Every time I’m in San Francisco I know there is a little something I MUST do before leaving. And that is…savoring a nice cup of clam chowder at Boudin.

Boudin is mostly a bakery and sells a wide variety of goods ranging from the more obvious like bread to random gifts.

Here we have animal shaped bread. Alligators, crabs, turtles, and pigs! Oh my!

Yes… it’s all too overwhelming. However,  I won’t let that be a distraction to me. My path is chosen and my intentions clear… I’m just here for the clam chowdery goodness-nothing else.

Ah…clam chowdery goodness at long last. A scoop of mouth-watering treat poured into a bowl made of sourdough perfection.

The clam chowder with sourdough bowl costs 7.29 but for a dollar less you can get the soup in a traditional plastic bowl instead.
Saving a buck sounds good right? But that’s not the point…I’m not here to save money but stomach space. Sourdough bowls are very filling and after eating one you’re basically done. I prefer to save stomach space for other deliciousness like lobster.

You see, there are meals that are so simple it takes a complete fool to screw it up. What exactly am I talking about? Well…lobster.

Back at the seafood market in Fisherman’s Wharf that’s exactly what we are having. Lobster dipped into a pot of boiling water. No add-ons needed.

At 40 dollars USD a pound it was…yes…very expensive. But also very good at the same time.

Every trip to San Francisco must include Fisherman’s Wharf which means…Seafood!

The street vendors all put their selections in wide open view for eager customers to look at. One crab…Two Crab…Three Crab.

Fresh oysters with lemons on the side. Just grab a plate and indulge as you stare away into the ocean. It will make them seem even fresher. *Wink*

Fried planks of fish and chips along side shrimp tempura.

A variety of seafood.

Life is hard…so many choices!

So…here’s the deal. What you up for?

Reno is Las Vegas but minus the glamor and perhaps a little bit more bland, sorta like a little brother. Though Reno is in the same state as Las Vegas, they are anything but near. With a 8 hour drive separating them, Reno in all means is its own separate identity.

We arrived at around 10 O’clock but the downtown area is already basically dead. I can’t help but imagine the thoughts running through the taxi driver’s minds as they waited mindlessly on the street for hours. Perhaps the thoughts were something in the lines of: “Where the hell is everyone?” and “Why am I even here?”

The hotels weren’t as in your face as the ones in Las Vegas which gave them I guess a more “homely” feel.


All the major hotels were connected through underground walkways which sorta explains why there weren’t many people outside. Then again…there weren’t even that many people inside the hotels.

The sign outside of Circus Circus looked like it was suppose to be lit but I guess they recognized that nobody was outside to look at it anyways so why not save a few bucks.

The rest of the city was like any other city but maybe there were a few more motels here and there.

The view of Reno from afar was not bad with the mountain in the background. As you would imagine, being situated on top of the mountains the temperature was a bit cold.

Breakfast buffet. The empty spot on the plate was reserved for an omelet but the line was too long.

Prime rib and the usual buffet stuff. The food wasn’t Vegas quality but they’re definitely edible.

In conclusion, Reno is Vegas but not Vegas.

A photo gallery of random shots of the Alaskan Cruise Ship.

Ketchikan. The sign says Alaska’s first city and the salmon capital of the world. Signs don’t lie right? So I’ll just go with that.

View of Ketchikan from the ship. Look at all those buildings! They are all different colors. I wonder if they had a meeting where they decide on the color of everyone’s houses. So your house color doesn’t collide with your neighbors’ of course. Seriously…no adjacent house share the same colors.

The city is pretty small so one glance is all you need.

A peek inside a gift shop.

Some totem poles.

Moose droppings and bear poop. Sounds delectable? I’m not sure what they are but my best guess is chocolates? Cookies? What’s your take?

An ulu is some sort of native knife I’m assuming.

Samples of various snacks including fish breath mints which I hear makes any unattractive loser into an instant ladies-man.

A boat/car. Half boat, half car. It drives like a regular road vehicle but can also be used in the water where there are apparently ducks.

The thing about cruises is once you get off you have many choices. The duck tour probably doesn’t make a dent in your wallet but a 15 minute sea-plane ride will set you back a good 200 dollars. Money well spent. I thought about hopping on one but decided not to.

Instead, we took a tour that including viewing totem poles.

And buying syrup from a nice lady in the middle of no where. Beats the sea-plane tour any day of the week.

At dock, we saw a bunch of guys fillet a fish after an adventurous fishing expedition.

Headed back to ship for dinner. Dinner includes three S’s. Strange.

Soup.

Scallop.

Sorbet.

What you see above is (obviously?) not pho. It’s actually deep fried spring rolls, which is a great complimentary dish to pho.
So what is pho? Basically, it’s a Vietnamese dish that consists of rice noodles and raw meats in warm savory broth. Raw meats? That’s crazy…or is it?

In your everyday pho restaurants you will notice a few condiments to the side of the table. Here you will find your soy sauce and sriracha sauce (A hot sauce that originated in Thailand.)

Before the pho arrives, you will most likely be given a helping of culantro, basil, lime, and bean sprouts. They are usually raw unless you tell the waiter that you don’t take raw veggies too kindly. By all means ask for the veggies to be taken for a nice quick hot bath of boiling water.

When the noodle arrives you will see a bowl of noodles topped with raw slices of beef. Don’t worry though, a stir will insure that the thin slices of meat will be ready for your enjoyment.

You may notice that every table is marked by a great big number. Let me explain… It’s actually all part of the escape plan. With our busy lifestyle we can’t be bothered to wait for the waiter to bring us the check (That can kill a precious 5 minutes.) Instead just remember the number marked by your table and hop on over to cashier counter. Simply state your table number (5 in this case)-in a fast pace manner as if you actually have something important to do if you will. Pay your dues and be on your way.

Gather round the campfire young entrepreneurs n’ alike, and allow me to tell you about a get-rich-quick scheme so simple.

1. Buy a farm.
2. Grow cherries in farm.
3. Place advertisement on newspaper about your cherry farm.
4. Wait for customers to arrive in the truckloads.
5. Get your customers to pick their own cherries and give them the honor of purchasing them at roughly 200% premium over the market price.

Oh so simple. You don’t even need to hire undocumented workers to work on your field because your foolish customers are doing it for you.  So basically, the foolish costumers are picking their own cherries and paying a premium for them. What a scheme!
Anyways…, I must confess that I was one of the “foolish” customers that visited the cherry farm.

After a bit of a drive we finally arrived to a cherry farm in Leona Valley, Ca. (near Lancaster, Ca)

We were given these bright red buckets to fill until our hearts content.

So fresh. Well, they must be since it’s fresh off the trees.

As we all know, darker cherries taste the best. Well…the bright colored cherries are good too, if you like sour fruit.

Some trees were hardly touched.

While some are cleaned to its roots.
The thing is you can “sample” them. Is it allowed? And what qualifies as sampling? 3? or 281? Either way, its not like anyone is watching you while you pick the cherries right?
It’s fine since they make it back by charging you $3/lb while the market price is $1/lb. They get you on the fact that you probably drove a hour from LA to get there and that you picked the cherries yourself thus more valuable somehow.

Being a farm, there are some of these.

And what I can only make out as a cherry torturing device?

In the heart of Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada) is a little creek. To get through you can simply take the bridge. But wait…no…you want to get across, but via a less practical / conventional method.

How does a ferry ride sound? Yes, instead of taking a bridge across you can hop on a ferry to be on your merry way.

Just hit one of the ferry docks.

Get on and get off at your desired stop.

The down side is that you’re paying 3 Canadian dollars for what is basically a 200 feet ride. It’s more fun than practical I assume.

A gallery of shots taken in Downtown Vancouver. Enough Said.