San Jose, CA
On a last minute whim, I drove up to San Jose for the Pac-12 Championship game. It was a quick one night trip and a very early drive along the 5 Interstate highway. Near Gilroy, made a pit stop at one of the local fruit stands and purchased local honey and spiced pistachios. I also saw a Sonic Drive-In and had lunch.
Checked into the Four Points Sheraton San Jose Airport. It is a recently converted Radisson. With the year winding down, my SPG upgrade certificates are in need of use and I was confirmed to a suite a few days earlier. The suite was spacious and the room had two bathroom sinks. Makes it nice to use the shower and let others be able to brush their teeth. Parking is free which is a nice amenity in this city.
Met some family at the Ten Ren in Cupertino. For such the high number of foreign folks, I am surprised to see that the ethnic restaurants and eateries are underdeveloped in San Jose. This particular Ten Ren is in a new Asian retail plaza with a Ranch 99 supermarket as the anchor. Fairly small, it was a surprise to see that they didn't have the volume to make it a regular sized Ten Ren.
Afterwards, went over to Levi's Stadium. I was not expecting the level of traffic around the area since the stadium is in a corporate area of San Jose. It seems the most ideal way to travel into the stadium is through mass transit. The parking was tough to reach at the stadium and I opted to park a little out. Be forewarned, purses are not allowed and there is a bag check in outside. Luckily, the check in was free but I was told by security when walking towards the stadium that it wasn't. I did notice that the bag check in where people would have walked into the stadium from the train was very packed. The one I used was pretty empty.
Inside the stadium, you can tell the ethnic influence in the area. There were bao stations, indian curry options, and the regular assortment of stadium food. There are vegan options as well. I'm just glad they had beer because I was pretty sure this is the most hipstered stadium I have ever seen.
After the game, went to Pho Cong Ly on 460 E William St, San Jose, CA 95112. My cousins who live in the area are convinced that the quality of ethnic foods is poor in San Jose. I mentioned to him that it was surprising given the number of people here. So, in hopes to disprove the notion, I had the pho dac biet and found the pho good.
Returned home the next day and made a stop again in Gilroy. There wasn't many fruit markets open but I did find one. I bought some cara cara oranges, kiwis, and ginger. The cara cara oranges were a new type of oranges to me and I really enjoyed them. Definitely will stop in Gilroy if I'm ever driving to get some. I'm sure there are some locally but I haven't figured out where.
Casa de Fruta has a number of signs along the road and I stopped into this complex. It looks like a common rest stop for travelers. There is a 24 hour restaurant, wine room, dessert/bakery, BBQ, and grocery store. It looks like you can also stay here too. I tasted some of their wines and bought mead, apricot wine, and other sweet wines. I did find the local products were more expensive than the other fruit stands and opted to stick with the wines.
Checked into the Four Points Sheraton San Jose Airport. It is a recently converted Radisson. With the year winding down, my SPG upgrade certificates are in need of use and I was confirmed to a suite a few days earlier. The suite was spacious and the room had two bathroom sinks. Makes it nice to use the shower and let others be able to brush their teeth. Parking is free which is a nice amenity in this city.
 |
| Four Points San Jose Airport Suite Living Room |
 |
| Four Points San Jose Airport Suite King Bedroom |
Met some family at the Ten Ren in Cupertino. For such the high number of foreign folks, I am surprised to see that the ethnic restaurants and eateries are underdeveloped in San Jose. This particular Ten Ren is in a new Asian retail plaza with a Ranch 99 supermarket as the anchor. Fairly small, it was a surprise to see that they didn't have the volume to make it a regular sized Ten Ren.
Afterwards, went over to Levi's Stadium. I was not expecting the level of traffic around the area since the stadium is in a corporate area of San Jose. It seems the most ideal way to travel into the stadium is through mass transit. The parking was tough to reach at the stadium and I opted to park a little out. Be forewarned, purses are not allowed and there is a bag check in outside. Luckily, the check in was free but I was told by security when walking towards the stadium that it wasn't. I did notice that the bag check in where people would have walked into the stadium from the train was very packed. The one I used was pretty empty.
Inside the stadium, you can tell the ethnic influence in the area. There were bao stations, indian curry options, and the regular assortment of stadium food. There are vegan options as well. I'm just glad they had beer because I was pretty sure this is the most hipstered stadium I have ever seen.
After the game, went to Pho Cong Ly on 460 E William St, San Jose, CA 95112. My cousins who live in the area are convinced that the quality of ethnic foods is poor in San Jose. I mentioned to him that it was surprising given the number of people here. So, in hopes to disprove the notion, I had the pho dac biet and found the pho good.
Returned home the next day and made a stop again in Gilroy. There wasn't many fruit markets open but I did find one. I bought some cara cara oranges, kiwis, and ginger. The cara cara oranges were a new type of oranges to me and I really enjoyed them. Definitely will stop in Gilroy if I'm ever driving to get some. I'm sure there are some locally but I haven't figured out where.
Casa de Fruta has a number of signs along the road and I stopped into this complex. It looks like a common rest stop for travelers. There is a 24 hour restaurant, wine room, dessert/bakery, BBQ, and grocery store. It looks like you can also stay here too. I tasted some of their wines and bought mead, apricot wine, and other sweet wines. I did find the local products were more expensive than the other fruit stands and opted to stick with the wines.
Comments