With my vehicle fixed (the fuel pump had died), I headed back up to San Francisco for work today. Papa brought in a box of macarons from Paulette (437 Hayes St., San Francisco, CA 94102 - (415) 864-2400) which we cut up and shared. They were good, but I didn't think they were worth $1.70 each.

For lunch, I met with a couple of the guys from Foodoro at South Beach Cafe (800 Embarcadero St, San Francisco, CA‎ - (415) 974-1115‎) and ordered an Antonio Pizza (tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, and prosciutto).

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What I Ate: February 12, 2009 (Paulette, South Beach Cafe, 4-5-6 Restaurant)

Since my car was in the shop and we had Moovers come and do a moving estimate this morning, Tina worked from home. So, the two of us went over to Alcapulco Cantina & Restaurant (1299 Lawrence Expy, Santa Clara, CA‎ - (408) 249-2001‎) a block from my house. We ordered a huge bowl of tortilla soup (which was delicious).

I also ordered a platter of chicken taquitos, beef tamale, and chicken tamale. The bowl of soup was a lot larger than we expected and after sharing that and splitting a tamale, we were full.

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What I Ate: February 11, 2009 (Alcapulco)

From a wall of one of the buildings at the Getty Center in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California.

Handheld, 1/2500 sec at f/8.0 on ISO 800, 70-200mm f/2.8 lens

My car's fuel pump died while I was picking up Cliff to go up to the City for work. I waited over an hour for the tow truck to come and tow me to a mechanic. By the time I was done discussing the problem with the mechanic, it was close to 1:30pm. Tina had gone to lunch with her coworkers at Neto Sausage (3499 The Alameda, Santa Clara, CA‎ - (408) 296-0818‎) and only ate half her sandwich. When she went to pick me up from the mechanics, she left me with her half sandwich which I ate after driving home (having taken her car after dropping her back off at work).

For dinner, we swung by Lawrence Plaza (3561 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA) which used to be a CompUSA but is now a Korean Food Court. I ordered something I hadn't had before - Squid Ddokboggie (rice cakes with squid) - from a shop called Dishes.

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What I Ate: February 10, 2009 (Neto Sausage Factory, Dishes, BBQ Town)

Papa felt like getting a soup and sandwich from Caffe Centro (102 S Park St, San Francisco, CA‎ - (415) 882-1500‎), so we went back. I decided to get a Caprese Sandwich with Proscuitto.

For dinner, I made a large arugula salad for Tina and I to share.

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What I Ate: February 9, 2009 (Caffe Centro)

For lunch, Tina and I went to Hobee's (1875 S Bascom Ave # 190, Campbell, CA‎ - (408) 369-0575‎) in The Pruneyard shopping complex in Campbell, California. I ordered what I normally order when I go to Hobee's (which is a little less than once a year) - the Stanford Cardinal Omelet which contains chicken, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, spinach and cheese, and is topped with tomatillo sauce.

The omelet comes with either hash browns or a piece of blueberry coffeecake. I wanted hash browns, but Hobee's coffeecake is so good, that I ordered a piece of the coffeecake to have a couple bites of and save for a future date. (Probably tomorrow's dessert.) Tina and I both had a few bites from the coffee cake.

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What I Ate: February 8, 2009 (Hobee's)

The Alaska Railroad takes passengers from Seward to Fairbanks (through Anchorage and Denali National Park). Standing between cars (unlike in New York City, it's not illegal to do so) allows you to photograph unobstructed (and also shots like this involving leaning out of the train). It's hard to stay out there for too long because (even in the summer) it gets cold. I remember that I was bundled up pretty well but my eyes were watering up from the chilling wind after a few minutes. For this shot, I used a fast shutter speed to minimize blurring from the train's movement (probably around 30 miles per hour during this shot).

Handheld, 1/2000 sec at f/5.6 on ISO 200, 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6 lens

I drove out to Stockton, California this morning to spend the day at CQB City (one of the the world's largest indoor airsoft arenas). At the start of the 1 hour 45 minute drive from Santa Clara, I swung into a McDonald's and ate a Sausage McMuffin with Egg, a hash brown, and Hi-C.

Lunch was provided for free at CQB City by Gamepod (an airsoft supply company in Antioch, California). It was barbequed tri-tip sandwiches. The beef was way overcooked, but given that it was free, and I had been pretty much running and shooting for three hours straight, I devoured the sandwich. I also had a small bag of corn chips and a Pepsi with the sandwich.

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What I Ate: February 7, 2009 (McDonald's)

I almost forgot to eat lunch. I whipped up some ramen (cooked with two eggs, one poached, the other beaten into the spicy soup) for a quick lunch.

For dinner, Tina had trouble deciding what to eat (and whether to eat), so I heated up a couple pieces of the pork from two nights ago as well as the last bit of potatoes.

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What I Ate: February 6, 2009 (Tong Soon Garden)

Having heard good things about Jollibee's fried chicken, I took Harold to the Jollibee (447 Great Mall Dr, Milpitas, CA‎ - (408) 719-1344) at Great Mall in Milpitas. I warned Harold before hand that I hadn't really heard anything about the flavor of the chicken, but everyone mentions how crunchy it is. I personally don't care if the texture of the breading is super crunchy or not (like KFC's Original Style) but I do want the chicken to be flavorful. I ordered two pieces of ChickenJoy (what they call their chicken) and side of buttered corn and French fries.

The chicken was quite crispy, but the crispy layer was so thin that there really wasn't much crunch after initially breaking through the thin skin. It also didn't really have much taste. The flavor can best be compared to pork rinds. The flesh of the chicken itself was also unflavorful. It was extremely tender (except for the thinner parts which were overcooked and dry) and super juicy. The fried skin must act as an amazing thermal insulator because both Harold and I were burning our mouths with the chicken even ten to fifteen minutes after we got our food. The only way I could get over the blandness was to dunk the chicken into the gravy which came with the meal. The gravy was excellent.

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What I Ate: February 5, 2009 (Jollibee)