Air Canada Business Class from Vancouver to San Francisco (SF Trip Part 1)

Hey guys, it’s been a while since I posted. Life has been busy with new pursuits and goals,but I will try my best to be updating you! Recently I embarked on a quick trip to San Francisco. I was flying with a friend of mine from Air Canada so it was a new experience for me to be flying in Business Class. If I had to describe the whole experience of flying Business Class, I must say that it does make you feel special in a certain way that you get your own lines at check-in, expedited boarding and specialized baggage tags.
 In the airplane, the seats themselves were wide and the amenities included personal headphones (the quality could be better as they don't exactly fit in my ears nor does the sound comes out balanced when plugged in). The seats themselves were made of leather and every seat also had a pillow. In the front seat pocket is what everyone on the airplane gets - a copy of Enroute, the emergency evacuation procedures, a vommit bag (I'm not sure if that's what you call those wax lined bags you get... I've always assumed it's for vommit..). What was different was that an entertainment guide was included as the Business Class seats had a personal TV.

 Upon boarding, the flight attendant would offer you either orange juice or water. Personally I don’t really understand why those two are the options that is offered (I mean it does make sense to offer something like coffee or tea to wake people up) After, the flight attendant brought around the Business Class Menus.
 With regards to options on the menus, there were 2 main entrees to choose from. Either the omelette with sausage or the “healthy option” with fruits. The menu wasn’t too specific as to what the “healthy option” included, so I decided to go with the omelette option. As soon as the cabin door closed and the flight attendants were doing their final pre-flight checks, the service director came by and asked for my meal choice.
 Outside the airplane window, there were water droplets. I was looking forward to being airborne and see those water droplets zoom by. One of the best parts about being in an airplane is feeling the thrust of the engines as the magic of flight takes place. Here is a video that I took during take off. Being the first flight in the morning, it was beautiful to see the sunrise over Vancouver.  
 Once airborne, the service director came around and gave everyone a warm towel to wipe our hands with. I am not exactly sure if this has any anti-bacterial/anti-viral effects to wipe our hands with a warm towel, but it felt classy so I went with it. Afterward, she came by to collect the warm towel and then place an Air Canada tablecloth our tables and then came by to give us coffee/tea/ drinks and then individually to deliver us our meals.   The presentation of the meal itself was definitely a surreal feeling - actual bowls and plates vs aluminum. Second thought, in North American flights like this short hop, food isn’t even usually provided. Not only was there food, but it was presented on ceramic. In addition, the utensils were all Air Canada branded silverware. It was wrapped inside the cloth you would put around your lap (or use it for other things like wiping your mouth).
 When it comes to the food, the omelette was pretty good and so was the sausage and cream.The potatoes tasted like potatoes (I know that’s stating the obvious, but potatoes can be very dry or crunchy if not cooked properly…), which was good.
The fruit cup was pretty good too. After when the service director delivered the meal, she came around with a basket of warm bread. The bread itself were smaller than usual dinner rolls you would find at stores. I think this idea is great because definitely having smaller portions do reduce food waste. Also eating a lot during a flight isn’t a good idea anyway.

 Once finished, she came by to collect the utensils and the empty plates. With in a few minutes after that, we have arrived at our destination, San Francisco. The flight was beautiful in scenery and relatively smooth. In addition, the service and people working for Air Canada is fantastic. I love how personable the flight crew was. In general, there is definitely an added comfort with sitting in business class, Besides having a bigger seat, priority boarding and food that is served with real utensils and ceramic, Business class does have an added comfort compared to the economy class.

Landing in San Francisco (video to the right)

Hot like a sauna (Denny's on Davie)

   Once you've been to a Denny's, you can almost say that you've been to all of them. However, depending on how each location is run, every Denny's can be different.
   It was Canada Day and a group of friends and I were walking around town to find a place to watch the USA vs Belgium game. At first we were at Fountain Head across the street, but because one of my friends forgot her ID, we were not able to go in. After,walking around for a bit, we decided to go for Denny's. Denny's had a menu where it included drinks (for the people that didn't want to eat) and food (for those who wanted to eat. In addition, they also had a TV that had the game on.
   Walking in, I noticed the place was abit swampy feeling. The waitress already have the menu in her hands and was taking us to our table, so we decided to stay. After sitting down, I was curious if the air conditioning was broken, so I asked the waitress. She informed me that the reason that all of the windows and doors are open was because the air ventilation system was broken. On a day that is about 25 degrees+ outside, the restaurant felt swampy.
   Opening the menu, everything was what you would expect on a Denny's menu. The Grandslams, all day breakfast and burgers. I had my eye on the avocado burger (because avocados are really high in nutrients). The burger was about $12. Then I took a look at the "Make your own burger column", and I realized that it was cheaper to make my own burger.
   The burger cost $9.79 to make your own burger and you had the choice of different meats/patties and then toppings. With the avocado added with that burger, it is only $1 more, meaning that making your own avocado burger is cheaper than getting the avocado burger.
  When we were ready to order, the waiter who came to take our order took us by surprise. When he asked my friends whether or not they are eating food, my friends replied to him that they are only getting drinks. He made this expression that was sort of a fit, and grabbed the forks and knives from the table. It was honestly a bit rude.
  After waiting for a good few 15 minutes, the waiter brought us our food. The burger portion was pretty big (I had a hard time fitting it in my mouth), and the portion of fries was very generous as well. The fries tasted pretty fresh and the chicken burger was really good. It was a bit on the tall side, so I had to squish it down really hard. I'm not sure if it's because I have a small mouth, but after squishing it, it was still too big. At the end I decided to just take out the vegetables and eat it separately.  Finally, I was able to eat the whole thing.The other benefit to custom making the burger is that you can choose real cheese instead of the processed cheese that they put inside the burger.
   Overall, I would probably not visit this Denny's again. There are plenty of good places to eat around here, the food is pretty satisfactory, however the environment and service could be improved. 

Chicken swimming in a pool of sauce

Located in the Bellis Fair Mall, this Panda Express location is quite convenient. It was dinner time and my family and I have been travelling for the whole day and we were starving. Looking at other options in this food court, we couldn't see anything that was appealing to our pallets at the time, so we settled for Panda Express.
They have quite a few options when it comes to ordering. You can either order a single entree or double entree combo. However, because there were the four of us, we thought it might be more economical to get the family pack. A double entree was about $7 while for the family pack it includes 3 full size entrees, and two rice or noodle sides for about $30.
 Looking at the choices of entrees, what I noticed is that there aren't many options when it comes to vegetables. Almost everything here has meat in it. Also, another interesting observation was that there weren't a big amount of food at the front. Compared to other Chinese fast food joints where they have a pile of food at the front, Panda Express has relatively less quantity of food at the front.
The downside about the lower quantity of food at the front is that if a large order was made, such as an order for a family pack, the front runs out of food really fast. On a not so busy day, the quantity is good, but when you have a busy day like a Saturday night, the amount at the front is barely enough to keep up with the amount of customers ordering.
I ordered a Kung Pao Chicken, String Bean Chicken and Pepper Chicken. I know, it's alot of chicken, but there doesn't seem to be anything here that is just stand alone vegetables. All of these dishes had some sort of vegetables with them, so that's why we got them. Because the quantity at the front was limited, we had to wait for about 15 minutes for them to make more.
The chicken entrees that we got were pretty good, with the exception that some of the items have too much sauce. Personally, I don't really like to eat things with too much sauce, however there are people I know that would love to eat with a lot sauce.
  Out of all the dishes, I would say the quality is fair, the fried rice was just right. It was not too greasy like many of the Chinese fast food places that are around. The price was pretty average too, so there is really nothing much to complain about besides the amount of sauce. 

Good Muffins and Baked Goods(Specialty's Seattle)

I was in Seattle in the morning after my flight from Dallas and I decided to visit the Seattle Public Library. However, by the time I got there, it wasn't opened yet, and I was getting hungry, so I started looking around for food. About two blocks west of the library, I found this cute bakery called "Specialty's". I decided to walk in and give them a try.
  I was glad I did. As I entered, I was greeted by a the smell of freshly baked bread and coffee. Then, the barista/baker greeted me right after with a friendly smile. Looking around the coffee shop, it seemed like a very comfy place to sit and read a book at. The lighting was just right (not too bright and not too dim) and the mahogany furniture.
  I browsed through the baked goods on the rack before I decided to buy anything. All of the baked goods look so gourmet and makes my mouth water. After pondering for a while, I settled for a muffin. This muffin was really good, it was not too sweet, and the crust of it was not mushy like the muffins you would get at a grocery store, yet it wasn't too crispy either. I would highly recommend this bakery if you are in town!

Rice stuck to banana leaves and smaller than average sushi rolls! (Wonderful Buffet Review)

To many Vancouverites and Canadians, besides getting cheaper gas and groceries from Bellingham, another thing Bellingham is notorious for is their buffets. Among the Asians (well, from my grandma's social circles), I heard that there are two popular buffets in Bellingham. One is the Super Buffet (please read my review here:) and the other is Wonderful Buffet.
 Driving into the parking lot, you can see that Wonderful Buffet is located just across the parking lot from Costco. Before walking in I noticed something interesting, the blinds at Wonderful Buffet is on the outside rather than the inside. I am not sure why they do this, I'd imagine it would be a hassle to close the blinds if you are inside let alone if you wanted some privacy inside the restaurant (let's say at night), you wouldn't be able to get any because people can just easily lift the blinds up.

Very interesting choice of ceiling decor

That said, after glaring at the interesting setup of blinds, my friend and I decided to walk in. Immediately, at the door, you will see the prices for Lunch, Dinner, Take out. It was about 6 at night, so we were just in time for the dinner. Walking in on a Wednesday Evening, the place was not too busy. We were greeted by the host lady. I wouldn't say that she is rude, but she wasn't the most polite either.
  The interior decor is rather interesting. The lighting was abit on the dim side and the ceiling tiles were very interesting. I think the "Chinese Buffet" theme was the thing that the restaurant was trying to emphasize.
  After, we were seated, I noticed that there were six counters of food. Each one had their own features. There was one counter for sushi, one counter for seafood/meat (like two dishes, such as trout and mussels when we were there), one counter for western salads, two counters for Chinese dishes and one counter for desserts/ fruits.
   I didn't want to get too much food, so I had bits and pieces of everything to try things out. I started out with going to the sushi bar. I must say the sushi here are smaller in portion compared to many other sushi I've had. The selections weren't special though, they only have a few varieties and all of which are classic kinds like California Roll, Alaska roll, tamago roll to name a few. The taste of these are pretty regular, nothing bad to write home about.
   The next category I went to was the two Chinese counters. They had alot of the traditional Chinese dishes you would get at restaurants such as fried beans, chow mein, fried rice, lemon chicken. I got a bit of everything and tried them all out. Besides being abit on the greasy side, it was not too bad. The Chicken teriyaki on skewers were pretty good too. The only thing that I didn't like from here was the sticky rice. It tastes as if the sticky rice has been in the cooker for a really long time and the rice and the banana leaf that it's wrapped in is literally STUCK together.
  They also have a dish of lobster legs too, but I didn't try any. WAfter trying out a few more dishes, everything tasted regular, like it wasn't anything that was out of the ordinary that you can get at the Food Court. That said, I really liked the chick peas cold dish they had. The chick peas were cooked to the point where the flavour were brought out just right. Besides that, everything else was nothing much to write about.
  Finally, I decided to get some fruits. My friend decided to get desserts (even though my marathon is finished, I am going after maintenance and speed for the next marathon). The fruits tasted as if it's been out for a really long time. Especially the oranges, they were abit dry and kind of crispy. The creme puffs, according to my friend, was abit sour tasting too. Other than that, there is really nothing to complain about.
  Overall, the food here is pretty average, however, the price is pretty good. At about $13 for dinner, I would say that the value you get is pretty good for the amount of food and choices that you have. The quality isn't the best, but hey, you get what you pay for right?

Breakfast for under $3? (Jack in the Box Everett Review)

The thing I love most about Jack in the Box is that they serve breakfast all day and they got a pretty good variety of foods other than the burgers you would get at fast food joints. It was about 10 in the morning when my friend and I arrived here and we were starving for breakfast. We just spent two hours at the Boeing Factory filming planes, and we were on our way to Seattle when we decided to make a pit stop here.
  Walking in, this place felt just like any other Jack in the Box. I looked at the menu and I didn't want to spend too much, so I challenged myself to spend only $3 on breakfast. Water was free, so I didn't need a drink. They have good coffee here (I believe it's Kona Coffee that they serve here), but I was saving up for Starbucks' coffee in Seattle.
   After debating myself for a while on what to get, I decided to get a breakfast jack (for about $1.50) and an order of mini-pancakes for $1. It was advertised that there are 10 mini pancakes for only $1.00! The wait time was abit lon the long side, I think I waited for about 5-10 minutes for my meal to be ready, but there wasn't many (if any body) at the restaurant at the time.
  When the meal came, I quickly grabbed a seat because I was pressed on time. The breakfast jack was pretty good. Not only was the portion big, it included a piece of ham, eggs, cheese within a burger patty. It was almost equivalent to A&W's cheese and egger. The only down side that I didn't like was that it was abit on the salty side.
  The mini pancakes are a classic at Jack in the Box, and it is a must get for me whenever I come here. Not only are they cheap, but they are good too. However, during this visit, I wasn't too satisfied with it. The pancakes were abit on the hard and cold side when I got it. I think it has been in the cooker thing that they use for abit too long (as it tasted abit cold and slightly on the hard side) and it was missing 2 pieces when it came. (Or I read it wrong, and there was only 8 pieces). Other than that, I would say that the value of the pancakes were really good (and it came with syrup and butter) for only $1!

$1.50 for 3 big scoops of Gelato!!! (Costco Seattle)

There are many Costco's out there, but this Costco is probably one of my favourite ones to go to. Besides being on the site of the first ever Costco (apparently, the first Costco was torn down, but the original site was across the parking lot from here), they have Italian Gelato for $1.50 for 3 big scoops!

   Not only is $1.50 a ridiculous deal for the Gelato (you are probably thinking... $1.50... the quality must be pretty bad). There are about 3 choices for you to choose from. So when it comes to choices, you don't get that many. The three choices that was available when I came today was: Chocolate Chip Cookie, Pistachios and Chocolate.    I decided to get a mix of the three different scoops, so a scoop of each. I first started with the Pistachios, and I must say the taste of pistachios was there, but it wasn't very strong. The texture was pretty smooth, with a bit of a taste on the sugary side.
  The next flavour I had was the Chocolate Chip Cookie flavour. This one was full of flavour and is probably my favourite one too. The chocolate in the ice cream was in chunks and you actually have to chew the chocolate.
   The final flavour was the chocolate ice cream. This chocolate ice cream was smoother than many of the ice cream I had. It wasn't as sweet as the other two flavours from before, but the chocolate taste was very thick. Because the two other flavours were abit sweeter than this one, the chocolate taste didn't come out as much.
    Some advice: make sure you finish it as soon as soon as possible and not eat it while you are inside a hot car... (I learned my lesson the hard way). Things can get sticky really fast and because the portions of the ice cream is so big... when it melts, it melts like a waterfall. That said, I really like the ice cream and I would definitely come back again. 

An All You Can Eat That Plays Breakup Music (Four Seasons Buffet, Mt. Vernon)

Many Canadians that visit the US go to Buffets because of how cheap they are and how much food you can get. Four Seasons Buffet is one of the more popular ones that Canadians go to but is also probably one of the few all you can eat locations around this area.
Located across the street from Cascade mall and just a few blocks near exit 229 on the I-5, the location of Four Seasons is relatively convenient. They have parking outside too for you to park and if the parking lot is full (which I haven't really encountered the few times I've been here), there is the mall parking lot across the street you can park at.
  I'll be honest, the decor inside Four Seasons is a bit interesting. They have coloured lighting inside of the main dining hall, but the colours look as if it's meant for an arcade. Not to mention the music that they play is beautiful but a bit unsuitable for dining. Alot of the music are Chinese/Taiwanese ballads and instrumental versions of them. Some of the music are break up songs, so I guess when you are at an all you can eat, a break up song is appropriate because all the food you eat is making you break up with your physique.
 When it comes to food, Four Seasons is mostly an Asian styled buffet and features a Mongolian grill/teriyaki, sushi bar, numerous Chinese and western dishes, salads and dessert. Variety wise, there are quite a few items.
The Mongolian grill contains a cold bar of vegetables and raw things you can put on your plate and bring it up to the chef who will cook it for you. There really isn't anything special here when it comes to the things you can cook, these things being the meats and vegetables.
 The sushi is pretty average/ regular. Some of the rolls they have include the California roll and tuna rolls. There are usually about a dozen varieties. That said, during rush hour, it may take the chef a while to prepare the sushi. So essentially there may only be a few items on the bar at once.
 When it comes to the main courses, they have many dishes such as dim sum, chicken with broccoli, stuffed shrimp, garlic toast, cheese on oyster, lemon chicken. My favourite dishes that I liked when I was here was the glutinous rice with chicken and the dim sum pot stickers. They were slightly on the greasy end, but it was good.
The thing I noticed about Four Seasons is that eventhough the quality of food is fair, I find that alot of the items are very greasy. For example, the chicken with broccoli had a generous pool of sauce that was with it. So in the end, it was abit on the greasy side. Nevertheless, it tasted ok, but just abit greasy.

Overall, for less than $10 a person for all you can eat and with variety, I would say that this is good place to go to for all you can eat if you are in town.

Fields and Fields of Tulips at RoozenGaarde (Skagit / Mt. Vernon Tulip Festival)

   Even though there are many places where you can go see Tulips, they are usually in isolation and in little patches. It is only when the Tulips are in huge patches that they can have a stun factor. Knowing about the Skagit Tulip Festival for some time, I never got the chance to actually visit it. Driving by the I-5, you can see the huge cement cylinder (I think that's a chimney but I'm not sure), and there are Tulips painted on it.
   The way the Tulip Festival work is that there are multiple patches in the Skagit County/ Mt. Vernon area, and you would drive around the roads that are designated by the map: http://www.tulipfestival.org/map/print, and there will be patches along the side. The two of the biggest Tulip places are Roozen Gaarde and Tulip Town. That said, there are many places that you can see the Tulips too and they are all located along the roads that are marked on the map.
   For us, we arrived via the I-5 and we exited at exit 230 and drove around for a bit. There were a few patches along the sides of the road that was free to view but the parking was limited. Also, it was very muddy and slippery (so remember to dress for the weather and wear boots). We didn't get off our car until we were very close to Roozen Gaarde and there was a free patch for us to look at. The patch of tulips here were big, but the tulips themselves were relatively small. After, walking around this patch for a bit, we decided to go visit Roozen Gaarde just around the corner.
   I was very impressed with Roozen Gaarde as we drove into the parking area. Because we came from the south, we can see the the huge patch of tulips on the left and then a Dutch style gift shop like thing on the right. Driving into the parking lot was a bit of a pain because the parking lot was improvised and we were driving on grass that wasn't very well drawn out. There were parking marshals to help guide out the road, to the correct parking location thankfully.

Me running through the tulip fields

  Once we were parked, we made our way towards the entrance. Before the entrance, everyone had to make a pit stop at the porta potty. Just a warning about using these, make sure the doors are LOCKED when you use them. I saw a few cases of people opening up the porta potties with people in them... even though it was funny to watch the reactions, I'd imagine it would be uncomfortable for the parties involved.
  Surprisingly, the admission line was slightly long. It took about a good 10 minutes before we were able to get into the gardens. It costs about $5 per person for admission and each admission entitles a free parking spot. Walking into the gardens, it was memorizing to see the long rows upon rows of tulips.
   There were many colours and many shapes and sizes of tulips. Most of all, there were just so many and everything in sight was tulips. We began our walk on the tulip patches. Besides the fact that it was a bit too crowded and muddy, the tulips were just gorgeous. It's the middle of exam season for me right now, but being here, I forgot about my exams (temporarily).
   After walking around the tulip fields for about half an hour, we decided to cross the street to visit the displays (which is included in the admission to RoozenGaarde). There was a traffic crossing patroller who was in control of traffic so pedestrians could cross the street safely. He had a huge layer of sunscreen on his face and it was kind of funny to see him all covered up as if he was a bee keeper.
  Once we crossed the street, we entered the display area of the gardens. I never knew that there were that many varieties of tulips! There were hundreds, if not thousands of types of tulips. All of these tulips that are on display could be ordered too (if you would like them for your own gardens).
   Some of the names of the tulips were really funny. Like there were ones called "orange juice" when the tulip was really more red than orange. I found a variety that is called "Chinatown". I am not sure why, but Chinatown wasn't blossoming as much as the other varieties yet.
   Not only was the display area filled with many different types of tulips, but there were concessions selling food as well. It sort of felt like a carnival.
   In short, I would definitely recommend coming here for a walk. Despite being a bit too busy, the tulips themselves were worth it. Also the drive in the country side was a good break from reality.
 For more info, please visit: http://www.tulipfestival.org/