Lucky Finds

Yesterday, hubby and I ventured out once again to see what else beyond our lil' part of town has to offer. We were basically stuck at home all day 'cuz hubby's luggage didn't quite arrive the same time he did. The airline told us that they'd deliver his bag the following day to our place within a certain timeframe. Do delivery services ever stay within those times? Nope. Needless to say, hubby was getting a bit inpatient and when an hour past the time came around, he was pretty pissed. Numerous calls were made to the airlines to check the status of delivery, but all they could say was, "It's on its way." We finally get a call from the delivery guy downstairs, but turns out that he isn't willing to bring it up to our floor. Said he wasn't allowed to enter the building...wtf? So what you're telling us is that after waiting the entire day for your ass to bring one piece of luggage, you can't even bring it up to our floor?! So hubby goes down to get his gear and basically tells the guy what kind of service they have. Lol...hey hubby, tell me how you really feel!

After cooling off a bit, hubby says, "Get dressed. We're going to France." 'Scuse me? Turns out that he heard of this other mall and hell, there wasn't any way I was going to go to MOA on a Friday night! (see last Friday's entry...) Honestly, since our Mall of America experiences only seem to be cool when there's someone else to share it with from outta town, we would prefer going elsewhere...something on a smaller scale. Southdale Mall is off of France Ave exit, hence the reference to going to France. Y'know, if I was hella tired and knew that we could afford it, I'd be, "C'est vrai?! Nous allons a France?! Vite, vite- allons, allons!" (Translation: "Fo' reals?! No way?! We're goin' to France?! Well hurry the *@!? up, let's go, let's go!"....lol, da ghetto-ized version, my bad...)

As we were driving into the mall area, on the right was a Galleria. A galleria of the most shi-shi stores, "the galleria of distinction." Well 'scuse me....had a couple of upper scale IKEA-like sleek looking furniture stores. Well, we drove in to the left side where the mall was AND Cheesecake Factory! Whoo hoo! I didn't even know that they had one here! Plus, they also had P.F. Chang's chinese restaurant. We first had P.F. Changs with da Lapids down in Mountain View during what I remember as the time I had a major major allergy attack from their cat that left me wheezing for my next breath.....but that's another story. Anyways, we go into P.F. Changs and turns out the wait is an hour and a half! We make an about face and head to Cheesecake Factory, but when we get to the entrance, there's hella people waiting. Man, we came at the wrong time! Ah, there's always mall food!

Southdale Mall. 'Tis always cool to go to a mall you haven't gone to before, yah? Aside from all the knuckle-headed immature high school kids hanging out, it's nice. Reminded me of Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo, only with more floors and really funky and comfy chairs everywhere! There's also a movie theater that's accessible through the mall, but once again, filled with all these punk kids. Seriously, parents must drop their kids off after school and pick them up at closing. 'Cuz at about 9pm, ALL OF THEM started heading for the exits. I swear, if we were all closer together in a smaller and narrow corridor, it would've been like getting out of a baseball game at Pac Bell. But instead of following the crowds and feeling like cattle, these kids were zig zagging everywhere and you just couldn't help but think what you'd do if they bumped you, however how accidental it was. But before our annoyances kicked in, hubby and I did get a quick chance to walk around a bit. Now ya'll know how much I've been complaining about not having my certain guilty pleasures here in MN, yes? One of them being Mrs. Field's cookies....hmmm...I especially dig those white chunk nibblers. So you can imagine the excitement when we looked down this corridor and I saw the familiar red sign! Yes people, lo and behold, it was Mrs. Field's cookies!!! Unfortunately since it was near closing, they didn't have any white chunk, or none were made that day, but we did get a lil' bag of nibblers. It was one of those savoring moments- I just popped one in my mouth and let the chocolate be one with my tongue and I swear, it tasted so divine! Yummy! Well, we can now cross that off my list of things I'm missing in CA!

We ate at the foodcourt. 'Twas weak, but decided on Great Steaks. We're waiting for our food and the cook asks me, "Se habla espagnol?" Me? No, sorry. I just had to mention that 'cuz that's the first time I've been mistaken for Latina. For as long as I can remember, my nationality has always been questioned. Really, I don't look Pinay to you? I mean, I know that my skin is really fair and light- I blame my mom for that. When I was working, I was commonly mistaken for Chinese. I've gotten all the other Asian nationalities too- Japanese, Taiwanese, Malaysian, and once, good Lord, I was asked if I was Italian! Do I fricken look Italian to you?! I don't think so. Oh, and one time someone asked if I was Irish....only because they saw my clauddaugh tattoo. Once and for all, I just dig the meaning of it and in no way, shape, or form am I Irish in any way. Comprende?! Aiya! Naku!

Friday Night's Lucky Finds: Southdale Mall, Cheesecake Factory, P.F. Chang's and Mrs. Field's Cookies.

Each Saturday, I've been having dance practice with the college kids. It's becoming quite exciting as their show draws nearer. The latest update: the girls know the Igorot dance really well. Today, we worked on refining their movements, but honestly, they've got it down! Whoo hoo. For Pandanggo Sa Ilaw/Oasioas, we've been practicing with ONE guy, whereas the dance calls for five. Hubby came along to fill in just in case they really didn't find any male dancers. It would've sucked to have scrapped the dance, but surprisingly, four new faces showed up and thankfully, caught on really quick. We didn't have time to go into Tinikling though, but we'll work on that next week. Did I happen to mention that we bought our own Tinikling sticks?

After a couple hours of practice, hubby drives us to Dragon Star. Dragon Star is just like a Pacific Super grocery! Now be it that hubby had gone there before, it was a new place for me. Once we got there, I just started wandering the aisles to see what they had. Much to my disappointment, there wasn't any Pan De Sal or Pan de Leche. But, just seeing all them Asian folks doing their thang of trying to cut in line, bump you and not apologize really reminded me of San Francisco! Lol! Plus, my goodness, that's got to be the most Asian people I've seen in one place for a while! Since this was a quick run, we did go home with some pork siopao, some toyo (kikkoman of course!), and some pancit like noodles. And Sister- they have Yan Yan for about $.50! You don't have to send them anymore!

Saturday's Lucky Finds: Dragon Star grocery and hella Asian folks!

I wonder what we'll find tomorrow....