TBA
SF Bay Area
UCLA Geography Holiday Lunch at Duke's in Malibu. Nice to overlook the water but decidedly average food; the ahi poke bowl in particular was so-so, down to being downright stingy on the amount of ahi you got!
Dinnertime arrival in the Bay Area, for family dinner at Merit Vegetarian... pretty decent overall, but the eggplant and the bean curd dishes were both a little too salty. Bun hue lacked the delicate balance of a good one, but wasn't too bad, and I'm not sure if basil and chili makes a fried rice "Thai", but it was change from a regular fried rice.
Lunch the next day at Ma's Islamic. Good Chinese Islamic food, although the large size beef and pickled cabbage soup was perhaps overkill. A more standard veggie fried rice than the night before, and a very good beef tripe. The only mediocre item was the pickled cabbage, which was too soft-- barely any crispness at all.
Milk tea break at Sharetea in the afternoon, then dinner at Izzo's. Surprisingly bad vegetables (tough, old green beans, and old cucumbers...), but the fried chicken wings were tasty. Not sure how I feel about the pork belly quesdilla, which is good but of the overstuffed variety, which is a bit too greasy for me.