Roka Akor San Francisco

Chow time to celebrate Vivian's birthday! Time flew by so quickly! I could still remember her birthday parties from the last 2 years. Anyways, the restaurant for the occasion was Roka Akor which was located in the Financial District of San Francisco (address: 801 Montgomery Street)!!! The restaurant was rated the "Top 10 sushi spot in the US" by Bon Appetit and is one of the newly opened restaurant in San Francisco. (Some pictures were taken from my friends' camera^^)

First 3 to arrive^^

The ambiance of the restaurant was sophisticated... More suited for business meeting or small get together. Roka Akor is located in the Financial District so I'm assuming it's target is mainly business people. We had a party of 10, but I find this place and portion of food very suitable for groups of 2-4. Food from the restaurant was a mixture of Japanese and steakhouse style. Roka Akor have a open sushi bar on the main floor and a lounge downstairs. Take a look at some of our food:

Butterfish tataki with white asparagus n yuzu

Whole crab!

Sushi rolls^^

Spot prawn with uni and caviar

Beef O.O (forgot which one it was)

Lamb chop with Korean spices

A group pic (missing Wendy n Jig tho)

Already 5 years friendship!

Birthday girl and her dessert

Since everyone is so busy with work and school, we rarely see each other. Definitely nice to get together and catch up. In my opinion, the food in the restaurant was not worth it's price... Portion is not big enough to accommodate the price, as well as how the meats were prepared. Both the lamb chop and beef were too dry for me (requested for medium rare). Taste-wise and service does not amaze me, so I probably won't be coming back for another try. 

Yakiniku at Gyu Kaku San Mateo

Hey all!! Finished my finals and I just had an amazing dinner with a few friends of mine. Can't wait to share my experience with you. Just imported pictures from my new Canon ELPH 330 to my laptop too!!! Got the camera last month around Black Friday! (Random thing is that I got pulled over today by a cop... for not signaling!! I was heading to school to take my final too...) Anyways, I know it's getting late now (have work @ 9:00am), but Mr. Darrin Wu is still in his little corner watching his movie, so I'll just write a quick post!

My lovely companions and me^^

There are promotions and "TOP" picks

Testing out no flash

Interior! Pretty big restuarant O.O

Service was excellent and portions of the food was great for the price! On top of that, they serve good quality meat!!

Cheers to get together^^

Picture with Elata

Wendy and Kenneth

Kalbi short rib

Delicious beef tongue (lemon on the side)

Toro! Love it!!

Yup, we ordered onions^^

I like onions!!

Duck breast

Corn + sweet potato + butter fish + mushroom medley

Lettuce and dip

Wasabi shrimp

Red bean teriyaki with lychee ice cream

Sesame ice cream + red bean taiyaki

We requested to grill it ourselves

Really like the restaurant and casual ambiance. I told Darrin about it and he thought the name sounded familiar... We actually went to one in Japan!! Gyu Kaku is the largest Japanese BBQ chain. Try it out!!

Alrighty! I have to remove my makeup and get ready for bed!! 

Good night ...zzZ

[REVIEW] Elizabeth Nose Pore White Pack

Guess what?? I have a review for you^^ My first ever product review on my blog!
(**Strictly my personal & honest opinion**)

I have been loving the pore's care for blackheads from Elizabeth!! Darrin and I got it from a Watsons in Korea when we had our mini vacation. Funny thing is that Darrin was preventing me from getting it, and eventually, he totally fell in love with it after the first use.

Packaging of the product is pretty cute! Happy baby with a nose strip... Hahahaa!! Kind of attracted me to buy this specific one instead of the others in the section because of the quote "Wanna have baby skin?" Most definitely!! Soft, smooth, and bouncy^^ Whose doesn't??!

Definitely a great buy because it was 1 + 1!! Meaning there is 2 packs for a price of one^^ Price was around 6, 000 won for the 16 pore strips!! (Only have 2 more left now... gotta restock)

Day Trip to Seattle, Washington

On the 3rd day of the Tan Family vacation, we drove to Seattle, Washington from Vancouver for a day trip!! Drive was around 4 hours because there was a wait for border crossing. Very exciting!! First time crossing the borders^^

Yay for road trip!!

Long line for border crossing 

Got off the car for a walk n pictures^^

My sister took a pic of me taking a pic of mommy

Beautiful view while waiting O.O

We decided to get breakfast in Seattle, so first stop is PIKE PLACE CHOWDER (address: 1530 Post Aly Seattle, WA 98101)!! 

Long line to be expected

Outside seating available

Food for 4 people^^ ~ around $60??

Mommy caught off guard!!

Haha!! Daddy is hilarious!!

Can't believe she used the sock as a camera case! AHAHHA!!

After a full tummy, we walked around the Pike Place Market and also the FIRST Starbucks!!

Make sure to come here if ur in Seattle

Performers in the market

My sister n me d(=^^=)b

First Starbucks!!

Pike Place is like SF's Fisherman's Wharf

Lots of fruits, veggies, and seafood

Daddy and mommy holding hands ^^

Walking along the path

Cool car  inside the market

Mommy n me!!

Mommy n ma^^

Group pic (Perfect if my brother also came)

Tourist shopping

Halloooo my sista!!

Headed to the Space Needle afterwards (address: 400 Broad Street, Seattle WA 98109)!! Daddy and mommy was not willing to take the elevator to the top...therefore, we browse around the gift shops and walked around the place. Hahahha! Of course we didn't want to leave daddy and mommy alone and go tour by ourselves. We found out that our parents are a bit scared of heights from the Capilano Suspension Bridge!

Space Needle!!!!!!

Gift shop^^

My daddy loves taking pictures

I love this picture of my sister!!

I-spy my sister! Ahahahhaha

Seattle was not much different from San Francisco and not much shopping going on. After exploring the surrounding of the Space Needle, we decided to head back to Vancouver for dinner. Border Crossing again!! 

Back to Vancouver we go!!

Daddy's the driver and we're his guide^^

The road trip was very fun because my daddy cracks a lot of jokes. We especially like the experience of the border crossing... first time and very new experience!