Noodle Wave (Mckinney, TX)

We finally tried this place the other day. The place is nicely decorated but I wished the food was better. We had the following dishes:

1) Hot Wings - $4.50 - OK
2) Satay Chicken - $6.95 - OK. The chicken is a little dry.
3) Papaya Salad with Soft Shell Crab - $10.95 - A little too sour and the taste is not uniform.
4) Green Curry - $9.95 - Just Ok
5) Pad Thai - $11.95 - Just OK.
6) Banana Ice Cream - $6.50 - Just OK. A little pricey.

Website:
www.noodlewave.com

Address:
2775 S. Central Expressway #180, Mckinney, TX 75070

Phone:
(972) 542-4542

VL Rating: OK (for food), Excellence (for Environment)


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Canton Chinese Restaurant (Richardson, TX)

This place is always packed every times we passed by. One must think the food is good. Well it's probaly true for other places but I'm not sure about this one. We tried it 2 times already. The first time, the food wasn't that good. Just ok. We thought we might have ordered the wrong dishes. So we gave it a second time after a few months. The food is still OK. Nothing is improved or scored better than the last time we tried. It's just OK if you're lazy to cook and want some Chinese food. They do have some Vietnamese dishes but we did not try them. What's the chance they can do Vietnamese dishes better than Vietnamese since Garland is right there.

Address:

400 N Greenville Ave, Ste 25, Richardson, TX 75081


Phone:
(972) 238-1863

VL Rating: OK


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Legoland California (Carlsbad, CA)

 

WOW. This place is totally fun for kids. My 5-year old boy had a blast. But not so for my 2 year old girl. I can tell she was a little bored. There was not much things she can do there.  He can do most of the rides here with me or my wife going with him. The coolest attraction has to be the "Miniland USA". Both my children enjoy this attraction. We spend at least 1 hour here. They just run up and down and around.

If you can come during the weekday, do so because weekend is way too many people and the lines were pretty long for the rides. We bought the 2 day ticket and went there both during a Sunday and Thursday. On the Thursday, the lines were roughly around 15 min. max v.s. 30-60 min (or more) during Sunday.

Parking: $12 (for cars)

Website:
http://california.legoland.com/

Address:
1 Legoland Dr, Carlsbad, CA 92008


Phone:
(760) 918-5346


VL Rating: Excellence (for kids 5 or above but probably not for teenager)



































































































































































































































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San Diego Zoo Safari Park (Escondido, CA)

This Zoo/Safari has a potential but needs lots of improvements comparing to the San Diego Zoo. First thing come to mind, trees and shades. Walking under the sun is not fun (for me at least). They do have trees but not big and shaded like San Diego Zoo. They do have very unique design. There is a very high structure where you can have a very good view of the park. You can walk up or take an elevator. A zipline called "Flightline Safari" that gives you a different experience of the park for $70. A little pricey I think. Segway tour called "Rolling Safari" for $80. And many other options to choose from including the "Caravan Safari" for $90 where you get up close and personal to the animals. If you do everything that they have, you would be broke.

So if you you just want to see animals, I would recommend the San Diego Zoo over this one. Plus, this park is located in Escondido, CA NOT in San Diego.

Parking: $10

Website:
http://sdzsafaripark.org

Address:
15500 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, California 92027-7017


Phone:
760-747-8702


VL Rating: Good

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Nam Hua Vietnamese Cuisine (Garland, TX)

I always pass by this restaurant during my trip to Garland but never had a chance to try it until today. It was around 5:30pm. As usual, my wife and I peeked inside the restaurant to see if there were people eating there. We do this every times we want to try a new place. It was empty. We wondered why. We thought about eating some place else but decided to go to the supermarket in SaiGon Mall and do some grocery shopping first and decide what to eat later. When we were done shopping at around 6:30pm, we gave it another peek and this time, there were a few tables with people inside. We decided to give it a try. After sitting down, the waiter gave us a menu and on the back with a list of "Mon Nhau" written in Vietnamese only. I was trying to translate the dishes to my wife (who is Chinese) but she couldn't decide what to order since she couldn't visualize how they look and more importantly how they taste. The waitress somehow noticed that and brought us 2 photo albums of the dishes. Within 5 minutes, we knew exactly what to order.

We ordered the following:
1) Oc Huong Nuong (Grilled escargots) - $16.95 - Great dish. I haven't had this good snail dish since the last time I went back to Viet Nam in 2003.
2) Chem Chep Nuong Bo (Grilled Mussels) $12.95 - Good but not great.
3) Bo Bop Thau (Underdone Beef Mixed with Shredde Banana Flowers) - $14.95 - Great beef salad.
4) Hu Tieu Nam Vang - $7.50 - for our kids. - OK but skip if you don't have young kids who cannot eat "Mon Nhau"
5) Cha Gio - 3 rolls for $2.50 - Best I have ever had in Dallas. My 5 year old loves this dish.

We did see few tables bringing their own beer to eat with Mon Nhau and a few tables eating hot pots.
They have Goat hot pot, Seafood hot pot, Thai style hot pot and others. No comment on those since I have not tried them

Price Range: $-$$

Website:
http://www.namhua.net/

Address:
3112 N Jupiter Rd # 305, Garland, TX 75044
(in the same Saigon Mall Shopping area)

Phone: (972) 414-8638

Notes:
- Mon Nhau (food meant to be eaten with alcohol which include
  and not limited to salad, seafood, wild boar, frog etc...) and Lau (Hot Pots)
- The menu does not have pictures of the food and some do not
  have English description. Ask the waiter/waitress for the picture
  album and the take out menu. On the take out menu, "Mon Nhau"
  is listed under "Mon Dac San/House Specialties" and
  Goi/House Specialty Salads.
- They do have a long list on Mon Chay (Vegetarian dishes).
  I have not tried them so do not know if they're good.
- All of the items (# 1 to 3) above do NOT come with rice so you
  may need to order fried rice or noodle if you're not used to eat without them.

VL Rating: Excellence


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How to Unlock Your Cell Phone for FREE?

I have been trying to prepare for my trip to Vietnam in December and after doing some research online regarding cell phone usage in Vietnam I found out that if I have an unlocked phone, I can get a prepaid SIM card and use it while in Vietnam. The only problem was my phone is an AT&T phone. I did some search and found conflicting information regarding unlocking the cell phone. But I did found a forum that people in there suggesting to contact AT&T directly to get the unlock code. I was a little skeptical but tried any way.

To my surprise, AT&T people gave me the unlock code after verifying a few information including IMEI number.

Here is the instruction they gave me together with the unlock code;

1 Power off device and remove AT&T SIM card.

2 Insert card from another wireless carrier.

3 Power on the handset.

4 Press the left arrow (<) button.

5 Press the star (*) button twice.

6 Press the left arrow button. Display indicates ME Lock.

Wait approximately three seconds.

The display indicates Network and a picture of a closed lock.

7 Press Yes. The display indicates Unlock?

8 Press Yes. The display indicates Enter NCK.

9 Enter the SIM unlock code.

10 Press Yes. The handset displays Network and a picture of an open lock for three seconds and then reverts to the main display.

11 The handset is successfully unlocked.

I’ll have to do it in Vietnam when I get the new prepaid SIM card.

I’ll  give an update after my trip.

Note:

To look up your IMEI number enter the following keys on your cell phone keypad: *# 0 6 #

Daikokuya (Los Angeles, CA)

4-star rating from 2800+ reviews on Yelp can't be wrong. The ramen was THE best I have ever had. We were a little surprised to see that the place was kind of old and un-Japanese neatness. There were a bench, and mix and match chairs in the waiting area. We ordered 2 Daikoku Ramen bowls one with the 'richer kotteri flavor' and one without. The taste is basically the same except the 'richer kotteri flavor' bowl has more fat? I would go with regular bowl next time.

Website:
www.dkramen.com

Address:
327 E 1st St
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Phone:
(213) 626-1680


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Kitima Extraordinary Thai (San Diego, CA)

We went to La Jolla beach and had an unplanned lunch here. There was no one in the restaurant when we come but soon after we sit down, a few other families came in. We sit on the outdoor sitting area which was kind of nice to be able to see the ocean in the distance. Surprisingly, it was not bad at all. We ordered Sidewalk Noodles (fat rice noodle), Naked Salmon and Crying Shrimp rice dishes. Great service and uniquely decorated.

Address:
8008 Girard Ave #170
San Diego, CA 92131

Phone:
(858) 551-9999

VL Rating: OK (for food), Good (for service and environment)


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Pho Convoy Noodle Restaurant (San Diego, CA)

We went there for dinner during our last trip to San Diego. The place was packed. We had Pho and the ultimate bun combination "Bun 7 Mon". Pho was ok but Bun was good. It was a little scary when they bring out the Bun disk. It was big. But somehow, they all find their way in my belly except for the grill chicken. The Grill chicken was not up to standard. All other grill meat were good including the egg rolls were good.

We also had a Cold Cut Sandwich to go. One word of advice: SKIP. This is not the Banh Mi that you would expect from a Vietnamese Banh Mi shop. Way off.

Website:
http://www.phoconvoy.com

Address:
4647 Convoy Street
San Diego, California 92111

Phone:
(858) 277-0133

VL Rating: OK


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Yakitori Yakyudori and Ramen (San Diego, CA)

We had dinner here once during our 1 week trip in San Diego, CA. My wife found this place on Yelp with 4-star rating. We had spicy miso ramen, Fried rice and a bunch of skewers. The ramen and fried rice was just ok. The skewers were on the skimmy side for the price and did not taste up to Asian standard. The quail eggs were especially bad. I never knew quail eggs could have a bad egg taste.

Address:
4898 Convoy St, Ste 101
San Diego, CA 92111

Phone:
(858) 268-2888

VL Rating: OK (for spicy miso ramen), Bad (for skewers)


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Anthony's Fish Grotto (San Diego, CA)

We read it on the travel magazine that it was voted Best of Seafood restaurant in San Diego in 2010. I wondered who did the voting after trying the food here. One word of advice...SKIP. The food was barely OK and the outdoor dining area was extremely hot. No air conditioner or fan and no service.

Note:
This place is very close to the USS Midway Museum.

Website:
http://www.gofishanthonys.com/grotto.html

Address:
1360 North Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92101

Phone:
(619) 232-5103

VL Rating: Poor


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Your Vote for:

Dumpling Inn (San Diego, CA)

My wife had a crave for dumpling when we were there for a week in San Diego, CA. We found this place on the internet with good reviews and gave it a try. Well we were a little disappointed. The dumpling was just ok. Nothing like what we had in Flushing, NY at Joe's Shanghai.

Website:
http://dumplinginnmenu.info/

Address:
4619 Convoy St # F
San Diego, CA 92111

Phone:
(858) 268-9638

VL Rating: OK


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Bonnie Ruth's Bistro (Allen, TX)

This is a nice restaurant in Watters Creek Allen, TX. the service was great. There is a good size outdoor seating area. I was not impressed with the food at all.
We had :
1) Calamari - didn't taste like what we had in other restaurant. The taste and texture were a little like imitation calamari. The waiter was nice enough to take that back and did not charge us for this dish.
2) Duck leg - OK. Need a little more flavor.
3) Ahi tuna - OK. I have had better at Rockfish
4) Mussels - Good. This one is actually better than most other non-Asian restaurants that I had tried.
5) Escagot - Bad. Did not taste like fresh snail.
6) Coconut and pineapple cake - OK
7) Creme Brulee - My wife loved it but I didn't enjoy it. They served it cold.

Website:
http://www.bonnieruths.com/ALLEN%20LOCATION.htm

Address:
916 Garden Park Dr. Allen, TX 75013

Phone:
214-383-6777

VL Rating: OK (for food), Excellence (for service and environment)


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Sammy's Woodfired Pizza (Carlsbad, CA)

Have you ever tried duck tacos before? You should try it at this place. I never know such a combination would work so well. We had Duck Tacos and Hawaiian Pizza and they were both good. The place is very nicely decorated and the service was good. The price is little on the high end. Duck Tacos - $9.95 and Pizza - $11.95. Enough for 2 persons but you won't have left overs.

This place is close to an Outlets and Legoland California.

Website:
http://www.sammyspizza.com/

Address:
5970 Avenida Encinas
Carlsbad, CA 92008

Phone:
(760) 438-1212

VL Rating: Good


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A Delight Of France (Escondido, CA)

We went there one morning for breakfast during our one week stay at Escondido, CA. The food was just ok. The espresso wasn't good at all. There was not much available in the display except for some croissants, chocolate cookies and some other. They didn't have napoleon cake. I was hoping they had it. We ordered 2 breakasts (french toast+Egg+Cheese+Ham and Croissants) which came out hot and a chocolate cookie and a sweet bread.

Website:
http://www.adelightoffrance.com

Address:‎
126 W Grand Ave
Escondido, CA 92025

Phone:
(760) 746-2644

VL Rating: OK


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Listerine (Original Formula)

I get canker sores at least once a year. Every times it happens, I have no desire to eat food because every times I chew, it hurts. I accidentally found out that the original version of the Listerine mouthwash actually help speed up the healing process. Give it a try. It sure beats those products that are specifically designed to treat canker sores in both price and effectiveness. It also kills germs and get rid of your bad breath. Great product.

Note that other Listerine flavors do not give the same results. Only the original Listerine works for me.

You can get it from Amazon.com for around $8 for a 1 liter bottle ($6.77 if you subscribe) by clicking on this link Listerine Antiseptic Mouthwash, 1-Liter


Website:
http://www.listerine.com/products/product-original

VL Rating: Excellence (both for canker sores and bad breath)

Pho Saigon Express (Escondido, CA)

Even though this is a Pho restaurant, their Pho is just OK. It's quite acceptable but I wouldn't call it good. I was surprised to find out that their broken rice and other dishes were pretty good. The service was great and the restaurant was clean and nicely decorated. The price was not bad as well. We dined 2 times during our 1 week stay in the city. We'll definitely come back the next time we are in the city.

Website:
http://www.phosaigonexpress.com/

Address:

605 N Broadway, Escondido, CA 92025

Phone: 

(760) 746-4669

VL Rating: OK (for Pho), Good (for broken rice and spring rolls)

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Vietnamese Children's Picture Dictionary

I bought this book to teach my 5 year old son Vietnamese. Over all, it is a great book. It has fairly accurate explanations on the Vietnamese language. The illustration pictures are just OK. Some pictures are a little weird and can be improved.

Note that the pronunciations in the book use the Southern/SaiGon accent of Vietnamese which is great for me since that was where I came from. If you're looking for Northern or Central pronunciations, you might want to find other book.

VL Rating: Good

You can get it from Amazon.com for around $11 by clicking on this link Vietnamese Children's Picture Dictionary