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We spent three days running around San Diego trying to see all the sights and keep our little guy entertained. We went to Legoland, Sea World, the Safari Park, saw a museum and did a harbour tour.  It was fun but exhausting. I’m glad we had the foresight to book a chill day before heading back home.  We moved to a hotel by the marina and enjoyed the water, leisurely walking on the boardwalk and eating good food.

For Christmas eve, we checked out a local thai restaurant, Rama Thai. It was a busy place and we were lucky to get in. We sat on the covered sidewalk which gave us a chance to enjoy the nice weather, knowing that people back home were facing temperatures in the minus twenties.

Not wanting to eat too much, we ordered one appetizer and one main, which actually was more than enough for the three of us. At Q’s request, we started with the calamari. The fresh calamari was breaded in panko and served with a sweet dipping sauce.  The coating was crispy and the calamari was cooked to perfection.

For our main, we had one of our favourites, Panang Curry.  We had ours with chicken and shrimp and ladled it over steamed rice. The aromatic curry had chunks of chicken, good sized shrimp and loads of vegetables, including crinkle cut carrots.  The spicy broth had a hint of sweetness and it was delicious.

We ended our meal with a scoop of pineappe and coconut ice cream. It was a great combination and cooled our tongues.

As we were leaving the restaurant, I noticed a couple at another table enjoying some prawns wrapped in noodles and deep fried. I will definitely have to try that the next time.

Mention Mario to most kids, the Mario brothers immediately come to mind. Mention Mario to my 4 year old, and he talks about the chef that he sees on tv. I love this kid!

While spending some time at the Venetian on our recent trip to Vegas, we saw one of Mario Batali’s restaurants, Otto, and thought it was the perfect place to grab a bite after our indoor gondola ride.  We took a seat “outdoors” and enjoyed the painted sky ceiling while enjoying the entertainment in St. Mark’s Square.

While we were checking out the menu, Q asked one of the waiters, “Where’s Mario?”. We discovered we had missed him by a week!  Bread and breadsticks were brought to the table and they happily obliged when we asked for some oil and vinegar.

As a starter, we tried the Ricotta Fritters.  These were morsels of fried goodness!  Ricotta cheese and red pepper balls rolled in bread crumbs and fried.  The cheese oozed out as we took a bite. Definitely a huge hit with all of us.

We also ordered a couple of entrees – the Grilled Tuna and the Maccherona. Both dishes were great and super tasty.
The tuna was cooked to perfection and served with a sicilian pesto.  I really loved this version of pesto and couldn’t get enough of it.  Red in colour, it was made with tomatoes, almonds and garlic. So good!
The pasta dish was great as well. With roasted peppers and chilis, it was cooked perfectly.

The dessert menu looked great but sadly we were so stuffed, there was just no room.  Definitely a great meal!

After Q and I spent a week in Texas, we met hubby in Vegas for a few days.  It was fun for Q to see the lights and he was pretty great when it came time to outlet shopping.  When driving the Strip, I noticed Serendipity 3 outside the Caesar’s Hotel.  I had always wanted to go to the original in NYC, but knowing I wasn’t going there anytime soon, I had to go while in Vegas.

Made famous in the movie Serendipity, and then even more so by Oprah, I knew I had to try the Frrrozen Hot Chocolate. The place was packed and we had a bit of a wait but it was worth it.

We ordered the drink for two and it was huge!  The three of us shared but we could have easily shared with three more.  It was a chocolatey blend of icy goodness topped with whipping cream.   So good!  As we sipped the yummy concoction, we got chunks of chocolate shavings while we sipped.

Would I go back for more? Most definitely!

During our recent trip to Dallas, we squeezed in a quick one day visit to Houston to visit family.  It had been years since I had seen my cousins and I had never met their kids.  With them being so close in age to Q, I really wanted to get them together and meet.  It didn’t take long for them to form a bond, and in no time, they were playing with trains and drawing on their ipads.

We went out for dinner later in the evening to their favourite thai restaurants, Tony Thai.  We got there just before they were going to close but they welcomed us in for a quick bite.

We started with soup, Tom Yum.  The spicy broth with all kinds of seafood was delicious.  We also had some Thai wings as a starter which were the most delicious wings I had tasted.  The breaded wings had a sweet and spicy sauce that we just couldn’t get enough of.  They were a huge hit and we had to order another round.

The fried rice was tasty with chunks of chicken and loaded with veggies.  This went perfectly with the chicken in red curry, a spicy sauce fragranced with coconut milk.  The greens were delicious as well, with lemongrass and garlic – a tasty way to eat your veggies.

We ended the meal off with a delicious creme brulee.  Although there for just a day, it was wonderful to spend time with family.