10 savvy travel sites

This slide show from fastcompany.com caught my eye. Introducing some great travel sites, I wonder if anyone out there has actually used ones like YAPTA or DOPPLR. For future posts, I hope to review some of these on this blog, and perhaps, even use them. The all-time favorite Tripadvisor, is not surprisingly, also on this list.

If you have used one or more of these websites, leave your feedback here.

'10 Hot Travel Websites'

Bar with a view in San Francisco

p.s. This image is courtesy of the Grand Hyatt website.

Apparently there are lots of swanky high-rise bars in the city of San Francisco, such as the famed Harry Denton's Starlight Room, or the Top of the Mark for instance. While I planned to research other similar swanky hot spots and visit the aforementioned, my discovery of the Grandviews Lounge atop the Grand Hyatt near Union Square was quite accidental.

After having a reasonably nice dinner in Chinatown one Friday evening, and with plans of having a drink before we left for the suburbs, we gasped at the sight of a very chic lounge bar steps from Chinatown, only to be politely turned away because it had just closed. It was 9:50 pm! While why most eateries and bars close so early in SF is an intriguing myster, and fodder for another post at some future time, this disappointment spurred us on to a most wonderful discovery.

In a much earlier post, I had reminisced about discovering a wonderful lounge serving late night desserts and wine at the five star rated Peninsula Hotel in Chicago. I hoped to discover the same in San Francisco, and there it was - at the Grand Hyatt, on Stockton at Sutter.

The night was indeed very young, and we were very glad to find out that the Grandviews Lounge was open till about 2 am. Perched up on the 36th floor, the elevators opened up into a hallway, and then muted lights, marble, house music, cacophony, and oh..grand views.

We walked towards the bar and found a table with a view. Service was very fast, given how busy it was. Clientele were a mix of hotel guests, and people like us who were simply looking for something decent open past 10 pm. The age group was 25-40.

We ordered a Bailey's Irish Cream Creme Brulee at $12. Beautifully presented, it was heaven melting on your taste buds. Coupled with the fantastic views, it became a night to remember.

Another tip: If you're driving into the city, do use the Sutter-Stockton garage, which also happens to be across the street from the Grand Hyatt. After 6 pm, it only charges a maximum of $7.50.

The Grand Hyatt and Grandviews Lounge

A Brit in Belmont, California

As I was walking through the aisles of my local Walgreens this morning, a voice came over the tannoy, "assistance to pharmacy, assistance to pharmacy". She said "pharmacy" in a way which made me think she was from Britain. Lo and behold, I go to the check out counter, and the lady greeted me in her British accent. After a little chit-chat, I found out that Pam had been in Belmont for 40 years. She had grown up in Clapham, Peckham and various other places across the British Isles. She would go back in a tick, but she loves her husband, who loves golf and the Californian weather.

Isn't the world a funny place? There always something around the corner to remind you of home.

A savvy scallop entree

Just finished cooking this unbelievably delicious dish. I call this my 'Hot Dill Scallop Salad'. I love scallops for a number of reasons: they're easy to cut, marinade, cook, are good for you, and have such a wonderful texture. Not to mention how tasty they are. This is all I did:

• I mixed several garlic cloves, half an onion, multicolored peppers, and one bunch of roughly cut dill in olive oil, and garlic salt. I then roasted this mixture in an oven at 380 F for 20 minutes.

• I mixed olive oil, grated garlic, dried red chillies, grated ginger and hot sauce (to taste) in a bowl, and marinaded about 1.5 lbs scallops in it for 10 minutes.

• I cooked the scallop mixture in a hot pan for about 3 minutes, mixing and turning carefully.

• I added the other half of an onion and one bunch of green onions, and cooked the mixture for another 3 minutes.

• I added the roasted vegetables to this mix, turned the heat off, mixed everything and ...voila!

Try it and see if you like it. It is wonderful! I look forward to creating some more savvy scallop recipes in the future...