

6/5/2015

Garden full of sweet morning dew roses
Find a waterfall and channel your blogger poses
Have a picnic or bbq in a meadow
Drop by the bison paddock and say "Hello!"
These are a few of my favorite things

Get your "Notebook" on and row, row, row a boat on Stow Lake
It's 4/20, time to wake and bake
Visit the Flower Conservatory
Let go any and all worries
These are a few of my favorite things

Feed your kid at heart and bring the kiddies to the Children's Playground
Random curiosities abound, find the Carousel and go round and round
Show how cultured you are and explore the De Young
Make it an Adult Night at Academy of Sciences and have some fun
These are a few of my favorite things

Duckies, turtles, and birdies, o my!
Lush, beautiful trees in Strawberry Fields
So many things to explore
Wondrous sights to see, I do adore
These are a few of my favorite things

When work sucks
When people stink
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember the little things
And then I don't feel so bad

(Repeat all verses.)

Only in SF.

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  Cool looking tree!

  Cool looking tree!
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  Mama and baby turtle!

  Mama and baby turtle!
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• See all photos from Angela W. for Golden Gate Park

5/31/2015

Saturday lunch date!

Dude, how the heck do you say the name? Dude, I don't know, it's like Manee something (like Paquiao). Just look up Laotian. That, I can say. :)

Enter the door and it's turn off the lights Teddy Pendergrass chill. Like literally the lights are off and it looks like a blackout. No music, no noise, nothin. The decor is nice if you squint your eyes to see it in the darkness. There is one other party but no one else. But, we're here, it's all good in the hood. VIP date status!

Server homeboy looks like he straight walked off the street, keys dangling from his pocket. They finally turn on some music and it's like every radio hit made me reminisce about my teenage years: Mariah, F-A-B-O-L-O-U-S!, Ashanti, some Lil Flip, are these the new oldies?!

We order the rice ball salad, Laos sausage and drunken noodles and he asks if we want Jack or Hen? (Haha I guess?)

Rice ball salad with preserved pork was generous and flavorful, Laos sausage was herbaceous but dry (got nothin on Champa Garden!), and drunken noodles were drunky but a little greasy!

We found out there's a Groupon for this spot, and apparently, there's where a majority of the business to this mysterious Laotian spot in the middle of Excelsior came from. We hopped on it ($20 for $13) so it's almost like getting one dish for free! Can I get a hell yea?!

Glad we tried it, but gotta say Champa Garden is the reigning (dare I say) champ?! Bah dah bum!

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  Laos sausage!

  Laos sausage!
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  Drunken noodles!

  Drunken noodles!
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  Close up of the rice ball salad!

  Close up of the rice ball salad!
• See all photos from Angela W. for Maneelap Srimongkoun

5/10/2015

Here's a breakdown of our stay at the Shoreline Hotel Waikiki in a macadamia nutshell:

HOTEL/ROOM:
- Seemingly clean
- Cucumber water, iced tea and coffee available in the lobby 24/7
- Hotel computers
- Daily newspaper available
- No breakfast, but we knew this when we booked =(
- Petite room, but you are in HI and not there to hibernate in the hotel room all day!
- Maybe more my personal pet peeves, but I hated that the room had mostly harsh fluorescent lighting which made me feel like I was in a basement or hospital. Also, the bathroom was located right next to the bed, so if I was laying in bed and the bathroom door was open, I just get a lovely view of the potty all night long ...
- Baby pool, though it was perfect height for me! 5" at it's deepest! But, only 4 pool chairs available for the entire hotel? Not inviting, but you may as well go to the beach since it's so close by.
- Speaking of babies.. On our 2nd to last day (out of a week long stay), we found a baby cockroach just chilling on a pillow! Bleckkkkk!!! This little guy was red/orange, and just waving his long dangly whiskers at me, like "yoohoo, look at me!" WTH!

PERSONNEL:
- Friendly and amiable hotel personnel
- I wouldn't say they completed alluded "ALOHA" but they were helpful when approached

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!!!
- 1/2 block away from "Rodeo Drive" and TONS of shopping
- Ross across the street (quite a loaded one with fairly good picks at that!)
- ABC across the street, but then again ABC's are like Starbucks around here and you can find one every few steps
- Musubi & Bento Iyasume right next door for a quicky snack
- 10 minute walk from the beach!
- From the airport, you can take the SPEEDI SHUTTLE to and from this hotel for about $16 per person / It's about $20 - $25 with a cab, depending on traffic, but generally you save a few buckaroos with the shuttle
- Tons of buses within a block or 2 walking distance that will take you wherever you want

NOTE:
- We booked this hotel off of Gilt's Jetsetter. We went with the "mid-range" room which was a room with a King size bed and a "partial ocean view." Upon arrival, I headed to the balcony to check out the partial ocean view and the apparent "view" was hidden behind the Pepto Bismol pink Royal Hawaiian hotel and was about the size of my fingernail. Ummmmm.. you have to be kidding, this does not even as a partial view!! I went to the front desk to inquire and spoke to the asst. manager. He agreed and said he would comp the difference between this room and the regular king size "city view" room. I contacted Jetsetter and they were able to work things out, which was a relief. Really, no need to go for the partial ocean view, just go to the beach!!

All in all, if you're not picky, don't need a ton of amenities, and just want to be in a central location, Shoreline does the job! Mahalo!

3/6/2015

Located directly across from Safeway and conveniently off of the L Muni line, sits Victor's Bakery, in all it's bao glory.

Walk up to the counter and the ladies will greet you by mugging the crap out of you and then give you a head nod. If you're lucky, they'll actually ask you what you want. Don't be offended. In Chinese, a mug and a "sup" nod is just like saying, "Hello. How are you? What may I get for you?" Except you will never get that, so don't expect it. SCOWL FACE all day for you! Embrace it! This place is all bizness, git your bao and git out!! Unless ... you're one of the same OL G's, then you grab your baos, read your newspaper, chit and chat and just hang.

I go for the baos and rarely for anything in the glass case.
- BBQ Pork Bun: Classic!
- Ham and Cheese Bun: Great snack. Don't expect a lot of ham.. or cheese though.
- Curry Beef Bun: I know, it sounds a little questionable... curry? with beef? in a bao?? ..but it's good! Trust!
- And, you can never go wrong with a cocktail bun! Coconut paste mixed with       butter/margarine/lard, it's so bad, but so good for you!

All else in the case gets covered with a red sheet at night, and in the morning, ABRACADABRA!!! Look at all dem goods! So, who knows how long these things have been in there for?! I tried the muffin and the walnut pound cake and they were just mealy and blahhh.. PASS!!

Where else can you can breakfast/lunch/snack/dessert for around a buck and some change?!

Only a Chinese bakery, that's where!!! Eat your heart out! Maybe if I eat more buns, I'll start looking like Nicki Minaj. Well, not all that, I just want a little bit of that. ;)

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  EAT ME!!!!

  EAT ME!!!!

10/12/2014

Do you know why the Marina socialites and social-dudes live in Lululemon pants and workout all the live long day? To impress the opposite sex, and look right and tight and sexy, right???

Nope!!!

It's so they can feed their bellies and tushies full of Susiecakes, duh!

I kid you not, every single person that walked in here had stretchy pants or a dry-fit shirt on. One could speculate and infer that oh, they worked out today and now they're rightfully treating themselves! No, I think the true ideology is that they can't stop feeding their Susiecakes addiction and feel a little less guilty when they're parading around in their spandex. I obviously missed that memo and, like a fool, had jeans on. Yeah, that's right. Don't judge me.  

Susie's buttercream is smooth, creamy and luscious. One taste and you'll be sucking the wrapper clean.

Let me elaborate, I was actually wearing jeggings so I kind of fit in. And, they had that much needed extra stretchy fit to handle the aftermath of major cupcake consumption. Thank God for jeggings and buttercream! A match made in cupcake heaven!

6/1/2014

OH MY GOD, BECKY. LOOK AT HER BUTT... IT IS SO BIG. She looks like one of those rap guys' girlfriends or something..

That chick and Belinda Leong (the real QUEEN B) must have been BFFs. She must have stuffed herself silly with Belinda's porno-rific buttery goodies and they stuffed her goodies. If I lived in the neighborhood, I would get the "Freshman 15 or 30", guaranteed. And, maybe, get a bahdonkadonk to go w/it. Hmmm... maybe I should look into real estate nearby...

Everything looked "dericious", but everyone says you must try the whatchamacallit Kouign Amann (I still have no idea how to pronounce it), but I just pointed at the thing and said, yes, I want that. They had a plain version, chocolate, and a cherry. Being that I've never had one, the girl recommended that I try the original one first. The fat girl in me wanted to try everything, But, I issued some self-restraint, with much difficulty, and went with their known favorite. After all, as a wise man once said, "You don't go to House of Prime Rib, and order salmon." Womp, womp...

The Kouign Amann was a perfectly crispity, crunchy, flaky, beautifully caramelly pocket. I still don't know what this "thing" is, but it may be safe to say that the "thing" was the flakiest "thing" I've ever eaten.. EVER. Like, flakes all over the place, all over the plate and all over my face. Not a bad thing, at all.

I like big butts and whatchamacallit Kouign Amann "thing", and I cannot lie.

6/1/2014

Barbacoa, chorizo, al pastor, carnitas, pollo asado, carne asada, tripe, cabeza, suaaaaderoooooo, lengua, buche, and pigeons, o my!!!

Wait.. what???

Pigeons galore, yes. That was in a past life, but they've cleaned up their act. They got shut down by the health dept for having a pigeon infestation, pigeons flying here and there, pigeons hovering and lusting over your al pastor, pigeons living in the grafts. But, really, who could blame em?? Those pigeons knew whats up. And, that's the tacos. No one really cared. We just gobbled the delicious meat, while shoo'ing the pigeons away. Go away, bird! Git away from my meat! GIT!! You wanna fight??!! I'll do it!! It's just THAT good.

All of these meats sit happy and sizzling around a circular grill and just merry their gluttonous goodness together. Tortillas get warmed with a quick sizzle in the middle of the grill, getting a taste of the meat's savory juices. Pick your meats, as they get topped with onion and cilantro, and ladle the salsa of your choice.

So, with all the mouth-watering, satiating meats, why the 3 stars you ask??

It's due to the GROUPON DEBACLE.

On a routine trip to get our taco fix, I recalled seeing a Groupon for Taqueria Vallarta. Heck yea, can't pass this deal up! Sitting in my car, parked right outside the restaurant, I hurriedly purchased the deal, like it was going out of style, thinking, oh, man, these tacos are going to taste all the better as I get $25 worth for only $12. Oh, the possibilities! SCORE!!!

I walked in, ordered my tacos, and got in line to pay. In front of the register, was a sign that said Taqueria Vallarta was no longer accepting Groupons as of "whatever date a week ago from that date." I thought, no way, I JUST purchased this. Literally, 5 minutes ago. We told the cashier, 6 tacos, and we have a Groupon. They pointed to the sign, "Duh", and said they were no longer honoring it. UGHH, what the heck!!!?? I JUST purchased it!! Why would Groupon have it up if they weren't going to honor it? They referred me to go back to Groupon for a refund. So, we tried calling AND emailing Groupon and, of course, got a response, saying, no, Vallarta is accepting it. Go back. They'll take it. They just started offering this as of 'whatever date Vallarta said they weren't accepting it". Several weeks later, we go back to get our fix. And, guess what, no, they're not taking it. Read the sign. %&*#!!!

STUPID GROUPON and STUPID VALLARTA! Why would you sign up to offer it if you were no longer going to accept them?! $12 down the drain, which is not that big of a deal, but it's the principle.

Thus, concludes, why I went on strike and have not been to Vallarta since. Not gonna lie, I still miss their tacos, but not enough to go back. This girl has principle, man.

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  The "hypsters" favorite!!

  The "hypsters" favorite!!