Coastal Journey, Day 3: Monterey to San Francisco

Another day, another institution: The famed Monterey Aquarium. Located in one of the old sardine canning factories in Cannery Row, the Aquarium is well-organized and a great place to bring the Kid Formerly Known as Blogger Toddler. For history buffs, there’s even an exhibit on the rise and fall of the canning industry there (basically, the sardines disappeared from Monterey Bay virtually overnight due to overfishing, killing the industry.) Another interactive exhibit goes into detail on which seafood to avoid at restaurants, due to harmful fishing practices or endangered species.

The view outside the aquarium.

Divers examine sea life outside the aquarium.

Our favorite sight at the aquarium: Sea otters swim and hold on to plastic balls.

The back of the aquarium.

After the aquarium — yes, we had to drag the kid away once he discovered the play area — we acted on another piece of Chowhound advice and headed up to a small market near the Presidio of Monterey for sandwiches (above). Several people had recommended Compagno’s Hilltop Market, and we weren’t disappointed. Large sandwiches — I ate half there, and saved the other half for the drive up. (Maria did the same.) It’s a mini-mart, but they did have a few tables out there.

Meanwhile, back on the road, we encountered Castroville — artichoke capital, so they say.

And they have a big-ass artichoke statue to prove it. Good enough for me.

After that, we sped up to San Francisco, driving through Santa Cruz, heading up and briefly stopping at IKEA in San Mateo for a break (we loves our IKEAs). We made it to the Hotel Intercontinental by 6, and set out to meet our friend Lisa and her husband and son at Osha Thai near our hotel. (Evan, of course, wanted to ride a street car at that very second. It took every effort to keep him with us; he might have ran off to find the cable cars himself hWe wound down the day by grabbing a piece of cake at the Red Ribbon Bakery connected to Jollibee near the Metreon.

Next up: On Day Four, clang, clang, clang goes the Street Car.

Coastal Journey, Day 3: Monterey to San Francisco

Another day, another institution: The famed Monterey Aquarium. Located in one of the old sardine canning factories in Cannery Row, the Aquarium is well-organized and a great place to bring the Kid Formerly Known as Blogger Toddler. For history buffs, there’s even an exhibit on the rise and fall of the canning industry there (basically, the sardines disappeared from Monterey Bay virtually overnight due to overfishing, killing the industry.) Another interactive exhibit goes into detail on which seafood to avoid at restaurants, due to harmful fishing practices or endangered species.

The view outside the aquarium.

Divers examine sea life outside the aquarium.

Our favorite sight at the aquarium: Sea otters swim and hold on to plastic balls.

The back of the aquarium.

After the aquarium — yes, we had to drag the kid away once he discovered the play area — we acted on another piece of Chowhound advice and headed up to a small market near the Presidio of Monterey for sandwiches (above). Several people had recommended Compagno’s Hilltop Market, and we weren’t disappointed. Large sandwiches — I ate half there, and saved the other half for the drive up. (Maria did the same.) It’s a mini-mart, but they did have a few tables out there.

Meanwhile, back on the road, we encountered Castroville — artichoke capital, so they say.

And they have a big-ass artichoke statue to prove it. Good enough for me.

After that, we sped up to San Francisco, driving through Santa Cruz, heading up and briefly stopping at IKEA in San Mateo for a break (we loves our IKEAs). We made it to the Hotel Intercontinental by 6, and set out to meet our friend Lisa and her husband and son at Osha Thai near our hotel. (Evan, of course, wanted to ride a street car at that very second. It took every effort to keep him with us; he might have ran off to find the cable cars himself hWe wound down the day by grabbing a piece of cake at the Red Ribbon Bakery connected to Jollibee near the Metreon.

Next up: On Day Four, clang, clang, clang goes the Street Car.

Eagle Rock’s Mall of Manila

The L.A. Times finally finally picks up on the mainstream Eagle Rock Plaza’s move to target the large Filipino community in the area — something we’ve written about several times, including this post last year.

But the story doesn’t dive in deep enough to describe the scope of the transformation — no mention, for example, of Bench, a Gap-style clothing chain from the Philippines that filled a void at the mall; nor does it get into the long lines Jollibee created when it first opened — or the fact that Chow King, a Chinese-oriented Filipino fast food joint, recently opened across the way.

Also the story doesn’t discuss the mall’s recent ownership change — Westfield sold the shopping center last year to Pennsylvania-based Centro Watt. I would have loved to hear more from the mall owners about this unique strategy, and how they’re managing to save what was a dying mall. The reporter does touch on the unusual juxtaposition of a mainstream mall — with big anchors like Target and Macy’s — carrying so many chains that target a specific ethnic group. The fact that I can pick up items at Target, then share a halo-halo with Evan at Chow King (and snacks at Seafood City), is pretty cool.