After Here Comes the Bride, we grabbed lunch at a well known restaurant that’s been on Food TV Network before called Studio Diner. It’s open 24/7!

I got the monte cristo since I haven’t had that in so long. Ok, 3 years to be exact. It was so worth the fried and greasy sandwich mess with the raspberry spread! So good. I recommend it to everyone!

Amy got a club sandwich and Chelsea got the Boob Sandwich that has chicken breast with avocado and bacon!

The food there was so homey and made with heavy love.

From Studio Diner, we headed to Downtown La Jolla. I’d compare Downtown La Jolla to Orange County’s Fashion Island in Newport Beach and Beverly Hills in Los Angeles. Downtown La Jolla had the outdoors shopping and high end stores feelings to it. It was too expensive to purchase anything but fun to just window shop.

We stopped by The Living Room for some pastries and coffee. It was a small and cozy place to hang out with the mismatched furniture. Kind of like Central Perk from Friends. I got an iced vanilla latte which is my usual at any coffee shop. It was kind of expensive compared to Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf or Starbucks. But then their drink size proportion was huge for a small. The drink was creamier than what I’ve tried at other places which was nothing bad. I would have to say that the expresso was probably a tad bit stronger than my usual. Overall, I wouldn’t mind getting the ice vanilla latte again at The Living Room.

We walked over to the beach to see some waves and sea lions. It was such a beautiful day out there with the sun shining and the fresh air.

Eric met a new friend there, a squirrel. The squirrel seemed pretty friendly.

We saw some sea lions just sun bathing out in the open with no shame. They were fun to watch though they were doing nothing. We probably watched them lay there so freely for a good 15 minutes. It was surprisingly entertaining.

We walked back to our cars from the beach so we could start heading home. It was so much fun reuniting with Amy and Chelsea like the good old days in high school! There was so much more to see in San Diego but not enough time. Amy and I are going to see Chelsea again soon for another La Jolla adventure!

Guy Fieri at Lakeview in Toronto

Standing beside Guy’s Camaro during DDD filming in Toronto.

In my quest for great food, I have managed  to hit a number of DDDs in a number of different cities over the past couple of years.  My favorites are listed in order below.  Each will be reviewed under its respective city in the not too distant future.  In general, I have thoroughly enjoyed each experience and encourage everybody to support the locally owned establishments which exist along the path in your journey for love and passion on a plate.

The List

1. Lucky’s Cafe- Cleveland
2. Honey’s Sit and Eat- Philadelphia
3. Silk City Diner- Philadelphia
4. Clarkston Union Bar and KItchen _ Detroit
5. Chap’s Pit Beef- Baltimore
6. Pastabilties- Syracuse
7. Tomahawk Restaurant- Vancouver
8. Bluewater Seafood- San Diego
9. Sip and Bite- Baltimore
10. Polish Village Cafe-Detroit
11. Momocho Mod Mex- Cleveland
12. Mulberry Cafe- Buffalo
13. Red Wagon Cafe- Vancouver
14. Meat and Bread- Vancouver
15. El Indio- San Diego
16. Blue Moon Cafe- Baltimore
17. Peaceful Restaurant- Vancouver
18. Flytrap- Detroit
19. Lakeview- Toronto
20. Kitty Hoyes- Syracuse
21. Fresh, Local, Wild- Vancouver
22. Zest!-Indianapolis
23. Studio Diner- San Diego
24. Melt- Cleveland
25. Blackthorn Restaurant and Pub- Buffalo
26. Empire Brewing Company- Syracuse
27. Sophia’s- Buffalo
28. Steer-In-Indianapolis
29. Tioli’s Crazee Burger- San Diego
30. Good Dog- Philadelphia
31. Funk n Waffles- Syracuse
32. Hob Nob Hill- Philadelphia
33. Lake Effect Diner- Buffalo
34. Save on Meats- Vancouver
35. Stockyards Smokehouse and Larder-Toronto
36. Parkview Nite Club- Cleveland
37. Joe Squared Pizza- Baltimore
38. Byblos- Syracuse
39. Pizzeria Luigi- San Diego
40. Traffic Jam and Snug- Detroit
41. Sterle’s Country House- Cleveland
42. The Ace- Toronto
43. Memphis Taproom- Philadelphia

Without a doubt, I should have been around when Elvis first hit Sun Studios, and when you could take your hot rod to the diner and have waitresses in roller-skates serving you burgers and fries. But on the positive side, I’m in California where there are actually some great looking and close-to-authentic diners.

The Studio Diner is a diner that I first visited over a year ago when I first came to San Diego. It is situated next to the film studio that produced the TV series “Silk Stalkings” and “Renegade”. So upon another visit a couple of weeks ago I decided I had to try shoot it. And boy am I glad I did!

With the exception of the previous post’s California Roll photo, these two photos are the first photos that I’m actually happy with. Although I know there are still plenty of mistakes, I am still happy with the outcome.I love chrome, and I love HDR…together these two come out beautifully. And in black and white with a slight little help from PhotoTools the above photo looks great enlarged. I definitely paid attention to the composition of this shot making sure one’s eyes are lead from the below corners to the centre and main focal point of the frame.
The second shot came out great to, and once again the chrome really stands out. Although I think my composition could have been slightly better.

Now it’s time for an Elvis burger with peanut butter and his speciality shake of banana, peanut butter and marshmallow.

Sony Alpha 700, Sony 18-70mm f/3.5, 30mm, f/4.5, 2.0, ISO 100, 3 Exposure HDR

On my way out, I noticed this water outlet, and I thought it was quite picturesque.  I have not been taking the time to stop for 30 seconds and enjoy something beautiful when I see it, even though, thanks to the blog, I am still very aware of it.  I hopped out just for a minute to snap a couple shots.  This is on the back edge of Liberty Station.   I love the toughness of the industrial bits against a serene backdrop.  I could see a whole photo shoot done here.   Nice.

After work, I met up with Nikki for a quick meeting at the library.  She gave me a key for my birthday, which symbolically, was really special.  We did not get that much work done actually because we were just kind of hanging out, but we got the important stuff done, and there was one very important part to our meeting.  By us meeting before our meeting with Sunspot Pictures for the documentary, we were (well, should have been) on time to that meeting, even though we were both about an hour late to our own.  I love that Nikki has just as many punctuality issues as me.

After our meeting, I headed over to the Studio Diner to meet with Charles from Sunspot.  We waited and waited, until I finally decided to call Nikki to see why she was not there yet (since our pre-meeting was about 5 seconds away).  Her car wouldn’t start.  Doh.  Charles and I went to get her.  Lucky for us, I had those same jumper cables, which I unintentionally inherited, I seem to have been using regularly in my trunk.  Charles and I pushed Nikki’s car out so we could get under the hood, hooked it up, and went for it.

Haha!  That picture is awesome!  We got it going just in time to send away AAA.

We had to go through this process again after our movie meeting.  Wowza.  At least we were in good company.  These kids are hilarious.  I love them.

Came home, kicked it with Megan, laughed to the point of pain, realized I am definitely coming down with something, and now am going to bed.  Ahhhh, it’s late.  Tomorrow morning will come far too soon.  Today, though, was well worth the late night .

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The decor is movie-inspired throughout the restaurant–an empty film reel acts as a condiment tray on every table, movie memorabilia are displayed in a glass case. I love the detail of the tin plate ceiling “tiles”. The names of a few of its menu items are also TV and movie inspired–very playful, inventive and descriptive such as “The Count of Monte Cristo“, “Babe Sandwich” which is their pulled pork sandwich, and their dessert selections are under the header, “Go Ahead…Bake My Day“. The restaurant serves everything from full breakfasts to appetizers to sandwiches and salads; comfort food items such as chicken pot pie and macaroni & cheese. They serve East Coast specials such as crab cakes and fried clams. They even serve beer and wine! And what diner menu wouldn’t be complete without a selection of malts, shakes and floats to choose from? Remember the 50/50 bar which was an orange and vanilla ice cream popsicle back in the day? They serve it up here in a shake and it taste just like the classic 50/50 bar!

I was having a late dinner at the Studio Diner with old friends on a Saturday night. It was a bit busy. There were people in costume who had just come from Comic-Con, the annual comic book and popular arts convention in the world. It was funny to see superheroes having dinner amongst us regular folk. We didn’t have long of a wait before we were led to our table. Because of their extensive menu, it was hard to make a choice. I wasn’t sure if I was hungry enough for an entree or if I should get an appetizer instead.

Our poor waiter kept returning to our table to take our order. I was there with my friends Anita and Semo; and we were waiting on our friend Jessie to arrive. While we were reviewing the menu, we kept talking which took our attention away from making a decision on what to order. After a few minutes we were ready.

I ordered the Chicken Pot Pie which came with a side of mashed potatoes and a choice of vegetable; I chose the sauteed asparagus. Anita ordered the Crab Cake Benedict with two blue crab cakes each crowned with a poached egg on top of a toasted english muffin and drizzled with hollandaise sauce. Semo ordered the Side Salad and the Boob Sandwich, which was a char grilled chicken breast with avocado, bacon, lettuce, tomato and jack cheese on grilled sourdough bread. Our friend Jessie finally arrived and ordered the Crew Sliders, four mini cheeseburgers with grilled onions and pickles with a side of steamed veggies. The sliders were the biggest ones I’ve ever seen, almost as big as a McDonald’s Jr. Cheeseburger but meatier.

Dinner was very good, although Anita’s crab cakes fell short on taste. It wasn’t as flavorful as it should have been. But dessert more than made up for it. We decided to order from their “Freeze Frame” menu: I ordered the Root Beer Float; Semo ordered the 50/50 Shake; and Anita and Jessie shared the Gone Bananas Shake which was vanilla ice cream, bananas and peanut butter. It sure reminded us of our childhood.

All in all it was an enjoyable and what made it all the more special was the company. Studio Diner delivers on comfort with a twist and is a great spot to meet with friends after a date night, a late night movie or if you have the midnight munchies. My friends and I were so engrossed in our conversation, that we left Studio Diner shortly after 3:00 a.m.!

STUDIO DINER
4701 Ruffin Road
San Diego, CA 92123
Phone: 858.715.6400
OPEN 24 HOURS A DAY

Stuart and I went to Studio Diner after HS tonight. We spent a few hours talking about church. Everything from youth to worship. Looking back 3 years ago, around when I came on staff, it’s pretty crazy to see how things have changed. What’s even crazier is to think about how they’re going to change…

Thank God that He knows what he’s doing. Because we don’t. And I love that.

This restaurant is across the street from a contractor facility that I have visited several times this year. I like diners, and after my post-work hike today, I decided to try it.

I was seated immediately when I arrived. My server brought me iced tea (which was kept full!) very quickly. The iced tea was good, a perfect strength.

I got a cup of chili, since it was kind of chilly outside. The stuff was amazingly good! It reminded me of the chili that my Dad used to make for us at home. The meat was ground fairly fine, there was a bit of red grease in the cup (which to me is not a bad thing), and there were NO beans in it! I could have eaten a huge bowl of it by itself for dinner. It was really good! They had oyster crackers to go with it, but no saltines. One thing I just remembered: they have two kinds of chili, the kind I got with ground beef, and another that is made with (IIRC) prime rib.

I ordered a Chicken Fried Steak. A new thing – my server asked if I wanted it with the veggies (as in dinner) or with eggs and hash browns! Right on! I chose the breakfast option.

One problem here, I had just started my chili when the dinner arrived. I think that the cooks moved a bit too fast. I know that the diner concept is eat fast and get out, but this was probably just a bit too fast; my food was getting cool by the time I finished the chili.

Nonetheless, the CFS was good if a bit bland, and the eggs and hashbrowns were great with a bit of the extra gravy my server brought me.

The place was about 50% full when I arrived just a bit after 1800, and about 75% full when I left right at 1900. My check was $19.02. The service was good, although the cooking was a bit rushed, I think.

I like this place. I want to go back and try some of the sandwiches for lunch.

My server mentioned that the crew from “Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives” was here at some point. That makes about 10 places that I’ve been to that Guy and his crew have visited also.

Saturday evening was busy and tiring for me, Kevin, and my brothers.  We all piled into the car and treated ourselves to the in-store peformance by Bambu at Access.  The store was packed for something so last notice thanks to the people at PnoyApparel.  From what I OH (twitter jargon for “overheard”) a bunch of these dudes heard it from twitter.  See more pictures from Bambu’s site at http://www.bambu.la.  Thanks for showing love to the 619!  While you’re at it you can cop that album “Exact Change” and listen to The Backroom Podcast’s interview with him from FilAmFest 2008.

Click on for more flicks from Bambu at Access.

Kabuki Sushi w/The Backroom

The crew took a break between Access and AB Samahan’s FCN with Dinner at Kabuki Sushi.  If you sit at the bar you can grab proportioned plates of sushi as it passes you on a boat.  It’s located on Garnet Ave.  They’re closed on Tuesdays and close for an hour between Lunch and Dinner.

After lunch, the bloated crew seated ourselves in the back of a jam-packed house.  The lights turned down, the audience quieted, and the curtains opened to a familiar college scene: broke students in a crowded bookstore.  All the familiar characters took the stage as well: the overly dramatic, the annoying know-it-all, the self-centered jerk, and with one-too-many “that’s what she said” jokes.  Yeah, that’s exactly how I remember college.

The success of this FCN was solely based on its pure honesty.  Kudos to the playwrights Cypress and Cyrille Villaflores who had conducted interviews with a number of students and were able to weave this tale together.  I think we’ve all heard it before, Filipino or not, it’s the politics/popularity contest of clubs and organizations.

To be utterly honest, I once was ashamed of my culture.  Or rather, I was ashamed of what I saw in other people.  I shied away from organizations that were heavily saturated with Filipinos.  I felt so alien among them because it was so hard to break into their cliques.  It did feel like everything was just a party and awkward Trisha just couldn’t keep up.  It wasn’t until late into my college career that I started to learn more about myself, my culture, and the aims of other people that I started to build such a fervor to learn more.  I don’t doubt that those kind of “politics” still exist but perhaps it takes a strong person like the play’s character cleverly named “Marie Claire” to change things around.  Thank you AB Samahan for addressing what is on everyone’s minds and poking fun of it with such caricatures of the cool “Bruce” and seemingly superficial “FACE” of club organizations.

I don’t have much to say about the Suites in between scenes except that they made me reminisce of the days when I used to dance.  They were well choreographed so big-ups to the choreographers and dancers.  A special shout-out to Melanie Calimlim and the rest who put on the traditional dances of several provinces.  Let’s keep it alive!

And now for some pictures:

Banga, of the dances from the Kalinga tribe

Banawol, also of Kalinga (& you can't hate on boys in bahogs)

Singkil (depicts the story of a Muslim princess)

Ending the day at Studio Diner (24hrs) attached to the only film studio in San Diego.

w/ <3,

trISH*