Yea Kids, Eat Right...

..just don't tell Hostess.

This is the opening scene at a Safeway, an uncomfortable 5 feet from the door. So close, in fact, that cart pushers have to let those exiting exit before they can enter.

Framed on our left is that waskely wabbit, Bugs, telling our kids that eating right is cool, it's fun, and quite frankly that if Bugs is doing it, you should too.

Framed on our left is a plethora of delicious filled and frosted goodies. Twinkies, Cupcakes, pies of all flavors, Ho-Ho's, Suzy Q's, and my personal favorite (I love the premise, although I don't they're fit for human consumption) - Snowballs!

How can you resist the chocolate cake and the marshmallow, dusted in coconut, and dyed hot pink? You can't.

Surfing Fort Point

What an eerie place to surf. The water is cold, there can be 7 knot currents on the outside, and the Golden Gate Bridge puts everything in miniature. Sometimes I feel like a GI Joe out there. Don't forget about the sharks either.

It is unfortunate that the wave isn't very good. It doesn't stand up tall and give you a long line to work with; it tends to have one section and then peter out. It is also extremely crowded. Despite the rocks and the sharks, you're more likely to get run over than anything else.

There's a particularly big rock right in the middle of the take off zone too. You either go behind it and race the section, or in front of it and risk dropping in on someone who is taking their chances behind. Very unfortunate placement.

What this place needs are some reef balls! They would create more of a shoulder, a longer ride, and even out the bottom more near that big rock. Except for the wave itself, the set up is great, relatively sheltered from wind, and you can't beat the view.

You just feel like a Smurf.

Jollibee

Ate breakfast here because nothing else was open near the Moscone Center. For a fast food transplant from the Philippines, it wasn't too horrible.

I opted for the "Sweet Pork Breakfast Plate" which consisted of, well, chunks of sweet pork on one side of the plastic container and scrambled eggs over garlic rice on the other.

The rice was garlic-y, I like it strong, but this would turn most Americans off. I guess "Sweet Pork Breakfast Plate" would do that too. Maybe next time I'll get the "Tender Beef Breakfast Plate" instead.

I don't think there will be a next time soon, but I was watching the Discovery Channel shortly after dining here and watched an apartment building in the Philippines collapse. What was directly across the street from said apartment building?

That's right. A Jollibee.

Grandparents Day?

Whata great holiday - but whoever was put in charge of promoting it should be fired.

Moto Java

This place is a coffee/motorcycle repair shop in San Francisco. I've seen some funny combination stores before and this one is pretty creative. Some of the more notables in memory have included video rental/doughnuts and ice cream/laundry mat to name two.

The products these proprietors make are sometimes do not mesh well with each other but the idea behind is sound - keeping the place open.

Rent is a fixed cost so if people only want to buy sandwiches at lunchtime, what can you sell in the morning and at night? This is where you see creativity shine.

There's nothing wrong with mixing two odd ball products. The only really issue is aesthetics (which is a big issue, I guess). Otherwise, what would be wrong with a Chinese Cuisine/Pet Store?

Umm, I'll take the cash!

Not all choices are as easy as this one. At this Quisno's the mother/daughter in front of me in line took nearly 5 minutes to decide what they were going to eat.

For a few weeks about a year ago I exercised making decisions immediately when asked. E.g. instead of saying, "I don't care," "you choose," or "whatever," when asked about what's for dinner, which way to go, or what movie to watch - I would make the call.

Wrong or right, what I discovered was that how many decisions we make are trivial and yet pondered endlessly. Try it. I'm back to thinking about these trivial choices but now I know that if I had to pick a sandwich immediately, I could.

Shrimp Flavored Cracker

Who wants shrimp flavored cracker? Not everyone raise their hand at once.

XLerator Hand Dryer

Has anyone seen these yet? This was my second contact with an Xlerator and the experience is exhilarating! Wow are my hands dry, and so fast too!

The advantages of blowers are varied and many over paper towels; no trees, no landfill - however, until now they just... took... too... long... to... dry... your... hands. In a crowded restroom like say, an airport, they would be downright frustrating.

www.wikipedia.com has an interesting article on hand dryers and cites studies done that seem to contradict their seemingly obvious superiority over paper towels. One even states that bacteria can be sprayed in a 3 foot radius around them.

Well, I say good riddance to paper towels and apparently, McDonalds has said the same. The McDonalds' WC's that I have visited in the last few years have been exclusively hand dryers. Unfortunately, not the high speed ones yet though.

High speed hand dryers are the future. Dyson of the vacuum empire has even entered the ring. I haven't seem one yet but I'm sure they look very cool. Another manufacturer even boasts an air velocity on 185 mph.

Go green, viva hand dryers, and if Dyson says they're cool, then who am I to blow against the wind.

I'd like some Chicken Terityaki please!

Yet another classic example of Engrish (www.engrish.com), but this time in Waikiki.

This is the signage of a plate of plastic food in a glass display [which is so typical in Japan] - but what makes this case so special is that it's in front of the Japanese Restaurant in the Hilton.

Purchasing a plate of "plastic food" will fetch a few hundred dollars for display - and more precisely, they are made from vinyl. First, a silicone mold is made of the real food, then the vinyl is poured in and baked. They are all meticulously hand painted.

The practice, from what I've read, has been around for nearly a century. Originally, the pieces were made from paraffin wax and Takizo Iwasaki is given credit for creating the idea, back in 1917.

I was thinking, they should have just had Paris proof read the plastic food before they put them out.

This is German Extreme Scootering

A friend of mine in Chicago found this moped and a matching blue jumpsuit and invented the sport of German Extreme Scootering. It involves, though is not limited to, going off curbs and one-handed riding.

Basically, general extreme-ness is exhibited with a hefty dose of mayhem. It looks like fun and I would love to join the ranks; however, I seem to lack some of the necessary requirements. Mostly the following:

1) A scooter
2) A matching jumpsuit
3) Mayhem

I think I could bring the extreme-ness, full force, but without the prerequisites, unfortunately all I am left with is being a wannabe. Viva "GES!"

This is McDonalds.

Granted this is a McDonalds in Hawaii, but this is the first time I've seen something on the menu there that I don't have a clue what it is. This was next to the 'SPAM and Eggs Breakfast' poster, which we all can appreciate, and I'm going to assume haupia is a fruit.

If it were a poster for a Loco Moco, I'd know that was - that is a hamburger patty with fried eggs over rice and smothered in gravy. I had one of those this morning. Truly glutonous but "when in Rome" you should indulge at least once.

In Japan you often get asked if you want the Western breakfast or the Japanese breakfast. So what if smoked fish and a raw egg over rice is not your idea of the best way to jump start the day, you have to try it.

I think it is unfortunate that so many Americans wake up to corn flakes with pasteurized and homogonized milk, white toast, and robusta coffee. Pass the smoked fish please...

"Your Car Warranty Has Expired..."

A very strange thing happened to me yesterday. I got a recorded voice mail on my cell phone telling me that the warranty on my car has expired but that it is not too late to renew it. Bla bla bla.

When I got back to my hotel room (here is the hotel phone in case you were wondering what it looked like) - the same voice mail was waiting for me there! This is Twilight Zone material!

I don't even know the number to the hotel. Only my wife knows where I'm staying, and she'd probably have to look it up. How did they find me? Are they calling everyone in America? What is going on here?

How bizarre!