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@Joe Schmoe,

Yup, we live in Alhambra too. BTW, agree with your recommendations on Tam O’ Shanter & King Taco. My family's been going to the Tam (aka "Great Scot") since I could hold a fork. I thought you were a tad hard on the Pantry, though. Most of the lunch/dinner menu's pretty bad, I agree, but breakfast is pretty darned good. Great place to visit just for the history, as you said.

Astrid-

You said it! There is something about the 5 that just cries out for speeding. it. I am a fairly conservative driver, but for some reason the 5 turns me into a reckless driver. Even as a crazy teenager, I never broke the 100mph mark, but the very first time I drove from LA to San Diego I hit 100 somewhere between San Juan Capistrano and Oceanside and just kept going until I reached San Diego. Of course, I had an 8:30 court appearance in San Diego, and had only made it to Irvine by 7:00 (I left the house at 5:00, but traffic was that bad) -- but I arrived in San Diego by 8:00! During rush hour! It did require three quarters of a tank of gas, but it was worth it.

The same was true on our last trip to SF. As soon as we passed the exit to Tulare, ZOOM, 110 MPH. My wife was pregnant at the time (!) but she still could not resist cracking three figures. The whole trip only took us four hours.

Interstingly, driving at 100 mph isn't really that fun. It doesn't feel much faster than 60, but any mistake at 100 will kill you, so it's really a stupid thing to do when you think about it objectively. But something about the 5 just makes people go fast.

Interstingly, driving at 100 mph isn’t really that fun. It doesn’t feel much faster than 60, but any mistake at 100 will kill you, so it’s really a stupid thing to do when you think about it objectively. But something about the 5 just makes people go fast.

I don't know, 80mph feels too fast for me, even on 5. I am an uber-conservative driver.

I don’t know, 80mph feels too fast for me, even on 5.

Are you over 65, Peter P? ;-)

Are you over 65, Peter P?

Huh?

I hate driving on 5 for the reason that people like to go so fast. My truck and the wife's 91 Civic will go 75-80, and that's about all they will do. That seems fast enough to me, but when we get on 5, there's always some dude in a bimmer or vette' driving 100 that pulls up on your ass.
I can recall the last time I went to Vegas and at 10:00 PM, there was some dude in a minivan who pulled right up on my bumper- almost touching it. There was a truck next to me so I couldn't get over, He starts to flash his lights, honk, swerve around. I get out of the way, and because I was tired and irratated gave him the finger. Anyhow, he speeds off. That was the end of that.. until I pulled up into a gas station at the next exit. There he was! The guy looked like Coolio and had a van full of kids. So he gets out of the van and walks over to me and asks "what they hell that was all about." I kind of told him exactly what I thought of the situation and he shouldn't be driving around like an idiot with 4 kids in the van, but covered my ass by saying that we both had been acting stupid. He agreed.. walked away. I continued my trip to Vegas and had a great time.

Are you over 65, Peter P?
Huh?

Just messin' with ya. Most older drivers tend to be slower drivers.

We are vegetarians and health freaks, so we voluntarily give up lots of joy of eating at fantastic restaurants here so as to keep SFWoman happy (you are not subsidizing us! and we are in the same darn shoes). :-)

Our favorite restaurant that we visit at least 3 times a week is Sweet Tomatoes (not to be confused with fresh choice, fresh choie is anything but fresh). They have this most amazingly natural and delicious chicken noodle soup, plus 7 other selections of soups every day. Their salad materials are the most varied and freshest in town, we would much rather eat out there than preparing at home, it's actually cheaper. The best part of it is the price, 7.29 for lunch and 7.99 for dinner (same menu except that you get free cookies for dinner too), where else can you find all-you-can-eat fresh salad and soup at such a jaw-dropping price?

In the rare circumstances that we break down from our vegetarian code of life and crave for sushi, we like to go to Fuki Sushi in Palo Alto to pig out. Another place that we like a lot is Tofu house next to Fuku Sushi, the Kimchee Tofu pot is to die for.

Pluto's on University Avenue is also a good vegetarian choice. But they usually put in too much seasoning and unlike Sweet Tomatoes, we can do salad exactly the way we want it.

We find the term "vegetarian dishes" misleading in most restaurants, and they are just a marketing scheme. The hardcore vegetarians like us believe that vegetables must remain uncooked to qualify for the term "vegetarian", because Vit C is entirely destroyed when temperature is above 60 C, so cooked vegetables are just a bunch of fibre with little nutrition left.

If anyone has some good vegetarian restaurants to recommend, please do.

I stay on the right lane on 5. They can pass me if they want.

People should get a pilot license if they want to be that fast.

In the rare circumstances that we break down from our vegetarian code of life and crave for sushi, we like to go to Fuki Sushi in Palo Alto to pig out.

Try Kaygetsu in the Sharon Height shopping mall, it is better than Fuki. It is my current favorite restaurant.

For Americans to stay fit, we need to eat less, much less!

One thing I observed in Japan while living there was, people barely eat anything! Japan's air is quite polluted compared to US standard, their water is not the highest grade in the world, and the vegetables they take pride in is kinda of a laughing quality compared to California-grown stuff.

But, on NHK and in real life, you see sooooo many Japanese old men and women in their 80s and 90s still working in the fields or living independently on their own. The biggest contrast is, there are no obese seniors. Obesity is a self-inflcted curse. We are what we eat, and it takes about 7 years of replenishment of cells to get rid of every single bit of poisonous stuff we take into our body. My wife and I are determined that we will stay off pills for as long as we can when we grow old.

Americans eat way too much super-sized stuff, even the portions served at restaurants are way too big. The dessert is also way too sweet, the sugar level is something that I can still not get used to even after living here for almost 16 years.

BA is quite health conscious, comparatively speaking. One thing I can't stand visiting the South is, there are so many obese people, I just can't imagine living among them, it will be too depressing. Letting one's health go is the most pathetic things in life.

Hey driving too fast is just plain dumb. And my understanding is, if you get a traffic bully, slow down and it really confuses them and they find someone else to race with.

I agree. I try to go with the flow of the traffic and stay on the right side unless I am passing.

Okay, okay, I will slow down. Gosh, you are making us speeders feel guilty.

One thing I observed in Japan while living there was, people barely eat anything!

Really? I always gain weight going to Japan.

Japan’s air is quite polluted compared to US standard, their water is not the highest grade in the world, and the vegetables they take pride in is kinda of a laughing quality compared to California-grown stuff.

Huh? Their vegetables are so nice compared to ours. They are quite expensive though. Their meats and seafoods are superior, although I would not say that they necessarily have better sushi. California has pretty good raw fish here.

Americans eat way too much super-sized stuff, even the portions served at restaurants are way too big. The dessert is also way too sweet, the sugar level is something that I can still not get used to even after living here for almost 16 years.

Very true. I find appertizers bigger than what entrees should be.

IMO, desserts should not be much sweeter than a ripe apple.

Peter P,

well, I stayed with host families while studying there, so what I observed could be more down-to-earth type of Japanese lifestyle. The nice vegetables are all touched up (somebody spent tons of time scrubbing and polishing them). I am not kidding, I visited an eggplant farm, and you can't imgaine how much labor went into making the eggplants look good, it is part of their packaging culture, they package everything up. If the California farmers spend just as much time scrubbing, washing and polishing, ours will look far better.

Only the kobe beef though, the best average beef should be from Australia I heard. Japanese seafood especially those from Hokkaido is outstanding, and cheap too. We had a dinner last year in West Shinjuku pigging out on seafood flown in from Hokkaido in the morning, the total cost was only USD$65 for 4. I don't think we can get this kind of deal here in BA.

A watermelon literally would cost $80 (at that time). Melons were so expensive and hard to come by that they would gift wrap them and sell them at a very high price at the department stores.

I saw $200 melons (silly) but there were also regular-priced ones. Their grapes are huge.

Only the kobe beef though, the best average beef should be from Australia I heard.

I still think that US has better beef than Australia.

Japanese seafood especially those from Hokkaido is outstanding, and cheap too. We had a dinner last year in West Shinjuku pigging out on seafood flown in from Hokkaido in the morning, the total cost was only USD$65 for 4. I don’t think we can get this kind of deal here in BA.

I agree. It will cost you more than $65 a person here. I believe you can buy huge Hokkaido scallops online.

SQT,

grow your own food. We grow our own tomatoes and eggplants in the backyard, they don't take up much space at all. When the tomatoes are in season, the yield is so high that we can hardly finish them all. So we have to come up with all sorts of recipes for tomatoes.

The space required is probably around 2x2 feet for enough tomatoes to go around a family of 4. Now is the season to plant it.

Sugar is the bane of my existance. I wish I could kill the taste buds that find sugar soooooo appealing. I can live without coffee and alcohol, but sugar is so hard to give up!

No problem, you can have my sugar too. :)

astrid Says:

"I hope you’re being sarcastic. Lots of reports about SUV safety have already come out. They’re generally no safer for their occupants compared to large sedans and wagons, and much more dangerous for everyone else."

If you look at the raw death numbers SUVs have about the same number of deaths per mile driven as cars, but when you pull out all the deaths from people that drive way too fast and roll over and the many off roading accidents where going off a cliff will kill 7 kids SUVs are actually a lot safer than cars. If anyone has a basic understanding of physics they will know that the bigger and heavier the vehicle the safer it is (a big rig is even safer than a SUV). If a Honda crosses the line and hits a SUV head on the people in the Honda will die just like when the SUV crossed the line and drives head on in to the Honda. I don't ride a motorcycle any more but still drive my little convertible every day it is not raining knowing that if a big SUV (or Muni bus) rams me I'll probably die...

If anyone has a basic understanding of physics they will know that the bigger and heavier the vehicle the safer it is (a big rig is even safer than a SUV).

Very true.

Excellent points! I always wonder why there are rich idiots who buy big SUV/trucks for their little princesses. That’s just a recipe for disaster.

If they are rich enough they should hire drivers for their little princesses. It is much too dangerous for teenagers to drive.

Just remember that well over 80% of people categorize themselves as "above average drivers".

Just remember that well over 80% of people categorize themselves as “above average drivers”.

I am definitely a below-average driver because driving is so stressful to me.

I don’t ride a motorcycle any more but still drive my little convertible every day it is not raining knowing that if a big SUV (or Muni bus) rams me I’ll probably die…

My wife drivers her little TT Roadster to work most days. I'd like to say I don't worry, despite the myriad airbags and such. I guess I studied way too much physics and statistics in school.

we are like Peter P and sushi about plants, obsessed

Find a way to grow sushi and we can all do it together. :)

My wife drivers her little TT Roadster to work most days. I’d like to say I don’t worry, despite the myriad airbags and such. I guess I studied way too much physics and statistics in school.

She needs an A8L, buy her that!

And I have an Aprilia Scarabeo I used to love to ride to work when we lived on the Peninsula (I don't take it on the highway even though it's hw legal). But I can't bring myself to brave the Marin County Morons that inhabit this end of the bay. People up here don't seem to mind so much who they kill. People up here just generally aren't very nice, in fact.

Randy, I am sure you know enough to avoid anything without a steel cage and six airbags. :)

Randy, I am sure you know enough to avoid anything without a steel cage and six airbags. :)

If I had my druthers, my wife would drive an M1 Abrams to work. Then she wouldn't need any airbags.

In the back woods of PA, there are alot of DUI deaths on the two lane roads. People are more aggressive drivers today.

I avoid two lane roads like plague. Divided highways are dangerous enough.

driver in front of you is crazy—get away from the car.

Then you'll have to avoid driving on any roadway here in Southern Marin.

Don’t even get me started on the loss of manners in our society……….

In Japan, people drive like me. :)

Always extend courtesy and the world will be better tomorrow.

When I was growing up, we had 3 gardens. Being that we had 15 acres, these were quite large. We grew Green beans, okra, squash, tomatoes, bell peppers, watermelon, greens, potatoes... and so on. Basically, almost all of our vegetables were grown in the garden. My dad was in and out of work throghout my childhood, so these were grown as actual substance, not as a hobbie. It really helped us out financially.

Anybody like Persian food????
Shamshiri in Glendale is pretty fab.
We tend to take out from there. Try their Fesonjon. It's like a mole' sause but it's made from pomegranite and puree walnuts. MMMMMMM GOOD
We order it on the side and get chicken kebob with basmati rice.
Must have Mostokhiar....a combo of yougurt, dill,and cucumber.
Tadik is a crunchy rice that they will only give you if you ask for it...They will smile and say "You know tadik? How you know tadik?" B/K only real Persians know tadik...and I am obviously not Persian! :)

Owneroc,

If you are OK with Indian Veg food, then I can give you a few suggestions that serve far better food than the buffets do.

Try Chaat Paradise on Xsection of Grant and El Camino. It's hidden in a corner befind Burger King. They server Noth Indian and West Indian food mostly. Madras Cafe on El Camino and Sarvana Bhavan on Mary in Sunnyvale, server good South Indian food.

For Indian Sweets, nothing comes close to Rangoli, befind Fish Market, next to Chicago Pizza on El Camino, near Lawrence.

If you are OK with Indian Veg food, then I can give you a few suggestions that serve far better food than the buffets do.

I love Indian vegetarian dishes, especially anything with cauliflower and pea! I like Indian Sweets too. :)

astrid and SQT,

I am a retard when it comes to growing plants, but I manage tomatoes alright, easiest to grow. I tried growing a grapevine, took me 7 years and nothing came of it yet.

I got my seeds from OSH, and picked the cherry and grape tomatoes. The smaller types are easier to grow than the larger ones, and taste better too. We actually have very good soil in California, and the weather is perfect for tomatoes, which accounts for the unusually high yield. You put the seeds in the pot, let them grow to about 5-6 inches, then tranplant them to the yard, make sure you space them out a bit. Then you do your daily watering, give a bit of a fertilizer booster, then you will have about 5 months of harvest time all the way from June to Nov.

I don't even bother to keep them up with wooden sticks, just gently let them lie down on the ground. Some get eaten by bugs, but the yield is so high that you don't even need to worry about loss of crop. Enjoy.

Best Indian Food in BA

It's a little known secret. The best - and authentic as well - food from North India is not found in Indian restaurants in Bay Area. You have to go to Pakistani restaurants for that.

Shalimar has opened a new branch in Sunnyvale on El Camino. Awesome "tandoori" dishes like Chiken Tikka etc. Shaan on Stevens Creek and Lawrence is good too - I have never eaten a better Beef Jalfrezie anywhere else. Not much point for veggie folks to visit these.