I asked my Plurk friends for restaurant recommendation, and Maggie told me about Tapas Picasso Spanish Restaurante.  We tried not to spend too much money on this trip, and Tapas Picasso’s $5 happy hour sounds good to us.  Our hotel provided San Diego Magazine in our room.  While flipping through, I found out Tapas Picasso was rated #3 in San Diego Tapas restaurants!

$5 happy hour tapas is from 5pm to 7pm.  But on Monday, it’s all night happy hour.

There’s a small bar area, but nobody was sitting at the bar.

The meal started with complimentary bread.

Medium Pitchers of Sangria ($15.00)

We ordered a Medium Pitchers of Sangria.  This huge jar was way too much for us.  I vaguely remember I had 3.5 glasses and left the restaurant really buzzed.

Albacore Mousse Pate with Chipotle ($5.00)
Pate de atun con chile chipotle

We ordered a few of the $5 special tapas.  The first one was Albacore Mousse Pate with Chipotle.  The mousse was quite spicy.  It was pretty good, but I wished they gave us more bread with it.

New Fried Potatoes with Chipotle Alioli ($5.00)
Patatitas fritas con alioli de Chipotle

Maggie told me her favorite dish was the New Fried Potatoes with Chipotle Aioli.  I also thought this was my favorite dish of the night!  The sauce was soooooo delicious.  We couldn’t stop eating this.

Zucchini, Tomatoes & Mushroom Sautee ($5.00)

Zucchini, Tomatoes & Mushroom Sautee was exactly what it was.  The flavor was pretty good.  Dr. P liked this refreshing vegetable dish a lot.

Chicken Breast in Mushroom Wine Sauce ($5.00)
Pechuga de pollo

Chicken Breast in Mushroom Wine Sauce tasted just like the Zucchini, Tomatoes & Mushroom Sautee to me.  The chicken was a bit dry.  It wasn’t too bad, but wasn’t that good, either.

Mushrooms in Garlic Sauce ($5.00)
Champinones al ajillo

Mushroom in Garlic Sauce was good.  I just LOVE mushroom.

Paprika Shrimp ($11.95)

We also ordered 2 regular price items.  But we got $1 off for all the regular priced dishes because it was happy hour.  The Paprika Shrimp was HUGE!  The shrimp tasted realy fresh and paprika was tasty.

Octopus in a Spicy Tomato Sauce ($8.95)
Pulpo San Sebastian

Our waiter recommended Octopus in a Spicy Tomato Sauce.  He said this was his favorite dish.  It was one of our favorite as well.  The octopus was soft and chewy.  The spicy tomato sauce was really tasty.  I think this dish would be really good with pasta.

Delicious!  We really enjoyed the food at Tapas Picasso.  Service was really good, too.  Some people just came in to drink Sangria and chat.  I would definitely visit again if I’m in the San Diego area.

Similar Posts:

• [Pasadena] [西班牙料理] Bar Celona (CLOSED)
• [Beverly Hills] [海鮮料理] McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant
• [Pasadena] [海鮮料理] McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant
• [Los Angeles] [Peruvian] Mario’s Peruvian & Seafood
• [Rosemead] [Chinese] 吉嶸川菜 Ji Rong Restaurant

*We’re finally settled in our new apartment in Irvine.  Time to update the long due San Diego trip!*

After our relaxing lunch with bees and birds, we got back on our feet again to see more animals.

The weather was pretty hot, so a lot of animals were taking naps in the shade.  They have a white tiger, just like the white tigers in Las Vegas.

We walked by the lion area again and saw this female lion sitting right in front of the window just looking at people.

It was really amazing to see a lion literally face to face like this.

The boy lion was napping on the hood of the car.

Cheetah was also resting.

Flamingos are pretty, but they’re stinky.

Warthog was sleeping as well.

This bird looks so cartoon-ish.

I like how they put the branch on the tree instead of on the ground to feed he antelopes.

When I saw this animal, I was like, “What is this animal?  Deer head, horse body, and zebra feet?  Is this a real species of animal, or is it some confused animals offspring?”

It’s name is Okapi.  And Okapi is now my favorite animal!  It’s so cute!

We caught an animal show.  The zoo people brought out a few different animals for some audience interaction.  The first animal was a baby cheetah.

He’s just so adorable!

Then a talking parrot.  He’s very smart.

I like camel.  They are really gentle.

The zoo worker walked the ocelet in the audience area.  It looks like a cat with really long legs.

He can even do a few tricks.

This bird is pretty.  They made the bird fly so we could see the underside of the his wings are red.

Warthog is not pretty, but he’s ugly in a cute way.  He’s also a smart one that can do tricks.

Isn’t he cute?

On the way to the exit, we passed by the baby cheetah again.  He looks like a stuff animal.  I wanna take him home!

We went on the marry-go-round before heading home.  Guess what I found?  Okapi, my favorite animal!

Dr. P rode a cheetah.  But my okapi was way cooler.

They even have Okapi stuff animal at the store.  But this little thing cost $60.  Too expensive for me to take home….

Dr. P found his cheetah, too.  But again, my okapi was way better.

Dr. P is a Leo.  He’d make a cute lion.

But I make a better gorilla.  Notice the teeth?  Vicious!  haha….

I LOVE San Diego Wild Animal Park!  We walked for 7 hours and didn’t even feel tired!  I’d definitely go back again and again….

Similar Posts:

• San Diego Wild Animal Park (Part 1)
• [Escondido] [Fast Food] San Diego Wild Animal Park Thorntree Terrace
• San Diego Here We Come
• Animals from School
• Magnolia Bird Farm

At Peet’s Coffee & Tea , buy one iced beverage and get another for free via this printable coupon.  Juices and bottled drinks are excluded.  Deal ends July 17.Similar Posts:

• [Los Angeles] [飲品] Peet’s Coffee & Tea
• [Los Angeles] [輕食] Larchmont Village Wine Spirits & Cheese
• Buy One Angus Chipotle Chili Dog Get One Free at Wienerschnitzel
• Quiznos Free Toasty Torpedo sandwich
• Buy One Fish Taco Get One Free at Del Taco

60% Off + FREE $10 Certificate w/every $25 Gift Certificate Order when you use code KITCHEN. Pay $4 thru 7/20/09 only at Restaurant.com.Similar Posts:

• $25 Restaurant.com Gift Certificates for $4.00 PLUS $15 Gift Certificate for FREE
• $25 Restaurant.com Gift Certificates for $4.00
• $25 Restaurant.com Gift Certificates for $5.00
• $25 Restaurant.com Gift Certificates for $2.00
• Free and Discounted Food on Tax Day

Once I get settled in to our new apartment, I promise I’ll update like craaaaaazy.  haha….

Hello, Irvine, here we come!Similar Posts:

• San Diego Wild Animal Park (Part 2)
• Still in Vacation Mode
• Moving…. and How?
• Mexico Here We Come!
• 我的Blog開放全宇宙參觀！

Save 70% off of $25 Gift Certificates when you use code SEVENTY.Pay $3 thru 7/13/09 only at Restaurant.com.Similar Posts:

• $25 Restaurant.com Gift Certificates for $4.00
• $25 Restaurant.com Gift Certificates for $5.00
• Deal of the Day
• $25 Restaurant.com Gift Certificates for $2.00
• $25 Restaurant.com Gift Certificates for $3.00

We had been walking in the Wild Animal Park for 4 hours.  Our feet started to feel tired and our stomachs were in desperate need of food.

We went into to Thorntree Terrance to get lunch.  There were quite a few food stands inside the Wild Animal Park.  Each one has its own specialty.

Thorntree Terrance specializes in burger, sandwich, and wrap.  The price was a bit high, just like most touristy places.  But knowing the money will go back to the zoo toward the animals, we didn’t mind spending a little bit more money at all.

Corona ($6.49)

I didn’t know they sell beer in the zoo.  Dr. P got an order of Corona.  It came in a little plastic cup.  It was very expensive for $6.49.  But the cold beer was sure refreshing.

Cheeseburger ($7.19)

Dr. P got a cheeseburger.  It was a simple burger and Dr. P really liked it.  The burger also came with French fries.  I like the fries.

Greek Chicken Wrap ($8.69)
A delicious low carb alternative with grilled chicken, feta cheese, black olives, red onions, and green leaf lettuce all wrapped up with tasty cucumber yogurt sauce.

I ordered Greek Chicken Wrap.  This was one of the specialty items at Thorntree Terrance.

I loved this chicken wrap.  It had my favorite, feta cheese, in it.  The grilled chicken was tender.  The cucumber yogurt sauce was tasty.

When we were eating, a lot of bees came to visit.  They didn’t bother the people too much.  But they loved ketchup.  Also a lot of birds were walking around.  Everybody was being good and didn’t feed the birds.  After our relaxing lunch, back to the zoo to see more animals…. (to be continued)

Similar Posts:

• [Baldwin Park] [Fast Food] In-N-Out Burger
• San Diego Wild Animal Park (Part 2)
• [Pasadena] [輕食] Rock Island Wraps
• San Diego Wild Animal Park (Part 1)
• San Diego Here We Come

I visited San Diego Wild Animal Park once when I was about 11 years old.  I was still living in Taiwan and came to the U.S. for a family vacation.  I remember sitting on the tram for the tour and fell asleep.  That was all I remember about the zoo.  I have been talking about visitng the zoo again with Dr. P for quite sometime.  And Dr. P got me a pair of tickets for Christmas!  I took too many pictures so I am going to write about the zoo in 2 parts.

San Diego Wild Animal Park is about 1 hour away from Coronado, where we were staying.  We got to the zoo about 10am.

As soon as we entered the zoo, there was the bird exhibit.  There were so many birds in this zoo.  We saw this one bird with super long beak.  I wonder if it gets in the way of… I don’t know… doing things?

We hopped on the giant rhino for some pictures.

This chameleon is huge!

Cutest baby cheetahs in the nursery.  They don’t have spots when they were born.  The spots will appear when they get older.

Is this an ant eater?

There were ducks everywhere.  Some of them were resting in the shade.  Some of them were napping under the sun.  They weren’t afried of people at all.  They didn’t even wake up when Dr. P got this close to them.

“Hi hi ducky.  May I sit here with you?”

I wanted to take a picture of the ring tailed lemurs.  I said, “look over here!  look over here!”  And the lemur did!

At the petting zoo.

I saw this little sitting at the corner by himself.  So I went over to pet him.  He has the prettiest eye with really long eyelashes.

He only has one eye.  I wonder what happened to him.  But he’s so sweet and cute.

The axis deers are cute.  I remember seeing lots of them in the zoo in Taiwan.

Crazy meerkats.  They were all running around like they were really busy going somewhere.

Gorilla!  I still haven’t gone to LA Zoo to see the new gorilla exhibit.  Gotta go visit soon.

Dr. P is almost as big as a gorilla.

I like comparing myself with the gorilla because then I actually feel skinny for once.

Our ticket included the Journey into Africa tour.  The tour is about 30 minutes.  There was a tour guide giving us a lot of information about the animals.

These two were northern white rhinos.  There are only 8 of them left in this world, and San Diego Wild Animal Park has 2 of them.  The tour guide said this specie mostly likely will become extinct in our lifetime.  Another interesting fact that we learned is that rhinos only reproduce when there are at least 2 females in the group.  The female rhino will only mate when she has a “girl friend” around.  Therefore, these 2 are very unlikely to mate.  But the zoo has saved some cells and sparm/egg from the rhinos.  Hopefully in the future they can try artificial insemination with a surrogate rhino or even cloning when the technology becomes available.

I like how they feed the animal.  They tied the leaves to the tree so the giraffe still thinks he’s eating from the tree.

We caught a vet checking up on this rhino.

Lots of antelopes running around.

Some zebras.

And ostriches.  On our way to the Wild Animal Park, we passed by a few ostrich farms.  The ostriches were raised for their meat.  I really enjoyed the tour.  This time I didn’t fall asleep!  23 years later, I can understand English now haha.  I found the tour very fun, interesting, and informative.

After the tour, we went to see the lions.  We caught a male lion jumping to the top of the roof of a car for a nap.  Then a female lion follow and went into the car to lie down.

Another view of the lions.  The lions can actually see the herbivore animals from the Journey into Africa tour running around.  But there were electrical fances around the lion habitat.  Also the zookeepers probably keep the lions full and content so they don’t get the urge to hunt I guess.

Here’s a silly moment of Dr. P!  haha….

We passed by an animal show and went in to check it out.  We only caught the end of the show.  This lady was showing a prairie dog.  They look just like squarrel.  So cute.

Porcupine!  So pretty!

They are actually kinda cute.  I want one!  haha….

It was about 1:30pm.  Time for lunch…. (to be continued)

Similar Posts:

• San Diego Wild Animal Park (Part 2)
• Shambala Preserve
• San Diego Here We Come
• [Escondido] [Fast Food] San Diego Wild Animal Park Thorntree Terrace
• Franklin Canyon Hike

Take 50% off of $25 Gift Certificates and check out our new inventory when you use code FLAG.Pay $5 thru 7/6/09 only at Restaurant.com.Similar Posts:

• $25 Restaurant.com Gift Certificates for $5.00
• $25 Restaurant.com Gift Certificates for $4.00
• Deal of the Day
• $25 Restaurant.com Gift Certificates for $2.00
• $25 Restaurant.com Gift Certificates for $3.00

It was second day of our San Diego trip.  Our destination was San Diego Wild Animal Park.  We wanted to get a quick breakfast then eat it in the car while driving.  We passed by Bruegger’s Bagels in Coronado.  There was a parking spot right in the front.  So we just stopped by here to grab some bagel for to-go.

This bagel shop was pretty busy on a Monday morning.

Believe it or not, it was actually my first time at a bagel shop.  I don’t know why I’ve never been to a bagel shop before.  Maybe…. I always just get my bagels from Costco?

Egg & Cheese with Sausage Bagel ($4.19)

I ordered the standard Egg & Cheese breakfast bagel and added sausage on a onion bagel.  It was tasty, but just very standard.  I could easily make this at home.  But it really filled me up.

Western Egg Bagel ($4.29)

Dr. P got the Western Egg on a regular bagel.  It had egg, ham, tomato, avocado and some kind of creamy sauce.  This breakfast bagel was great, definitely better than mine.

Do you guys go to bagel shops?  Where do you usually go?

Similar Posts:

• Loews Coronado Bay Resort – Room 3307
• NCL Mexican Riviera Cruise Day 7: Versailles Main Restaurant Lunch
• 2008五月好禮相送&四月得獎名單
• [Culver City] [Japanese] Tokyo 7-7 Coffee Shop
• NCL Mexican Riviera Cruise Day 7: Versailles Main Restaurant Breakfast