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Holiday Inn Express & Suites – Everett, WA

We drove down to the states one weekend and made our way to Seattle, Washington. We had an overnight stay at Holiday Inn Express in Everett, just north of Seattle, but basically right there!

We checked into our standard room with a King bed and it was a decent hotel! A little run down but still very nice. The location was fantastic as it was just off the freeway! The bed in the hotel was large and comfortable.

The bathroom oddly I didn’t take a picture of, but you can see it in the room walk-through clip. They used Bath & Body work bathroom amenities which was extremely nice. Of course it left a great scent! The bath room was a good sized bathroom as well. The living area wasn’t bad in size either. The room had it’s own seating area, a vanity desk and a little kitchenette with a microwave, fridge and of course a kettle.

The hotel was great stop and just minutes to Seattle and if you go straight up the freeway, it will take you to the Canada/US border.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Everett

131 128th St SW, Everett, WA
United States
425-609-4000

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Crowne Plaza Fort Lauderdale Airport/Cruise Port

We made a stop at Fort Lauderdale right before a cruise on the Allure of the Seas and checked-in to the Crowne Plaza Airport/Cruise hotel which conveniently offered a shuttle to the hotel from the airport, and a really good rate on a taxi to the cruise port. This hotel was really much more than what we were hoping for, and it was really nice.

We checked in quite late as our flights got in late. Our room had 2 queen beds in the room which was really large and had tons of space. The beds were extremely comfortable, but I’m not sure if it was just me as we traveled all day or if it was a dreamy and luxurious of a bed as I remembered it to be.

The bathroom was a good size bathroom and had lots of counter space. It wasn’t anything special, but it was really nice with a modern design.

This hotel offered many amenities such as parking, pool and fitness room and a restaurant. The food and service at the restaurant was delicious as we ended up eating our late dinner there and an early breakfast before we left. It was an excellent stay and we would go back to this hotel again. It offered fair rates in the area.

The area wasn’t a bad area, there wasn’t a lot you can do within walking distance, but as mentioned it’s a convenient place to stop if you’re going to board a cruise.

Crowne Plaza Ft. Lauderdale Airport/Cruise

455 State Road 84
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
United States

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Best Taste Chinese Restaurant – Oakland, California

For the first time ever, I went down to California in 2013 to celebrate Chinese New Years with my husbands family. We had a wonderful time and one of the places that I remembered really well was Best Taste and they’re known for their Clay Pot Rice, so we went there to eat some, along with other things – but those are just minor things!

We had a chicken clay pot, and the rice was cooked into the pot leaving a nice hard crust that my husbands family craves and loves! There’s really nothing like eating rice cooked from a clay pot – and we just do it normally as it’s a pain to clean afterwards. This dish was excellent and my favourite as it had tons of chicken pieces in it, with the delicious rice and soy sauce!

The other clay rice pot we had was basically a Chinese cured meat one, and it’s got a bunch of Chinese sausages in it, with some vegetables. Chinese cured meat is different from anything else, and I’m not sure if it’s an acquired smell/taste, but I know I love it. Some people do find it too greasy – but it works so well with rice! The rice absorbs the grease with the soy sauce and other flavours that it was steamed with! It’s truly a treat and if you haven’t tried it – now is the time!

Overall, I absolutely loved this place! It’s the type of food I love and I guess my aunt-in-law love this stuff too! I’m so happy they brought me here, and I’m sure I’ll request to go back next time I visit them!

Best Taste on Urbanspoon

Best Taste

814 Franklin St
Oakland, CA
(510) 444-4983

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Cafè Bellagio – Las Vegas

We were staying at the Bellagio and we had to run downstairs for a quick dinner, as we had a show to catch. We found Cafe Bellagio and thought it would be great as it’s a cafe, and it’s opened 24 hours!

We sat down and was welcomed with our menus. We wanted to eat lots as it was a show and figured we’d stuff ourselves. So, we ordered a soup each – where I ordered the Chefs Soup of the Day which was a cream of mushroom soup. It was a decent cream soup and it was nice and thick with lots of flavour to it!

For the soups, we also ordered a French Onion Soup which the top was made to perfection with their melting of cheese! Such a simple soup, so we were expecting nothing but perfection! Here with the soup, they definitely delivered!

My main course was their Grilled Atlantic Salmon which I absolutely loved! It was a good sized piece of grilled salmon with some broccolini, persimmon and papaya salsa. It was a light and tasty dinner even though it was a little over cooked – it came out a little dry. The salsa was delicious and added sweetness and moisture, so it worked out great!

The other main course that we ordered was their Harissa Lamb Chop which was tender, juicy and delicous! It had 3 good sized pieces of lamb chops on a bed of lentils with swiss chard.

Overall, it was a decent enough big meal! The prices was actually really fair, considering the location and the food wasn’t bad at all! We were definitely stuffed leaving Cafe Bellagio!

Cafè Bellagio on Urbanspoon

Cafè Bellagio

3600 South Las Vegas Boulevard
Las Vegas, NV
(702) 693-7111

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Lemongrass – Aria (CityCenter), Las Vegas

CityCenter is my favourite area of the Las Vegas strip! I love both Aria and Vdara so much, I’ve even purchased their scented sticks to bring home so my house could smell like the resort! It’s wonderful! When I heard that I am going to eat Thia food for lunch at Lemongrass inside the casino level of Aria, I jumped with joy! I had a feeling it will be a great place and that nothing would disappoint me! I was right!

We started off with their Tom Kha Chicken which is their Chicken soup with coconut milk, lemon grass and galangal. It’s kind of like a Chicken Tom Yum with coconut milk to tame the spiciness. It was a delicious, full of flavour, smooth and spicyy soup! It was a winner for sure!

We actually had 2 main courses this time as we wanted to try their food! We ordered from their curry section the Red Curry Duck which is still to this day my favourite curry dish! It was an elegant mixture of roasted duck with red curry, pineapple and basil. We enjoyed this dish thoroughly over jasmine rice. The curry had the sweet, the heat and the tanginess and I loved it!

The last thing we ordered was their Pad See Ew Moo which is a wok fried flat rice noodle with pork and seasoned with soy sauce with some kale in it. It was definitely a delightful dish full of flavour!

Overall, I absolutely love this place and all the food! We were so stuffed that we didn’t make room for dessert, which was alright as we got to eat other sweet things later on in the day! The service was top notched and the restaurant itself was really amazing! I hope to be back soon!

Lemongrass on Urbanspoon

Lemongrass – Aria (CityCenter)

3730 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV
(877) 230-2742