Barron "I know huh!" F.'s Profile

Pretty good buffet with a nice selection of both meat and veggie items. What made it stand out was the mongolian bbq. I visited the bbq twice. Also a good place for kids since there are so many choices, they are sure to find something to like. If not the food, the at least they can eat the jello.

Helpful and knowledgable staff. My wife wanted a pufferfish for our little Eclipse 3 aquarium. I just explained our setup and what we wanted, and the staff member told me exactly what I needed to know about the fish, the water, the food, etc. Perfect!

My wife wanted to try Shin Okinawa-style Izakaya and I was eager to go as well. The decor is pretty cool. I really felt like I was in Japan. We ordered some local-okinawa shochu and a mixed shochu drink (with some kind of juice). They were both great. Next we ordered a pitcher of Sapporo draft, which had one of those frozen things inside to keep the beer cold and refreshing.

The food was really good here. First we had tofu with tako (octopus) and green onion. It was delicious! The tofu was special to okinawa. After that we had the small pancakes with green onion, ginger and cabbage. Also yummy. We tried the pork belly as well, and it was tender and tasty. Next up were the deep fried okinawa yam croquettes with salsa. Oishikatta! Finally we tried the goya melon with tofu and pork, and it was excellent. By that time, our pitcher of beer was finished and we were stuffed. But we had one last dish, which was a bowl of noodles, and it looked great, but I didn't try it, I was too full.

Service was pretty good. Our server must have been new on the job, though, and forgot one of our orders, then brought out a second pitcher of beer. We said "yes, you can take our glasses", but she must have thought "yes, bring us another pitcher." I think normally they would know that we are pretty much done. But, she was super-kawaii (as were all the staff) plus I was feeling good because of the first pitcher, so it was all good!

We visited the Shinsengumi 2Go located in the Marukai Pacific market and ordered Shoyu Ramen with corn and bean sprouts. The broth was not very tasty, and the noodles were just ok. I was pretty disappointed actually. There are much better ramen places in the area, so I will not be eating at this Shinsengumi again.

We visited Griffith Park Observatory on a Thursday afternoon. They opened at noon, and we arrived around 12:30pm. The small parking lot near the observatory was full, so we parked on the street that leads up to the lot. The view at the top was great; you can see downtown Los Angeles, and even out to Century City to the west. The area outside the front of the observatory is pretty cool. There is a monument of the important astronomers, and the orbits of the planets are inlaid into the ground. The observatory building itself is really cool. It's an art-deco style, and a real classic.

There is no admission charge to the observatory, but the movie in the planetarium costs $7 for adults and $2 for kids. Be advised that kids below the age of 5 can only be admitted into the first show of the day, which is at 12:45pm. Our youngest son is only 4, but we said he was 5 and we watched the 1:45 show. I heard that they recently remodeled the observatory a couple years ago, and I have to say that the planetarium show with its new projector was impressive. It's the best planetarium show I have seen. The narrator was pretty good too. She narrated the whole movie live, and must have been a professional voice talent. The subject of the movie "Center of the Universe" was entertaining and educational. I highly recommend it. Below the main floor is the Leonard Nimoy Exhibition hall, filled with cool displays about the galaxies, the solar system, meteorites, etc. It was all top-notch.

Our visit to the Griffith Park Observatory was great. I was so surprised that there was no admission fee, since the exhibits were really nice quality and the place was so well-maintained. I suspect that the weekends must be really crowded and the movies sell out quickly. When we left the observatory at about 3:15pm, the ticket window was closed. I assume they sold out all the afternoon and evening shows by then. If you can go on a weekday, that is the way to go.

I'm typing this as I am pigging out on a Veggie Delite (#7) sandwich and fries from the Spec's deli. It's great! Avocado, portobello mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, goat cheese, cucumber slices and sprouts with a generous helping of fries. It's delicious. I also bought some hot sauce from their extensive lineup of condiments. They have so many things, including four kinds of Jamaican Jerk marinades and rubs. That is how varied this Specs is. If I was a carnivore, I'd go nuts here looking at the menu. There is even a one-pound burger for about $7.50.

I got my food to-go, but there are a few tables in case you want to eat there. It's close to work, and there is a veggie burger and even shrimp po-boy that I need to try. This Specs is a nice alternative to Subway or Quizno's!

(I omitted the part about the wine/beer since it has been covered)

We ordered a couple rolls and a whole bunch of nigiri here. The rolls were tasty and interesting. The nigiri was pretty good too. Our only complaint was that a couple items didn't seem to be prepared right before serving. For instance, the unagi should be toasted right before serving. Ours must have been sitting there for several minutes before it got to our table. And the deep-fried shrimp was the same way. Kind of like when you go to McDonald's when it's not busy and get the fries that have been sitting there for a while. Not hot, and not so crispy.

We also got the Udon for the kids, which was tasty. They really enjoyed it. My wife and I got draft Sapporo, which is not too common.

The place was a little too dark for me, but not too bad. Our server was helpful and made sure we had everything we needed, including extra small plates and bowls for sharing the udon.

We've heard from my wife's friends (who are native Japanese) that Kubo's has the best sushi in Houston, but still not great. Not sure about how it compares to other Houston sushi places, but I'd have to say that it's just so-so. Nothing special.

I visited here on a Thursday afternoon with my wife and our 2 young boys (4 and 7). I wasn't expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised. First of all, we bought our tickets at the HEB which was a couple blocks away for $12.95 each, which saved us $16. That ticket will get you admission into the space center. I was expecting the tour to cost more, but was happy when they said it was included.

For me, this tour of the campus was the best part of our visit. The tram took us to the mission control building, where we saw the historic control center for the Apollo missions. We weren't able to see the Shuttle Mission Control room or the Space Station Mission Control room, although they were in the same building. The guide said that they show you the Shuttle room on weekends, but not this coming weekend since the shuttle is landing then.

After that, we went to a huge building where they had life-sized mockups of the different spacecraft and space station modules. They use these for training, and as "copies" of the space shuttle that is in use. Remember that scene in Apollo 13 where they try to figure out how to solve some emergency by using that copy capsule that is down on Earth? Same thing. This building was massive, and it was incredible to see just how big the shuttle actually is. (the one here had it's wings and other parts removed) My wife and I were kind of surprised to see how lo-tech it all seemed, though. Kind of haphazard with old-looking equipment. It looked like it was state-of-the-art circa 1986.

Next we went to see the giant Saturn V rocket. It was huge! They have it in a giant warehouse building, and there are poster displays all along the wall for you to learn about the Apollo missions. Unfortunately, we only had about 10 minutes in here, which was not nearly enough time to look at everything. Its really too bad because there's a lot of interesting stuff to read.

After the tour, we went back to the main building and the kids had fun playing in the playscapes and trying out the interactinve exhibits. While the tour was of most interest to adults, the main building is geared towards kids. We saw one show, which was about living on the space station, and it was pretty good! Interesting and funny. A couple other attractions (virtual rides) will cost a few bucks extra, and we passed on those.

Like I mentioned earlier, we went on a Thursday, and the place was not crowded at all. There was no line for the tour, and they were leaving it seemed every twenty minutes.

A nice place to visit, but if you are expecting a hardcore learning experience, you will be disappointed. While there a few nerdy things for the space-geek, it's actually more of a space-themed kids' playground.

I have a flickr photoset here:
http://www.flickr.com/...

Stopped in on a Saturday morning while I had a couple hours to kill. I didn't think I'd find the book I wanted there, but lo and behold, there it was! I sat down at a table with a big cup of drip coffee and read my book while a great selection of music played softly in the background.

I like their computer system for finding the exact location of a book in-store. Worked like a charm. The staff who helped at the coffee bar and the front cashier were both nice and friendly. Definitely my favorite place to read a couple chapters. (of Conan even!)

Red Barn is our favorite garden center. They have a pretty nice variety of vegetable seedlings and a knowledgeable, helpful and friendly staff. It's never hard to find someone to help out or answer a question. Red Barn isn't fancy, but to me that is a big plus. I'm happy they focus on gardening rather than trying to make a trendy atmosphere.