One more day to get everything ready, and then I'm off.

Stay tuned...

The hotel had excellent facilities, fantastic staff, and great food. I had a king bed room in the Executive Tower. The room was recently refurbished, new clean carpet, paint, bedding. The bed and down pillows were amazing, and the flat panel TV. The bathroom was smaller compared to other Marriott hotels. The fitness center was great, nice size, TV's on eliptical and treadmills. I would definitely stay here again and highly recommend it to others.

Pho Hoa is a chain restaurant serving "Pho", the Vietnamese noodle soup. There are about thirty restaurants in the US, mainly in California and Washington. What you find in a typical bowl of Pho is rice noodles in beef broth, topped with different cuts of beef, onion, and coriander. It also comes with a plate of bean sprouts, basil leaves, and green chili, and you can add them to the soup as much as you like. You can choose what kind of meat you would like: from thinly sliced steak to tendon and tripe! For me, Pho is a quick, fulfilling meal, and I never get tired of it. Wish there were one of these restaurants in my town...

I went and checked out Tomatina. It's this Italian place in Santa Clara. Parking was kinda rough but if you don't mind walking a little then it's all good. The atmosphere is very cozy. It's small but not tiny and people are friendly. They have a wide selection of salads, pasta, and pizzas. I tried their lasagna and to my surprise it wasn't as big as I thought. BUT I was full and satisfied. I think it's because we're so used to receiving large portions and taking them home. In this case, you'd probably finish the entire meal but be very full and satsified. The quality seems just alright though. It came with some bread that wasn't to be desired for. And I've had better lasagnas in the past. The lasagna cost around $12 and considering the size and quality of what I received, I don't think it's that great of a deal to be honest. I also tried their gelato. They only had 3 flavors of vanilla bean, chcolate, and hazelnut. I had vanilla bean. It was expensive! $5.25 for 2 scoops. But again, it was really good and fulfilling. Hours: Mon - Thr 11:00am to 10:00pm Fri - 11:00am to 11:00pm Sat - 11:30am to 11:00pm Sun - 11:30am to 10:00pm

I love yogurt! And I was in a hunt for some good yogurt one night and found this place on yelp.com They don't have a wide selection of flavors but it seems everyday their flavors change so that's pretty cool. You basically don't know what they will be having that day until you come in. You can call and hear what the flavors of the day are though. They claim to be non-fat but I'm not quite sure. They also have these "bursts" of flavors that can be added to the yogurt. It ends up being a swirl of 2 flavors. I got the vanilla and orange bursts and it was yummy. I got the child size and it was huge!

This hotel is simple but does the job if you need somewhere clean and decent in price to sleep at. It's very spacious! All rooms are suites and have a separate living room area with tv and a separate bedroom with another tv. Service is pretty good for the most part. The great thing about this place is - free parking, free breakfast, and free happy hour with snacks and drinks every day!

If you have ever been to Sushi House near Berkeley in Alameda, this place has the exact same stuff and to me it is just as good! My friend told me these places are both owned by the same owner of Sushi House in Alameda. It is just as pricy as Sushi House, about $10 for special rolls, but I definitely recommend it if you miss Sushi House and live in the South bay.