mclarenblog.com

I ordered a new Mac Book Pro for my self with apple care and a iTouch for my daughter.  My E-mail notifications for this order came to be a bit weird.  The order was cut into two. The iTouch was on one order while the laptop was on the second.  The iTouch arrived extremely fast, with gift wrapping that I do not remember ordering, and was charged $5.  The iTouch qualified for a rebate but I never was notified how to get the rebate.  I called customer service and was told to got to a web site and that process went really smooth.

I thought I had paid for expedited shipping for the laptop but the iTouch came extremely fast while the laptop took way too long to arrive.  It appeared to me that they applied the expedite shipping, $18, to a $100 iTouch and NOT a $2,487.00 laptop.   That made my daughter real happy but I am paying the bill, they did not know that, and I had to wait.

I never got any E-mail or snail mail or package for the Apple protection plan.  I finally called two months later and was told that indeed the tech support computers did show that I had paid for the plan.  I was told that a package should have been send with a certificate and a CD inside.  Their records showed the package was sent.  Well, I am still waiting for it for over two months.  I had to call another number and was told that they would send a certificate but no CD!  I would have to go to a web site and download the software and burn my own CD!  Incredible.  I went to the web site and it did not work.  I called Apple technical support again and they approved sending me a CD.  That was cool.  I was given another web site address, a longer one to try out and it did not work either using Firefox or Safari.  Funny thing, tech support told me the hypertext transfer protocol was “HTTPS” but I found I could only get response using “HTTP”.  Tech support told me the address they gave me worked on their machine.  Https indicates a secure site and a number of issues need to be set correctly and working correctly with your browser as follows: SSL settings, proxy settings, security software such as firewalls.

Boston University offers a wonderful test to see if your web browser is set correctly for proper SSL operation:  http://weblogin.bu.edu/troubleshooting?cmd=ssl

All my testing revealed nothing wrong, so my assumption was there was a problem with the Apple web site.

Here are my issues with Apple:

• If the customer pays for expedited shipping, pun intended, deliver!  This issue is not just a problem for Apple but I experience this problem with most Internet businesses.  You pay for expedited shipping but for some cockamamie reason, you don’t get it.
• I should have been sent an e-mail telling me how to complete the rebate process for the iTouch.
• I should have been sent an e-mail telling me that I should expect to receive, in the mail, a package offering the  Apple Protection Plan certificate and CD.
• When I was directed to a secure web site as a backup option for me to get a copy of the software, make the site work.

Here are the positive aspects of these problems:

• Apple does have a wonderful support infrastructure that seems to come to the rescue when problems need to be resolved.
• I had to put Windows XP into my Apple laptop for ham radio and astronomy applications using Boot Camp .  The frustrations arising from the Windows operating system are so apparent and significant, in comparison to the Macintosh operating system.  This validates, in my mind, the huge cost I paid for the Mac laptop.  If you like to tinker, get a Windows machine.  If you like to get work done, get a Mac.

Summary: I recommend that you buy from an Apple Super Store instead of through the Internet store.  It seems to me that almost all these issues and dissapointments, I had,  would not have happened if I had walked into a store and dealt with Apple sales people.  Next, if you buy on line and want expidited shipping you will naturaly pay more, just make sure you will get the item(s) the exact day you expect or sooner.  My recommendation is to not pay for any expidited shipping.

Celebrity Food Show

http://www.celebrityfoodshow.com

This event took place at the Hilton Anaheim Hotel
777 Convention Way
Anaheim Calif.

Overall score: C-
Organization of show: C+ (we had reserved tickets but still had to stand in line)
Number of vendors: D-  (reason for a low overall score)
Hilton as a host site: B  (spacious interiors, real up scale facility overall)
Parking: C+ (a better than average score because the parking garage was integrated to the hotel)

The event took place for three days, August 15, 16, and 17, 2008.  We attended Saturday August 16.  The hotel is next door to the Anaheim Convention Center. Parking cost us $6.  It seemed to take forever to find a parking spot inside the huge parking structure.  We only stayed for a few hours at the show because the show seemed quite small.  Tickets cost $10 each.

The show, for us, was nothing more than a real up scale walk through COSTCO.  If one has ever gone to COSTCO, that store offers samples of some of its food and drinks at various places around the store.  The Ace Of Cakes Food Show offered a rather small room of vendors each at separate booths and long lines to sample, look at what each vendor was promoting and selling.  Most of the booths were indeed selling and claiming the prices were special show pricing.

What was quite odd was most of the vendors seem to fall within these categories: olive oil, chocolate candy, seasoning, and sauces which seemed a bit odd.

Here are my top picks:

• Blissful Brownies
  http://www.blisfulbrownies.comP.O. Box 1132
  Hood River, Oregon 97031
  Phone: 1-800-414-2075
  Fax: 541-308-0229
  A box of brownies cost $20.
  The flavor was very good.
  Tip: Think of buying a box of Ghirardelli Tripple Chocolate Brownie Mix and make your own.   You can claim, “I made these”, and save money.
• Bouquet Of Fruits
  http://www.bouquetoffruits.com/

  http://www.ontracksnacks.com/

  http://www.chocolatefruits.com

  5877 E. Brown Ave.
  Fresno, Cal.  93727
  Phone: 559-294-2070 x109

• This was my favorite booth to visit for this whole event.  There was a wonderful Lebanese man who appeared to me to be the owner. This man had a wonderful passion for what he was selling.  His product was a fruit bar, an energy bar, that was being sold at some COSTCO facilities.  The product has the name of “On Track”.  When I opened the bar wrapper, it looked to be filled with dried fruit all pressed together.  The flavor was not that bad but as I tasted the bar I kept in mind what I was eating, which was pressed dried fruit and the flavor did seem to match what the ingredients on the wrapper showed.  Put another way, the flavor was not immediately pandering to my palate after having sampled a lot of delicious show offerings but it tasted healthy.  Our family will look for it at COSTCO next time we go there.
  The next item we were showed were some rather small round chocolates.  They were very good and I am sorry but I can not identify them for you.  The web sites above do offer a whole lot of chocolate choices.  I was given a tip.  If I go to Target and search out Choxie candy, I should look for a round box of truffles.  I did just that and the box cost me $12 and was called “Summer Desert Collection”.  When I sampled these chocolates, they did not come up to what I sampled at the show.  I was told that starting in October a new “American Desert Collection’ would be offered.  I took this to mean that this vendor was supplying these truffles to Choxie and sold under Choxie brand.
  But, what knocked my socks off was the Truffles filled with wine!  Go to this web site to find them:
  http://www.chocolatefruits.com/products/chocolate_truffles.htm

  For 9 truffles you will pay about $17.  We were warned to put the whole truffle inside your mouth and close your mouth and then bite into it.   Believe me, you really need to do it that way because the chocolate was indeed filled with a LOT of wine and explodes when bitten into!  This would make a terrific gift idea for any wine lovers you know.  Personally, I will go to Trader Joe’s, buy a good bottle of cheap wine and a bar of chocolate and get a LOT more wine for $17.
  

• Brandine Toffee
  http://www.BrandiniToffee.com

  LaQuinta California
  760-200-1598
  Great flavor.

• Sweetstacks
  http://www.SweetStacks.com

  Phone: 619-997-1097
  You can order a free sample on line.
  They claim the pancakes are gourmet.  I found them to have good ingredients, no aluminum.  The flavor, in my opinion, was just a bit better than you will find in most restaurants.

Summary: The Hilton was an excellent choice for offering this type of show. The parking garage next door did offer a lot of parking but it took a lot of time and driving to find a spot to park the car.   The parking fees were a bit high when compared to the show price. The show was a disappointment for everyone in our party, seven people, because it was so small.  Also, there was not a full range of food products being shown.

World Famous Restaurant

711 Pacific Beach Drive
Pacific Beach area of San Diego.
San Diego, Calif.  92108
Phone: 858-272-3100
Fax: 858-272-3189

California coastal cuisine.

Reviewed 8/7/08 (Thursday) at about 9:45 AM for breakfast.

Food: B (Once it arrived, quite good.)
Service: C (Food took a long time to arrive.  we ordered fruit and got potatoes.  I had to ask for my coffee cup to be refilled.)
Menu: B (Scored high for some unusually nice offerings.)
Value: B (Not bad prices for what you get.)
Ambiance: A (See text below.)
Restrooms: C (a serpentine path to get to)

The concierge at the Paradise Point Resort & Spa, Jeff, recommended we try World Famous as it was one of his favorites.  He recommended the eggs Benedict.  Getting to the restaurant from the resort was extremely easy, Jeff showed us on a map he provided.  We went north on Ingram Street to Crown Point Shores and made a left on Rivera Drive, which turned into Pacific Beach Drive.  He said just go past Mission Blvd and look carefully for an underground parking lot at the Promenade shopping center.  He said parking in the beach area can at times be difficult but few people know about this particular garage because the entrance is practically hidden.   We have offered a web page that we hope shows you how to enter this garage.  <Promenade parking garage>

The restaurant is right on the boardwalk and the longest segment of the restaurant runs along the boardwalk and offers a wonderful view of the ocean and people moving up and down the boardwalk.  There is a patio area that has a half wall and on top are windows that offer an unrestricted view.  Just behind the patio is a large, rather dark dining room from which very good views of the ocean are available.

We were luck enough to get a table, actually two side by side, on the patio with a wonderful view of the ocean.  My wife and I sat at the table closest to the windows to the internal dining room and my daughter sat at her own table but next to ours.  Her table rocked.  I asked the waitress for something to wedge under the table, she said she would get something but never returned.  My daughter took 4 Sweet and Low packages and wedged them under one leg of the table.  The tables were wood tops with wonderfully rounded edges.  The chairs on the patio were wood slats on a metal frame, not too bad for comfort.

My wife, daughter and I did a three way split of the following two menu items:

World Famous Wipe Out $8.75.
3 eggs
3 buttermilk pancakes
Choice of ham, bacon or sausage.
Choice of potatoes, refried beans or fresh fruit.

Famous Bread Pudding French Toast  $7.55.
Home made bread pudding sliced, egg dipped, pan griddled, topped with diced bananas and caramelized pecans.

The coffee, I was told it Boyd’s Coffee and it was very good.  The second cup was excellent.    Boyd’s Coffee is so much better than Starbucks.

The waitresses were another visual attraction (for me), all cute, wearing short shorts and skirts and all seeming possessing killer tans.  I gave the ambiance score a high mark for having three wonderful visuals to keep me occupied, ocean, boardwalk traffic and the waitresses.

Here is the meal analysis:

• Eggs = perfect.
• Bacon = perfect.
• Potatoes = really good which is unusual.  My wife thinks they were cooked in butter, nice flavor, quite a surprise.
• Pancakes = light, fluffy, bland.
• Bread pudding French toast = quite good.
• Coffee= excellent!

I tried the Famous Bread Pudding French Toast with no syrup and they tasted just a tad better than good.  When syrup was added they really achieved a step higher in flavor.

I have a recommendation for World Famous Restaurant.  Why not offer a new menu selection and label it “Word Famous Wipe Out PLUS”.  Keep all the items for Wipe Out but substitute, for the pancakes, the bread pudding French toast.  After comparing pancakes to the French toast I just could not figure out why anyone would want pancakes.

Parking tip for The Eggery Etc., World’s Famous Restaurant, and parking for the Promenade in an underground parking garage.

This tip is intended to show you where to park for the following restaurants:

• The Eggery Etc.
• World Famous

There is a parking garage under the shopping complex of stores called the Promenade.  This very large shopping center is a very large shopping center up against the boardwalk street, Ocean Blvd.  The south end of the Promenade is where you enter an underground parking garage.  The north end of the Promenade is Reed Street and this is where you exit from the underground parking garage.

To enter the garage, come to the intersection of Mission Blvd and Pacific Beach Dr.  Turn west, toward the ocean on Pacific Beach Dr.  Just a short way down Pacific Beach Dr. you should notice a driveway cutting into the Promenade and as you get closer you should make out the driveway going under the buildings.  See the images provided.

Tip: If you intent to eat at the World Famous Restaurant, ask for a parking card from the hotel concierge which also serves to get you at the head of the line if there is one at this restaurant.  The card will give you free valet parking (saving you $3).  I spotted the valet booth going up at about 11 am at the Worlds Famous.  The hostess at the Worlds Famous will stamp the card to give you free parking in the Promenade parking structure if you decide to park your own car in this garage.  (Note that the Worlds Famous Restaurant is not part of the Promenade, not in the Promenade but must have this arrangement which is good for you and me).

The image above was taken on Pacific Beach Drive as it approaches Mission Blvd, driving toward the ocean (west).  The buildings seen right of center are the Promenade.

This image shows the south side of the Promenade.  This part of Ocean Beach Drive is one way with a building in the middle and a one way street going east further off to the left.  Just follow the arrows.  The second arrow indicates that as you get to the back part of the Promenade you can turn into a parking lot drive way (seen below).  Drive slowly or you might pass the parking lot.  By the way, at the end of the street above is The World Famous Restaurant.  If you like to use valet parking, just continue down this street and the restaurant will be on your right hand side.

The picture above shows the parking lot entrance located at the south west corner of the Promenade.  Inside the Promenade is The Eggery Etc. Restaurant.

Kaiserhof Restaurant

2253 Sunset Cliffs Blvd.
San Diego, Calif. 92107
Phone: 619-224-0606
Fax: 619-224-3567

Reviewed 8-6-08 for dinner.

Food: B
Decor: B
Service: A
Restrooms: B

This is a German food restaurant. The menu offers categories of sea food, steaks, veal, pork, chicken, sausages, beef and deserts. Prices range between $15 and $28. From 5 to 6:30 early bird specials might be offered for a savings of about $2 but with only one side dish. When ordering non early bird menu items you get a choice of two sides in addition to a salad or soup. The side dishes are as follows:

German fried potatoes.
French fries.
Mashed potatoes.
Potato pancake.
Red potatoes.
Potato salad.
Bread dumpling.
Wide egg noodles.
Spatzle (home made German noodles).
Sauerkraut.
Red cabbage.
Vegetables of the day.
Apple sauce.

The meal started with rolls, which my daughter devoured and loved.  She could not stop commenting on how good they tasted.
My daughter had only goulash soup. My wife had chicken gruyere ($15.95). I had sauerbraten, Bavarian style ($19.75). As side dishes my wife and I both had asparagus soup and spatzle. I also had red cabbage.

The rolls for me were good but not special. The asparagus cuttings in the soup were way too tough and could not be chewed. The soup seemed too salty and slightly harsh in flavor. I sampled my wife’s chicken gruyere and it was rich and done very well. My daughter’s soup was very good  and had a mild flavor. My sauerbraten was very good. The sauce was a slightly sour and hinted with vinegar just a bit too much. The meat was tender.

The waiter was perfect. My back was to the center of the dining room so I could not see any staff approach our table. The support staff did quite well because I still could see arms reaching past me to place rolls and refill drinks on our table.

This restaurant is quite close to Paradise Point Resort & Spa and I recommend that if you stay at that resort or any other hotel in Mission Bay, you consider trying this restaurant out.

There is a parking lot behind the restaurant but if you arrive late, you might have to park at a gas station as it seemed there were not enough parking spaces for the number of tables in the restaurant.  We also found the streets in this area to be quite busy just before 5pm during week days.