Top Hot Dogs in Berkeley, CA

I found this photo on a blog called ZeroDivide, and this summed up Top Dog for me.

I first went to Top Dog as a summer school student at Berkeley in 2003.  A cheep and cheerful place with dogs to satisfy both poverty-stricken students and those with a bit more cash to spare. My second visit was in Oct 2008, and coincidentally, on a football game day at Berkeley (Cal v UCLA!).  Berkeley was buzzing, and although the Bears won, Top Dog was bursting at the seams with fans from both sides.

There is no line here.  There are two guys behind the grill, one minding all the meat, and one taking all the orders and miraculously remembering them in order.  There are even veggie and healthier meat options.  It's fast, economical, and delicious.  What more do you need?

Top Dog also have a branch in Oakland, CA.  Check out their website below.  Have you been to Top Dog? What's your experience been like?

Top Dog

Xanh, Mountain View

Who'd have thought that the suburbs could have this much panache? Nestled among the many thriving eateries on Castro in Mountain View, is Xanh.  Cool fusion Vietnamese cuisine offered in great style.  You first enter an amazing New-York style lounge bar, dimly lit in electric blue, with a DJ churning House/cool RnB in the corner.  The bar looks pretty busy and happening. Sleek, geometric, and ample white seating look striking against all the blue in this room.  Huge Christmas tree-like glass balls hang from the ceiling.  This is where you'd hang out with your crowd before the hostess whisks you into one of two main dining areas.

This was a Saturday night, and it could not have been more packed.  However, the lighting in our dining room was a little too bright for my liking, especially compared to the dim coolness of the lounge up front.  Anyway, the food made up for that.

The spicy and sour soup for $10 was ample and wildly aromatic.  The only complaint was that it seemed warm rather than hot, and so we had to send it back for a quick zap.  My main plate was 'Catfish in a Clay Pot'.  It was perfectly marinated, exuding sweetness and spicy tones at the same time.  Heavily laden with chillies, ginger, garlic, and possibly honey, it was heavenly with simple jasmine-steamed rice.  The meal ended beautifully with a swig of impossibly sweet Vietnamese coffee, sweetened with condensed milk.  

All in all, a stylish spot on Mountain View's main promenade, which offers flavorful food in attractive surroundings.  If you just want to hang, have a martini while listening to top tunes, and not have to drive all the way to San Francisco, Xanh should be one of your choices.

Xanh

Long live Macs...

After inadvertently unleashing a virus onto our PC, we spent hours pouring over solutions on Majorgeeks.com, hoping against hope to rescue this home-built computer, which had been so good to us for 5 years.  We turned to our old and rusty iBook, which was unbearably slow compared to the powerful PC which once ran alongside it.  The PC was rescued, and began to work like a dream again, while we cruelly abandoned the iBook.  Alas, it was not meant to be. The PC's hard drive started making sounds, and that's never a good thing.  It died quite unceremoniously, and then we discovered we had no backups at all! Suddenly, as if by magic, it restarted itself and gave us its all for about 30 magical minutes; enough time for us to frantically back all our data up.   Then, it was all over.  

We are shamelessly back to our senile iBook again, and praying that it will hold on until we buy another computer.  And just long enough for me to blog, even if the posts will be devoid of snazzy Photoshopped pictures.  Needless to say, it will be another Mac.

A mansion in San Francisco

All photos courtesy of EKphoto.com http://www.ekphoto.com/hamlin/

I was awestruck from the moment I walked in, both as an educator, and as a wedding guest.

The Hamlin School, an all-girls' independent school in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco is also known as Hamlin Mansion, a much sought-after special occasion venue in the city.
The building, which has its beginnings in the early 20th century, entraps your senses with its intricately carved wooden beams and paneling, captivating mosaic walls, and high ceiling with skylight. It is charming how the school hides its bookcases and student artwork behind the deep red curtains as it transforms itself from a haven of education into a centerpiece of decadent celebration. Keep walking through the library and into the solarium, and you are completely bowled over by the sweeping vistas of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge through its large bay windows. Walk up the stairs, and imagine yourself being transported back in time, looking down upon the hallway being attended to by uniformed staff.

The Hamlin School/Mansion is located on 2120 Broadway, San Francisco.

View of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Hamlin Mansion