Taquitos de camarones al ajillo – Toro Salao

Posted on by
Reply

Project 365: Day 113

Omg, the bathroom in our room is SO small. I’m not a big guy, but even I feel claustrophobic in it! I wonder how Kryan and David do it!? The complimentary breakfast at the Abbott Lodge Guesthouse is pretty decent. You get coffee, juice, toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, and cereal. The service is kinda slow but there were only 2 older ladies serving all the guests so I don’t want to complain too much.

Today we took a bus to the Guinness Storehouse which is an awesome museum with a great bar (Gravity Bar) at the top of the building. It’s self-guided so you can go at your own pace. I liked the displays and everything was super clean and interesting. We also took the Guinness “Perfect Pour” class and it was actually really cool. I learned a lot about the beer and our instructor was nice and friendly. He was from Michigan though – I would have preferred an local Irishman with a cool accent, hehe. Later in Gravity Bar, we saw none other than Susan Boyle! Omg, that was SO random. I was just about to go politely ask for a photo with her when a group of 15 school kids mobbed her. I was able to snap a blurry photo of her anyway.

Later, we had a late lunch/early dinner at the Bachelor Inn with a decent looking server with straight teeth (lol), then headed back to the guesthouse to relax. I think tonight we’ll hit up Front Lounge for drinks, then The George for a drag show!

Taquitos de camarones al ajillo Toro Salao
Crispy garlic shrimp taco rolls with a citrus aioli. $10
Toro Salao, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO

Taquitos de camarones al ajillo Toro Salao
These were SO good! They were nice and warm, and perfect with the citrus aioli. Noms!

The Plaza of the Heritage of the Americas
The Plaza of the Heritage of the Americas with sculptures by Jose Buscaglia. Statues from left to right: Heritage of Faith, bronze, 9’ high, 1975; Heritage of Blood, bronze, 9’ high, 1976; Intellectual Heritage, bronze, 9’ high, 1975; Hispanic Heritage, bronze, 9’ high, 1995.

Chicken caesar salad – Firewood Cafe

Posted on by
Reply

Chicken caesar salad Firewood Cafe
Romaine lettuce, parmesan cheese and fresh garlic croutons tossed with homemade caesar dressing. Additional fixings include caramelized onions, candied walnuts, and bleu cheese. $12.20
Firewood Cafe, San Francisco CA

For some reason, I sometimes crave the caesar salad at Firewood. I always add roasted chicken on top and take full advantage of the 3 free additional toppings. “Lite on the dressing”, of course!

Marinated olives Firewood Cafe
Marinated olives. Complimentary.

Telephone wires, 17th Street

Tangle of telephone wires over 17th Street at dawn. Mornings in San Francisco can create the best colors. This subdued purple was absolutely beautiful.

Toro sangria – Toro Salao

Posted on by
Reply

Project 365: Day 112

Wow, it’s been a long day! We’re finally in Dublin, but we spent most of the day waiting in London Heathrow Airport. That’s a damn large airport! Once we cleared customs, we probably spent 20 minutes walking to Terminal 1. They do things differently at that airport. Gates aren’t announced until about 30 minutes prior to boarding so you have to just wait there and keep checking the screens until your flight information is updated. I guess it makes sense to do it that way to accommodate for gate changes, but it just seems weird not knowing the gate number beforehand so you can at least be in the general vicinity. Once we finally got our gate number, we had to book it to get to what seemed like another terminal. We even had to go through another set of security!

Anyway, we’re just chilling in the room right now and drinking cocktails with vodka I had brought from the States. We’re gonna head out for dinner soon, then have drinks at Pantibar afterward since it’s somewhat nearby. Ryan and David arrived earlier today so they’ve had a little time to look around before we got in. It’s raining a little bit outside, but we’re not gonna let that put a damper on our spirits!

Toro sangria Toro Salao

Red wine with Bacardi rum, brandy, orange liquor, lemon-lime juice, orange juice and mixed fruits. Media jarra (small pitcher) $24
Toro Salao, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO

This sangria was very tasty! It had a deep, rich flavor and was the perfect beverage for our last morning in San Juan!

Old San Juan Cemetery
Looking towards the Cementerio de San Juan (Old San Juan Cemetery) and the Castillo San Felipe del Morro (Morro Castle).

Viejo San Juan panini – Cafe Cuatro Sombras

Posted on by
Reply

Viejo San Juan panini Cafe Cuatro Sombras
Chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, and recao and cilantrillo mayonnaise on a multigrain bread with a touch of cilantrillo oil. Served with potato chips. $6.75
Cafe Cuatro Sombras, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO

This panini totally hit the spot before a heading out on a walking tour of Old San Juan. The cafe is super cute and the service was very friendly.

Lamb of God statue San Juan
“Lamb of God” statue located in the Plaza del Quinto Centenario. The other lamb statue opposite this one has the animal laying down.

Cuarto Sombras panini – Cafe Cuatro Sombras

Posted on by
Reply

Project 365: Day 111

I’m at SFO International Terminal A with Hubbs and waiting to board our Virgin Atlantic flight to LHR. Yippee! The flight is 9+ hours long so I’m gonna have plenty of movie-watching time. I’m SO glad it’s a direct flight. We arrive in London tomorrow morning but have to wait at the airport for our afternoon connection to Dublin on British Midland International. SO excited!

Cafe Cuatro Sombras panini
Black forest ham, lettuce, tomato, recao and cilantrillo mayo with a garlic and cheese spread on an olive oil bread. Served with potato chips. $7.50
Cafe Cuatro Sombras, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO

Leave it to a cafe to deliver some of the better food we had in Old San Juan. This panini was delicious. Otherwise, San Juan was a food bust for the most part.

Iced lattes Cafe Cuatro Sombras
16 ounce iced latte. $3.75

Corned beef – Local Mission Eatery

Posted on by
Reply

Project 365: Day 110

Argh, I totally don’t wan’t to be at work today! It’s kind of a waste to work on a Monday since I’m leaving for Europe tomorrow. My flight isn’t until 4pm, but I took the entire day off because I just want time to relax and make sure that I’ve packed everything I need. I tried searching for my electrical outlet adaptor earlier but I couldn’t find it. Oh well, I know that Hubbs is bringing one. Why aren’t outlets standardized across all countries, anyway? Geez!

Corned beef Local Mission Eatery
With poached eggs and beer braised cabbage. $12
Local Mission Eatery, San Francisco CA

Corned beef Local Mission Eatery
The corned beef was super tender and flavorful and I loved the sourness of the beer braised cabbage. The eggs were poached medium, as requested by David, lol! I don’t know why people even order poached eggs if they don’t like them runny! They’re missing out. 🙂

Rudolph Valentino house 1926, Roosevelt Way

Former Rudolph Valentino house, Roosevelt Way. I’ve walked by this beautiful house in the Upper Market Terrace neighborhood many times, but didn’t know that it had previously belonged to the silent film star, Rudolph Valentino, in 1926 according to the plaque in front. Apparently, that’s also the year he died. 😦

Lounge roll – Dragonfly

Posted on by
Reply

Lounge roll Dragonfly
Crab, scallion, cucumber with tuna, hamachi and avocado “lounging” on top. $16
Dragonfly, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO

Ugh, I guess it’s my own fault thinking that I could get decent sushi in Old San Juan. This was dry, sad and the sushi rice had a weird texture and flavor. You think an island would have fresh seafood, but that wasn’t the case.

Morro Castle San Juan
Morro Castle. That was some walk all the way up to the Castle! We didn’t go in, but it looked pretty impressive from the outside.

Crab noodle salad – Dragonfly

Posted on by
Reply

Project 365: Day 109

It’s finally hitting me that I’m leaving for Europe in a couple of days! I’m still doing all my laundry and planning all my outfits, hehe. What sucks is that it’s going to be raining the entire time that we’re there. It’ll be fun traveling Hubbs. This will only be his second time outside the US. After this trip, I’ll have been to 20 countries. I know that’s not a lot, but I’m still happy that I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to travel.

Crab noodle salad Dragonfly
Crab and seaweed salad tossed with glass noodles and chili garlic sauce. $10
Dragonfly, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO

Another disappointment. There was almost no crab in there, and the seaweed made everything too slimey. I thought maybe the glass noodles would balance out the slime, but they didn’t. Yuck!

Crecimiento Monument San Juan

Crecimiento Monument along the Paseo de la Princesa. These spike-like sculptures erupting from the ground look dramatic against the old city walls.

Pork and amarillo dumplings – Dragonfly

Posted on by
Reply

Pork and amarillo dumplings Dragonfly
Steamed dumplings with citrus mojo. $14
Dragonfly, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO

Ew, these were gross! The dumpling wrappers were thick, dry and chewy. It was difficult to taste the filling because the wrapper was SO starchy. Thank god for dipping sauces. I’m guessing amarillo refers to some type of yellow chili pepper.

Frozen pina colada

This was a frozen pina colada we had puchased from a stand in the Plaza de Armas right before Rick Santorum and his family paraded through for a campaign rally. It was surreal to see him randomly in Old San Juan!

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum on the campaign trail!