The House Poet

Last Saturday, I was indeed a pho hoe. It was my friend Jen's 20th birthday, so we went all out and had a great girls' night out! :) We first went to Pho Saigon Bay, and it was good! Some of my friends had never had Vietnamese food before so I helped them out and suggested some good dishes. I, of course, went for the beef pho and cha gio (Imperial rolls). I got a medium bowl and requested extra noodles for a dollar. It was funny because they didn't put the noodles in the bowl with the pho, but in a separate bowl with a tasty broth......hmmm. It was still good though! Just oddly presented I guess. This entire order was for me....I love these so much! I wrapped the rolls up in the lettuce and pickled veggies, which brought them up to a whole new level! :) Very fresh and tasty! Yep.....there is my pho and extra noodles. I loved it! The broth is so rich and beefy, but not overpoweringly so. The beef wasn't too tender, but that's okay. Great soup! After dinner, since we ...

Hello! Once again, another week has passed! I had a good week and I am so excited about the changing weather! For some reason, I am just relishing the Fall weather and October itself. October is especially special because Andrew's birthday is October 5! :D I am so excited to give him his gift! Our 8 month anniversary is the day before, so this is a special weekend! Two weeks ago on a lovely Saturday, Andrew took me to the Haggin Museum! I've been wanting to go there for quite sometime, so it was so sweet of him! I was sad because they got rid of the mummy right before I came back to Stockton....too bad...haha. Above is a rather glamorous picture of me, if I may say so myself. ;) The museum is in the middle of a rather large and lovely park, with lots of grand trees, a little fenced off lake, and picnic tables dotting the grass everywhere. There is even a lovely rose garden too! The museum itself is made of brick and is quite stately looking. Andrew and I really enjoyed it and s...

Last Tuesday night, I was so hungry. Perhaps it was the fact that the day was pretty hot and stuffy, or perhaps I just wasn't feeling like school food. My friend Jen had been telling me we had to get pho together soon, and since I wanted to go out, we decided to go that night! Problem was, neither of us had a car and no one was free to drive us. So.....we ended up walking up the street to go to Pho Saigon Bay, which is the pho place Jen likes. It didn't take too long, maybe 20-25 minutes, and luckily it was cooling down. The road, which is a main road in Stockton, was so busy and full of cars! It made me realize how many people live here and have to commute. It would be so cool if Stockton revamped it's public transportation system, but we'll see.... When she and I got to the restaurant, it was cool and full of shade! We sat down and looked over the menus handed to us, salivating over the pictures of the various dishes. By that time she and I were so hungry!!!!!! First...