The User-Friendly Espresso Machine

It all started with a cup of great espresso at a friend's home and another and another...  My husband talked about the coffee for days on end.  Nespresso had that creamy goodness that just felt like home.

I watched my friend make coffees at parties she would have and loved the ease of using the machine.  It did not have the scary pressurized steam like the espresso machines we had at home that I could never use.  And it had the lovely milk frother whose resulting cream I can actually use on my baked treats and desserts.  I was sold - if only it didn't cost over $300!

My husband and I almost never pay full price on anything, but we manage to get the quality equipment we want.  I got this machine at a great deal on Amazon Warehouse Deals.  It came in the original box, had the serial number on the machine and the sampler set of coffee flavors in tact.

It's a splurge, yes, but when I think about it - the fact that I can get a cup of espresso for around 50 cents instead of around $2 at our local coffee shop means I can save money in the long run.  It's the perfect beverage for my baked goods!  Now if only we had this machine at the office, I would join the line at the coffee machines for sure.

A great product from a brand I grew up with.  Good job, Nestle!

Navigating Frequent Flyer Programs

Virgin America's Elevate!
Loyalty Program

We flew to New Zealand on Virgin Australia last January.  I was advised to sign up for their frequent flyer program by friends and family so I went to Virgin Australia's site and found out that unless you were a resident of Australia, New Zealand or nearby countries you do not qualify to join.  I thought that was very unfair, after all if I choose to fly back to Australia in the future there was a big possibility that I would fly on Virgin Australia again, but I didn't really know how to proceed at that point.

Until our family friend who used to be a travel agent encouraged me to try and sign up again.  This time I tried researching Virgin America's frequent flyer program.  And of course, I should have signed up with them and then claimed my points for their partner airline there.  This is what happens when your mom handles all your travel arrangements growing up and you never ask her how she does it!

Since they honored previous flights from up to 6 months ago, I signed up and was instructed to send an email with either my scanned boarding pass or the confirmation email sent to me.  Their representative told me that they would add my mileage from California to Australia as per their agreement with their partner airline.  All is not lost!

So for all you newbie long haul travelers, if you're flying on an airline that doesn't accept members from the country you are from - try their partner airline's frequent flyer program.  Don't lose those precious points that you can use for future travel!

Happy journeys, my friends!

Pho Hao on a Cold Night

Nothing beats kobe beef pho on a cold rainy night.  I think my neighbors agree because our local Vietnamese restaurant, Pho Hao, was packed last Wednesday and every table had bowls of pho on it!

I must say the food in this restaurant has vastly improved from a few years back when we took our family here for soup.  I love the clear soup with the fresh vegetables.  It's not oily and the broth is actually very flavorful now.  I am not surprised that they have more patrons now than they did before, we pass this restaurant a lot when going to the grocery store and it has always been empty, but not anymore!

I think at the very core of a restaurant is good food.  Before you think about your decor or marketing, you must make sure you have food that people will come back in for.  And this is what Pho Hao did.  They concentrated on making their food taste better and have more customers to show for it.

Although I love their simple decor too.  They have very tastefully done paintings of Vietnamese women in their traditional ao dai on the walls.  They have colorful flower arrangements in strategic places, making the once stark-looking ambiance a little more cozy.

I'm glad we have Pho Hao nearby.  It's a great place for a hot bowl of soup on a cold night!  I would recommend it to my pho-loving friends any time.

The Green Tea Ice Cream Petition

Image taken from New Zealand Natural's website

I am a big fan of Starbucks' Green Tea Frappuccino.  I love Todai's Iced Green Tea and their Matcha-flavored ice cream.  (Are you beginning to see the pattern here?) But New Zealand Natural's Green Tea ice cream tops my list of green tea cravings!

My nieces in New Zealand raved about it while we were visiting and my sister-in-law was kind enough to introduce us to the much-talked-about flavor.  New Zealand dairy must be the creamiest I've ever had, add that to Green Tea ice cream and you've got a home run!  Green tea has a subtle flavor that's why I had my misgivings about the ice cream.  In my experience ice cream is supposed to have over the top deliciousness and very rich flavor, but New Zealand Natural's Green Tea brings just enough of that subtly yummy matcha flavor and elevates it with their out-of-this-world cream.  Yes, it was that good!

I heard a rumor that New Zealand Natural ice cream is already available in the US, but imagine my disappointment when I browsed their website and found that my favorite flavor was not listed.  So this is my petition to the powers that be at New Zealand Natural USA, please please please bring your Green Tea ice cream to America (...or if it's already here, please update your website...)!  We promise to consume it with great enthusiasm and be forever grateful.

Sincerely Yours,

Green Tea Ice Cream Crave-r

Come Fly With Me on Virgin Australia

The travel season was at its peak when we flew to New Zealand.  I searched different travel sites, asked different travel agents for quotes and the cheapest rate I could get was offered by Virgin Australia.  So I booked it, 3 adjacent seats with one passenger in need of wheel chair assistance.

From the passenger check-in desk to the airplane lounge, Virgin Australia screamed comfort and luxury.  The ground and flight attendants were very friendly and helpful to my 85-year-old mother-in-law as they assisted her to her seat and to the toilets that were kept clean at all times.  Meal selections were served in a timely manner and were quite delicious.

The in-flight entertainment selection was awesome!  The movie and cd selections kept me entertained for most of the long haul flight.  The seats were properly cushioned and had enough room to be able to stretch my legs under the seat in front.

All in all, I would recommend flying with Virgin Australia to all my friends!  It offered a lot of value for a great price.  I give this airline two thumbs up!  Good job, Mr. Branson.

Orange Sherbet Fortune Cookies

Did you know that there are no fortune cookies in New Zealand?  My stepdaughter's wedding is coming up and her wedding's color motif is orange.  She wanted to serve fortune cookies to her guests.

My husband, thinking that we were going to get just the normal cookies like the ones served in Chinese restaurants, waited until the last week to figure out where to buy them.  While he was searching, I asked him to see if we could have orange fortune cookies.  He found a store that offered them, they looked like french macaroons, the cookie itself was a different color.  I didn't like their orange shade, plus they looked very thin and easy to break. So I decided to do another search and found Chocolate Fortunes.

I found them on Monday morning, sent an email at 4 AM asking if I could order a few hundred of them to be ready by Saturday.  I got a reply at 6:30 AM saying they would be able to get me my order.  The person I talked to was immensely helpful and shipped my order to me so that I did not have to drive all the way to North Hollywood to pick them up.  I received the package on Thursday as promised.

My husband and I tasted the cookie when we got them and they were delicious!  Not only do they look like pretty wedding favors, ordered especially for my stepdaughter's orange-motif wedding - but they were a real treat to the taste buds.  And if you order 2-3 weeks before your event, you can even personalize the fortunes in the cookies to have your event's/couple's name on them. You can even order special containers to put them in.

I would definitely recommend Chocolate Fortunes to all my friends. They will be a unique and memorable addition to your next big event - plus their staff will help you with all your questions and make sure your chocolate fortunes get to you in a timely manner.  Thank you, Marty!