My colleagues and I finally had a luncheon today.We decided to stay close to work and try Banana House a block away. The best part of the luncheon was: 1. Food was free (paid by work) 2. The company. It's a Thai restaurant and their food was eh-okay. I ordered #53: Pad Nuer Nam Man Hoi. Not sure what it stands for but it was sliced beef, onions, carrots, and mushrooms in oyster sauce served with rice and a side salad with a curry dressing. I'm not a fan of curry, but I still tried the salad and it was okay. We also ordered calamari and their pieces were huge! The consensus at the table was their food was good but oily, and their service wasn't the greatest. First, it took about 10-15 minutes for our waitress to greet and take our orders. Second, my food came last and I had to ask a different waitress where my food was because the other one was MIA. Third, I ordered a Thai ice tea to go and I had to wait an extra 10 minutes. I cracked up when my colleague Erik said, "It's thai ice tea, not rocket science." I guess you just had to be their to think it was funny:) Haha! Banana House is fairly small-there's a few tables for outdoor seating with upper/lower level indoor dining, but probably less than 20 tables altogether. We ended up on the lower level because there was 6 of us. They had a flat screen TV that played "Mr. Bean"-I thought that was strange. Maybe CNN or ESPN-but not Mr. Bean! Next time i'll order take out.

I'm craving something sweet

For those of you who don't know, I moved back to the Bay Area after 17 years of living in Minnesota. I was able to find a job in San Francisco with the same company i've been working for since 2004. It's sort of a long story and I don't feel like going into detail but to sum it up-it was truly a dream come true for me. Don't get me wrong- I miss my family and friends a lot, but I needed a lifestyle change. I'm sure I could've made the change in Minnesota but I needed to veer away from my comfort zone and moving has always been a goal of mine. I have always wanted to work in a big city (ok-San Francisco is only 7 miles by 7 miles) but I still think it's big! The city is scenic (when it's not foggy or cloudy), I feel like there's always something to do, and most importantly I love all the eateries and shopping! I work in the Financial district of SF-which is near Chinatown and walking distance to Union Sqaure. I can see the Coit tower and Transamerica building from my work-I LOVE it-especially when the weather is gorgeous.

Anyway, my coworker and I have been exploring places to eat during lunch. And like today, we'll sometimes do a little shopping after work. I wanted to check out a clothing store on Sutter Street called NE Q&J Boutique. They have cute coats and clothing but nothing worth buying. On our way out I noticed there was a candy store next door called Fiona's Sweetshoppe (http://www.fionassweetshoppe.com/). Fiona's is tiny but ADORABLE. You walk in and there are jars and jars of candy. Everything from the setup to their packaging is appealing to the eye. They also sell chocolates from England. I bought myself a Cadbury Flake, a Kinder Happy Hippo biscuit (made with milk and hazelnut) and some football shaped candy filled with fizz. I first tried a Cadbury Flake from my good friend Karen. She brought some home as a pasalubong when she went to Australia, or maybe it was Singapore. Anyway, Cadbury Flakes are TO DIE FOR! It's basically thin layers of milk chcocolate shaped into a candy bar. I haven't tried the Kinder biscuit yet-sounds like a doggie treat but when I saw there was hazelnut I had to buy it! I had the football shaped candy on my way home from work and they are pretty good! This is one place i'd like to take my friends when they visit.

I am sure I will have more to share. Until next time:)