http://www.sandiegozoo.org/
One nice thing about where we were staying is that it was less than a mile to the zoo. We could walk there! But we decided not to because we didn't want Eliana to be in her stroller any longer than necessary. She doesn't like the car and she doesn't love the stroller. Crazy kid! :)
The zoo is at one end of Balboa Park. If you're in San Diego, and have the time, make sure to spend some of it exploring Balboa Park.
http://www.balboapark.org/
There are great restaurants, great museums, and lots of luscious green grass to hang out on. We want to go back!
Once we got to the zoo, it was time to eat lunch. If you end up going, I'd recommend to eat beforehand or to bring your own. I had chicken tacos and Jeff had fish tacos. The food was mediocre and expensive. The rice and beans on the side were cold. It fit into our schedule to do it this way, but in the future, I'd have a different plan. It wasn't worth it!
First we went to see the monkeys. One of the orangutans came right up to the window and just sat there, like he had been waiting for us to show up. At first she was scared, but Eliana ended up thinking this was great. Then we went to see the other crazy monkeys. All were very active and fun to watch. Eliana also really liked the ducks floating in the hippo exhibit. In the hippo exhibit, you can go down below so you can see them under the water. It's a perfect place to watch the ducks because you can see them above and below the water through the glass. Eliana kept banging on the glass at them. The final favorite exhibit was the elephants, Elephant Odyssey. This was amazing!!! The exhibit is huge! The elephants are huge! Wow!!! Eliana made elephant noises at them, and we ended up buying her a stuffed elephant that we named Horton (after the movie she had watched 7 times in the car).
Being in the stroller was tough for Eliana, so we carried her most of the time. She was worn out after a couple of hours, so we ended up leaving earlier than we would have liked. We missed the giraffe and the big cats exhibits and had to rush through many others, including the elephants. The zoo was fantastic and I can't wait to go back.
This night was my night off! Sara and I were going to sushi for dinner. For those of you who don't know Sara, she was my roommate freshman year at UCSB and my maid of honor. A few years ago, I introduced her to her now-husband Mike Pratt, and celebrated their wedding with them in Hawaii as a bridesmaid this past April. I was so excited to have a free evening and catch up with Sara!!! After a Yelp search, we decided on Azuki Sushi in Banker's Hill. It felt like a neighborhood sushi place. The sushi chefs knew the names of most of the people who walked in. Everyone was very nice. They were having a party on the back patio. I knew Yelp had led us in the right direction.
http://www.azukisushi.com/
They had a good selection of Happy Hour Specials. We decided to start with the Atsu-age Tofu. I don't know how it was different from Age Dashi Tofu, but it was yummy (and cheap during Happy Hour).
I love Age Dashi Tofu, and this was just as delicious.
Next, we had the Super Dragon roll - a rock shrimp mix with shrimp tempura, topped with unagi, avocado, and eel sauce. I wasn't impressed. I didn't think it was super. It was fine. I would eat it again if someone else ordered it, but I wouldn't order it myself. There were too many other delicious items on the menu!
Then, we had the By the Border roll. This was much more "super". It was spicy tuna and avocado topped with seared albacore, sliced jalapeno, and a spicy mayo. Yummy! The jalapeno added just the right amount of spiciness. This one made me much happier than the Super Dragon roll.
The final sushi roll we ordered was the R U Kidding Me? roll. We loved this one! The name was appropriate. Very fancy and unexpected. It was made with diver scallops, krab, and tempura asparagus and topped with seared tuna and white truffle oil. On top was mixed greens in ponzu and flash fried chives. Wow! Not only did this dish look amazing, but it also tasted great. I wanted more!
Even though I was full, I didn't want our evening to end. The dessert menu didn't look great, so Sara and I just hung out and chatted for a bit.
Two things I really liked about this restaurant:
1) The sushi was perfect bite-sized pieces. Biting into a piece from a big sushi roll is one of the least sexy things someone can do. It's messy, it falls apart, it sticks in your teeth, it gets on your chin. This didn't happen at all at Azuki Sushi. Perfect sized bites!
2) The sushi rolls came out in a timely fashion. Often, when you order sushi, everything will come all at once, out of order, or so far apart, you're full before the last rolls make it to the table. At Azuki Sushi, it was timed perfectly.
Sara and I had a great time catching up while we were on our date. This was a delicious sushi place, and I look forward to going back next time I'm in San Diego.
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