Korean spare ribs – Wang’s in the Desert

Korean spare ribs Wang's in the Desert

4 pieces of bite size pork ribs braised in a soy bbq sauce. Served with tangy Korean cole slaw. $9
Wang’s in the Desert, Palm Springs CA

These were sticky, sweet, salty, and absolutely delicious! Among all the small plates we tried, this was the most substantial. I love pork ribs and these did not disappoint!

Wang’s dumpling combination – Wang’s in the Desert

Project 365: Day 87

And the rain has come back to the Bay Area! Wow, it was raining cats and dogs this morning. Silverfox and I went to Toast Eatery for breakfast. I accidentally left my cell phone at home and missed Kryan’s international phone call, oops! I’ll have to catch up with him next weekend while I’m in Charleston. Gotsta go into work for a couple of hours today then finish packing for tomorrow. We’re gonna try Jake’s, the new restaurant on Market Street, for dinner tonight. Not looking forward to my early flight tomorrow. 😦

Steamed dim sum platter Wang's in the Desert

Lamb and rosemary – ground lamb with chopped rosemary, garlic and onion. Shichimi spiced beef – Angus beef, water chestnuts, napa cabbage and onion. Curried chicken – ground white meat chicken, mushrooms, onions and ginger (2 pieces each). $10
Wang’s in the Desert, Palm Springs CA

Ugh! These dumplings were SO dry and the wrappers were kinda rubbery. Don’t the descriptions look great though? Too bad the kitchen couldn’t execute them properly.

Jalapeno calamari – Wang’s in the Desert

Project 365: Day 86

Omg, this is my last day of work before all my trips in April when I’ll only be back in the office for 2 days! Work was on the slow side today. I’m gonna hit the gym after work then get my hair cut before my work trip. I’ve got to remember to buy more deodorant on my way home, hehe.

Jalapeno calamari Wang's in the Desert

Calamari steak medallions seasoned with garlic, jalapenos, scallions, lemon juice, salt and pepper. $9
Wang’s in the Desert, Palm Springs CA

The thick squid medallions were squishy and had a funky texture – not a fan. I also thought these were gonna be hot and spicy, but they had almost no heat. Very disappointing.

Pan fried seafood pot stickers – Wang’s in the Desert

Project 365: Day 85

Another ho-hum day at work. I had a great workout afterward, then swung by Dinosaurs for a banh mi sandwich before grabbing the J Muni back home. The prices were SO cheap there that I bought an extra sandwich to bring to lunch tomorrow. They were very tasty! Pics to come once I’m caught up, lol!

Pan fried seafood pot stickers Wang's in the Desert

Shrimp and scallops with water chestnuts and scallions (4 pieces). Served with a ginger soy dipping sauce. $10
Wang’s in the Desert, Palm Springs CA

These pot stickers looked promising on the menu, but they were a little dry and dense. I really wasn’t all that impress with the food at Wang’s overall. Their happy hour is a lot more fun and a better value than their actual dinner.

Road trip snack – Jack in the Box

Project 365: Day 83

I’m still struggling to complete my work trip travel authorization on our systems without all the information I need. I’ll have a co-instructor but he hasn’t been very helpful either. Oh well, at least my gym workouts have been going well. I’ve been somewhat unmotivated, but I’m still trying to push myself. I don’t think there will be much of a gym at my hotel in Charleston so I’ve got to get in some quality workouts before then.

Egg roll Jack in the Box

Crispy egg roll (1 pc) filled with diced pork, cabbage, celery, carrots, onions, and spices and served with sweet and sour dipping sauce.
Jack in the Box, Kettleman City CA

Silverfox and I had this less than stellar fast food meal on one of our road trips down to Palm Springs. It’s fast food, what can you do?!

Egg roll Jack in the Box

This thing is super starchy, but familiar. Meh.

Chicken nuggets Jack in the Box

Crispy chicken nuggets (5 pcs) with bbq sauce.

Grilled chicken strips Jack in the Box

Grilled white meat chicken strips (5 pcs) served with teriyaki dipping sauce.

Beverages Jack in the Box

Diet Coke and coffee.

Baked bbq pork bun – Tung Sing Restaurant

Project 365: Day 82

It still feels weird to be back to work and not on a warm sunny cruise ship. I’m stressing out already because I just found out that I have to go to Charleston for 2 weeks in both April and June to teach a course. ARGH! I leave in a week and haven’t received much information on the course and logistics. Oh well, gotta make it work! This means that between all my other travel, I’ll only be at the office for 2 days in April. That’s realy weird for me!

Baked bbq pork bun Tung Sing Restaurant

I love bbq pork buns and while this one was quite large, the meat to bun ratio was not what I wanted. It had SO much bun and not enough yummy bbg pork. $1.95
Tung Sing Restaurant, San Francisco

Baked bbq pork bun Tung Sing Restaurant

Bun with beef rolls – Hometown Noodle 2

Project 365: Day 81

Argh, I’m back in the real world! Had to go into work of a couple hours today. Kinda glad because I really need the money after that trip! Went to Whole Foods to grab groceries for my lunches this week. Ended up meeting Hubbs for catching up and drinks in the Castro. I hadn’t seen him in a while so I got a little too crazy with the drinks then ended up at 7-11 for nachos, lol!

Bun with beef rolls Hometown Noodle 2

Bun thit nuong bo cuon. Cold vermicelli, a thin rice noodle, is call “bun” in Vietnamese. With pickled carrots and radish, cucumber, and garnished with toasted peanuts and green onions. Served with fish sauce and choice of meat. Large $8.25
Hometown Noodle 2, San Bruno CA

Bun with egg rolls and grilled pork – Hometown Noodle 2

Project 365: Day 80

We’ve landed in San Juan PR and it’s departure day. We had brunch with the gang up in the Oceanview Cafe then headed down to the theater to await our disembarkation announcements. The 6 of us who were flying out today shared a cab to the airport. Our flight back was SJU-JFK-SFO. We were a little delayed leaving SJU but we made time in the air and arrived at JFK on time. As our connection was leaving the gate at JFK, some girl wanted to get off the plane so we had to return to the gate and wait for her to leave (so annoying!). Even though we had a super late departure, we still made it back to SFO at a decent time and I was in my bed before 1 AM.

Bun with egg rolls and grilled pork Hometown Noodle 2

Bun cha gio voi heo. Cold vermicelli, a thin rice noodle, is call “bun” in Vietnamese. It’s with pickled carrots and radish, cucumber, and garnished with toasted peanuts and green onions. Served with fish sauce and choice of meat. Large $8.25
Hometown Noodle 2, San Bruno CA

Diet Coke Hometown Noodle 2

Diet Coke.

Rice with egg rolls and grilled pork – Hometown Noodle 2

Project 365: Day 79

Today was the last sea day on the boat before returning to San Juan PR. I had mixed emotions – I was glad to be heading home after a long fun trip but sad to actually return to the real world. I’ll miss the constantly available food and waking up each morning to find myself at a new and exciting island. We decided to have a slow and relaxing day. We had brunch in the main dining room, had multiple snacks up in the Oceanview Cafe, played a slot tournment, played Bingo hosted by Jackie Beat, attend an Over The Rainbow T-Dance, had dinner in the main dining room, watched the Miss Richfield 1981 show (omg, SO funny!), packed our bags and called it a night.

Rice with egg rolls and grilled pork Hometown Noodle 2

Steamed rice, pickled carrots and radish, sliced cucumber, fried egg, egg rolls, and grilled pork with green onions. $8.95
Hometown Noodle 2, San Bruno CA

Hot chili oil Hometown Noodle 2

Hot chili oil.

Bun with grilled prawns – Hometown Noodle 2

Project 365: Day 78

Finally, we’ve made it to Gustavia, Saint Barthelemy (St. Barths)! We had a small breakfast at the Oceanview Cafe, then met the gang to tender to shore. Gustavia is really clean and pretty and EXPENSIVE! Everything is also in Euros so it’s more expensive than you think. We made our way to Shell Beach and rented chairs for the day. Thank goodness because there were a few downpours but we stayed mostly dry. We had a fabulous lunch at Do Brazil, laid out and swam all day, did some shopping in town, had coffee at a cafe, then tendered back to the ship. So sad to leave such a beautiful and relaxing island. We relaxed in our cabin for a little bit, then I went for a snack at Oceanview Cafe, met Silverfox for drinks at the Martini Bar, had dinner with the gang in the main dining room, took a disco nap, then partied the night away at the White Party!

Bun with grilled prawns Hometown Noodle 2

Bun tom nuong. Cold vermicelli, a thin rice noodle, is call “bun” in Vietnamese. With pickled carrots and radish, cucumber, and garnished with toasted peanuts and green onions. Served with fish sauce and choice of meat. Large $8.25
Hometown Noodle 2, San Bruno CA

Shrimp spring rolls – Hometown Noodle 2

Project 365: Day 77

Roseau, Dominica! The exclamation point means “get me out of here!” No joke, this place was super scary and the people were NOT friendly. I had 2 breakfasts this morning, one at Oceanview Cafe and the other at AquaSpa Cafe. Then we were stupid enough to go explore Roseau by ourselves instead of doing an excursion elsewhere on the island. The town was pretty dirty and some of the people were scary and mean. We walked around town just checking the non-existent sites, looked for a bookstore, visited Our Lady of Fair Haven Cathedral, had a Jamaican beef patty at Patty Shack, then ran back to the ship. We tried to decompress in the solarium while eating food from the AquaSpa Cafe and the Pool/Mast Grill. We then attended the 70’s T-Dance, had drinks at the Martini Bar, had a couple’s dinner at the main dining room, watch Mario Cantone, then went to the Oceanview Cafe for ice cream.

Shrimp spring rolls Hometown Noodle 2

2 large rolls with boiled shrimp, lettuce, bean sprouts and rice noodle are wrapped in thin rice sheets. Served with house special peanut sauce. $5.25
Hometown Noodle 2, San Bruno CA

Green tea Hometown Noodle 2

Green tea. Complimentary.

Housemade breakfast sausage – Outerlands

Project 365: Day 76

Today we arrived at Bridgetown, Barbados. We decided to have brunch in the main dining room, just Silverfox and me. The food was the same as upstairs in the Oceanview Cafe, but plated more nicely. We then met up with a couple friends to enjoy a taxi tour of the island. Our driver, Angela, was hilarious and described pretty much everything we drove by. We drove north along the beaches then cut inland (east) through a large golf course. We passed by the mansions where Tiger Woods supposedly got married. We searched for green monkies, but there were none to be seen. We then made our way to the Highland Adventure Weather Station after driving through several sugarcane plantations. Afterward, we made our way to St. John’s church. It was cute and interesting to see the grave where someone was buried standing up. We passed by Gun Hill Signal Station on our way back to Bridgetown. We then had lunch and drinks at Waterfront Cafe before walking back to the ship. Had a large snack at the Oceanview Cafe, VIP cocktail party with an hour of free drinks, dinner in the main dining room, Sirens variety show performed by the Celebrity staff, then a late night snack from the Oceanview Cafe.

Housemade breakfast sausage Outerlands

Pork sausage patties with chili-sage. $5
Outerlands, San Francisco

This was frickin’ delicious and flavorful! I’m sure these patties were super fatty, but that’s probably why they were SO good.