Starbucks is having a free pastry day tomorrow at participating U.S. Starbucks locations! Buy a beverage and get a free pastry of your choice. I am going to be there tomorrow morning for sure…

Free Pastry Day

For a complete photo album, please visit my Flickr page at http://tr.im/baltimore. Wee Loon’s take can be read here.

On Monday June 29, Wee Loon and I woke up early to begin our 5 to 6 hours drive to the Baltimore and District of Columbia (DC) area. After having the delectable cheesecakes from Cheesecake Factory, we left the apartment at approximately 08:00.

I was delighted to drive a full-size car (Chevrolet Impala — one of my favorites by the way), as to the compact-size vehicle that I initially reserved. When I was picking up the rental car, the receptionist was particularly kind to offer me a two-tier upgrade (i.e. compact to mid-size to full-size) at no cost.

Along Interstate 95 North (by Wee Loon Ong)

We abandoned the initially planned Shenandoah Cavern stop en route. It was too ambitious (time constraint wise) and practically almost impossible to achieve. So the drive was a direct service to Baltimore, MD. The drive provided an opportunity for us to really catch up, since we were busy touring the Carrboro and Chapel Hill area the day before.

Inner harbor of Baltimore (by Wee Loon Ong)

It was half past one when we arrived at Baltimore. The downtown area was overwhelmed with crowds and it was rather a challenging task to look for a parking garage that did not have the Full sign.

Colorful fish in the National Aquarium (by Wee Loon Ong)

After a quick lunch at Chipotle, we bought our admission tickets into the National Aquarium. Overall, the aquarium was okay. I would personally give it a B+. As far as my aquarium experience goes, I think that Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, IL is the best. They secure a solid A from me. The second best aquarium I have been to is the KLCC Aquaria in Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia. I certainly award them an A-.

A lazy crocodile enjoying the attention it is getting (by Wee Loon Ong)

Back to the National Aquarium in Baltimore, MD. The total experience package (for the admission ticket) includes general admission as well as the penguin dolphin show and a 4D immersion theater admission. As usual, the penguins’ dolphins’ ability to perform acts was impressive, and the 4D show was at times unpredictable especially with all the sense stimulations. Sprays of water were being directed right into our faces when the ocean scene came up and our legs were tickled when the film moved to a rattlesnake take.

Wee Loon and I at the National Aquarium, Baltimore (by Wee Loon Ong)

We decided to adjourned to Washington DC for dinner at about 18:00. We took several pictures outside of the aquarium before leaving. The photo on top was taken at the main entrance of the aquarium, while the one below features a special pedestrian crossing. The crossing has a real pedestrian light and the special pedestrians are jellyfish!

Jellyfish crossing? (by Wee Loon Ong)

On our way to the car park, I stopped by Barnes and Noble to get my Starbucks fix. Jason called from Britain and greeted Wee Loon while I lined up to order my drink.

A collection of tea in Starbucks (by Wee Loon Ong)

By the time we returned the car, had dinner, and checked into Hilton Hotel, we listlessly took a refreshing shower and dived into our dreams on those comfortable beds.

Starbucks recently started the 14:00 treat receipt again — If you make a purchase prior to 14:00, present your morning’s receipt and you will be able to get any grande cold drink after 14:00, on the same day, for 2 U.S. Dollars only (not including tax).

Is that not just a lovely deal?

For example, I got myself a Strawberry Banana Vivanno Smoothies this afternoon. Regularly, it costs 3.95 U.S. Dollars. With this morning’s receipt, I only need to pay 2 U.S. Dollars. After factoring my Starbucks Gold 10% discount and North Carolina tax, the total was 1.92 U.S. Dollars.

That’s about a 50% discount!

This offer is going to last (I think) through August 2009.

Starbucks Treat Receipt

“I would like to have a grande no whip, extra matcha, half the melon syrup, Green Tea Frappuccino, please.”

That’s my long, customized order that I usually place when I step into a Starbucks café. (I think the barista(s) at the East Franklin St, Chapel Hill café identifies me with this order — one day, I asked my officemate to get me my “fix” from Starbucks and my customized order was too long for him to remember. So I wrote it down on a piece of post-it note so that he could make the order by presenting the note. The barista nodded and told my office mate “Hah, I know this guy!“)

Starbucks Green Tea Frappuccino (Image Credit: Haiku Girl's blog).

I distinctly remember that Starbucks introduced this new Tazo green tea flavor into their existing blended crème menu (in North America) in summer 2005. This beverage was supposed to be a seasonal item; right when autumn picked up from the end of summer, Green Tea Frappuccino disappeared from the menu. The barista in Ann Arbor broke this disappointing news to me in fall 2005.

However, the marketing guys in Starbucks figured that the consumers really loved the new beverage. Consequently Green Tea Frappuccino was reintroduced the following summer as a year-long beverage on the menu.

In the end of last year, Starbucks discontinued the production of melon syrup, which is one of the (key) ingredients in this blended crème. Green Tea Frappuccino is basically made of matcha powder (ground green tea leaves) and melon syrup. It is the melon syrup that gives a tinge of melony flavored sweetness to the frappuccino. One of the baristas (whose name is Rachel) who knows me by my name kindly informed me of this, but she told me that I still could have my customized drink as long as the melon syrup has not run out of stock.

For the past several months, I had been able to continue blissfully enjoy my no whip, extra matcha, half the melon syrup, Green Tea Frappuccino.

Last week was the end of an era, at least for me. The barista informed me that they were using their last bottle of melon syrup on Monday, and urged me to savor every single sip of my drink. On Friday, I did get extra matcha for my frappuccino; but this time it was no longer the melon syrup. Classic syrup has replaced melon syrup in the recipe.

Even though this recipe technically has been adhered to since the end of the last year, I was able to stick to my comfy old recipe for additional six months or so.

I took my first sip. My first sip of Green Tea Frappuccino without the melon syrup.  It tasted ordinary. It almost felt like the very hallmark of this beverage has been robbed away, just like that. To me, it’s the death of the fabulous Green Tea Frappuccino. I think I shall revert back to my once top favorite beverage (before summer 2005), that is the classic Mocha Frappuccino.

May you rest in peace, Green Tea Frappuccino with melon syrup!

It was a lazy and sunny Sunday. At about 15:00, I biked to downtown Chapel Hill to chill at Starbucks café. I brought my MacBook for Internet surfing. Surprisingly, I managed to get some (math) reading done!

Four hours later, I went back home for dinner. I was not at all in the mood of preparing something proper (read: laziness from the afternoon). I had some leftovers, but in quantity not large enough to be a complete meal (at least for me).

A random thought came to my mind — why not pair the chicken curry (the leftovers) with some creamy scrambled eggs?

The ingredients

I gathered the ingredients that I need for my scrambled eggs — butter, whipping cream, shiitake mushrooms, tomatoes, chives, and of course, eggs. First I broke the eggs into a pot. Then I put in a slab of butter (1 tablespoon). On low heat, I began to scramble the eggs and butter with a spatula. From time to time, I repeatedly remove the pot from the heat, continue scrambling the eggs and butter, and placing the pot back on the stove top. At the same time, on a separate frying pan, I greased the surface with some olive oil and cook the sliced tomatoes and shiitake mushroom on low heat. Not much attention was needed for the frying pan.

Then, I seasoned the eggs with a pinch of salt and pepper. I continued mixing the eggs and added some whipping cream later. After about 8 minutes (or when the mixture in the pot starts to look like scrambled eggs instead of being liquid), I served the eggs on a plate along with the mushrooms and tomatoes, which were cooked by the time the eggs were done.

Sunday dinner

The end result was the unorthodox paring of curry and scrambled eggs — the fusion tasted surprisingly delicious. Please pardon the resolution of the photos as they were taken using my iPhone instead of a camera.

Bon appétit!

The new iPhone 3G S (S for speed) was unveiled at the WWDC (Apple Worldwide Developers Conference) last Monday. Looking back, my iPhone 3G is almost one-year old now.

This iPhone is my very first smartphone that I own. I used to think that having a data plan is an extravagant luxury. Today, having Internet access via my phone has become an integral part of my life. I can hardly imagine switching back to a regular phone now.

When I commute to campus on a bus every morning, I grabbed my iPhone from my pocket and start reading the news. If time permits (read: more traffic than usual), I would start launching applications such as Facebook, FML (sometimes I wonder if I enjoy schadenfreude…), Twitterfon (a Twitter client) etc.

Whenever I need to board a bus, I check the estimated arrival time for a specific bus stop online, since all buses have GPS tracking.

When I need to know where exactly I am, I pinpoint myself on a map using the build-in GPS. The same solution comes in handy when I need to locate, say, a Starbucks café.

I also have the most up-to-date weather forecast. And of course I am able to check my mail inbox more frequently. In Starbucks, I receive 2-hour complimentary WiFi access (via AT&T), a privilege that I already enjoy from my Starbucks rewards card.

I am so darn pampered, am I not? Anyway, my old friend Vivian Ooi (Chicago, IL) is going to be an iPhone owner. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome her into the Apple family!

Starbucks Ice Cream

The title says it all. Presenting the new line of Starbucks ice cream. Kudos Starbucks! Now I can have my frappuccinos at home.

Think no more! I bought it from Starbucks!

Starbucks Environmentally Friendly Tumbler. (Image credit: www.starbucksstore.com)

This is an 8-ounce recycled tumbler by Starbucks Coffee. I believe that this is the first tumbler that is made with 29% post consumer recycled content. It features double wall insulation, too. To express their gratitude for (my) being green, the tumbler comes with a coupon entitles me to a free beverage, any selection, any size.

This Christmas, I decided to explore the Pacific Northwest, a region in the United States to which I had not been. The initial plan was to visit Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia. However, Steve and I had to make some changes to our travel plans when his Canadian visa application got rejected.

Hence an international trip was humbled to a vacation with domestic flair. Portland, Oregon supplanted the Canadian city. I was still looking forward to this trip because I would be able to meet up with Yun Xin, a long friend of mine.

My flight to Seattle on December 20 was at 0600, and I had to wake up at 0400 in the middle of the night to catch this super early flight. Oh well, since this flight is almost free (I redeemed my Northwest WorldPerks miles and paid taxes only), I shall not complain. It was not a direct flight; the layover at Detroit Metro Airport was short but I managed to have my breakfast in the terminal before boarding the connecting flight. The snow scene in Detroit reminded me of my hearty enjoyment of snow.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

I met up with Steve who flew directly into Seattle from Chicago O’Hare and we took a bus shuttle to our hotel — Best Western Loyal Inn. Expecting to see a raining scene, I was greeted instead with snow in Seattle. Confounded I was, yet I did not care much as I was tremendously excited to see snow and feel the subzero (in Celsius) breeze. Only during the check-in at Best Western did the front desk receptionist told me that Seattle was hit by a severe snow storm.

Apparently the last time such a “severe” snow storm beleaguered the Pacific Northwest region was more than 30 years ago. Such inclement weather was therefore considered an anomaly and the entire population seemed panicked and did not know what to do. The city of Seattle has only 27 snow plowers. As a result, it took them more than a few days to clear the streets. The city municipal further refused to use road salt, arguing that it will cause unsought pollution in the Puget Sound. Hence there was no effective snow removing throughout our stay in Seattle.

This in turn impeded our travel as more than half of the city bus routes were cancelled until further notice. We had no choice but to surrender the opportunity to visit the Capitol Hill region — St. Mark’s Cathedral, Volunteer Park Conservatory, Water Tower Observation Deck, and the Seattle Museum of Mysteries. With the extra time in hand, Steve and I went to the cinema (AMC theaters) and watched Transporter 3 and The Day The Earth Stood Still.

On the second day, we made an effort to wake up early for the Pike Place Public Market visit. We strolled to Pike Place, which is situated about 1 kilometer away from our hotel. We stumbled upon a beckoning French bakery shop (la pâtisserie française) on Pike Place. The delicious-looking pastries on display lured us to have our second breakfast (Best Western provides guests with complimentary continental breakfast).

Le Panier dans la rue Pike à Seattle

Aptly named as Le Panier (literally, it means “the basket” in French), the bakery is located right across the street from the famous Seattle Public Market and a few shops away from the first Starbucks in the world.

Un croissant aux abricots

We ordered two items — an apricot croissant and an apple tart. They were so good that I went back to Le Panier for breakfast on the following morning.

Une tarte aux pommes

All pastries were labeled in French, and it felt good to be able to understand those labels! I even tried to converse in French with la caissière (the cashier), but she replied that she rather not as she did not speak much French.

Seattle Public Market

The Public Market was certainly one of the highlights of the trip, I shall say. There, I witnessed a scene of local vendors bustling around, forming a unique community of local producers. There was an impressive seafood stall right at the left entrance of the market. The Pike Place Fish Market had a variety of seafood, including the fresh parrot fish and monk fish!

The Pike Place Fish Market

Here’s the fresh parrot fish…

The Fresh Parrot Fish

… and the monk fish — Don’t be afraid, boys and girls!

The monk fish

Check out the fresh jumbo scallops (from another merchant):

Gigantic scallops

And of course, fromage (cheese) too!

Fromage

Then, I dropped by the first Starbucks café in the world! I mean, how could I miss it, being an avid Starbucks fan? Notice the pioneer logo:

La première café Starbucks

I got myself a Pike Place Starbucks Collection Series mug as a souvenir. Can you correctly guess which one?

Starbucks merchandise

Before we left for Portland, we ascended the Space Needle for a bird view of the city. Also, we took a short tour around the University of Washington district and had a Vietnamese lunch there. I was very impressed by the UW campus.

Seattle Space Needle

We spent some of our time (especially me) shopping along Pike Street and Pine Street. Consequently, my wallet is squirming now.

Bon-Macy's at Pine Street

En route to Portland, we had to endure our Amtrak experience. In Portland, due to inclement weather, we did not get to visit parks and gardens. However, we did spend some quality time with Yun Xin and Yusuke. Together we visited the Discovery Museum at the World Forestry Center. I enjoyed learning from the exhibitions there.

Les forêts pour la vie. Les forêts pour les peuples.

In the evening, Yun Xin pampered us with a simple, yet wonderful Christmas dinner (on Boxing Day). It was technically a full-course meal with appetizers, main entrées, and dessert. The dinner, which was totally a fusion meal, started off with a Japanese appetizer, followed by rice with Asian dishes as the main entrée, complemented by mashed potatoes and miso soup as side dishes, along with a bottle of Californian wine. At the end, we made our already bloated stomachs even more bloated by savoring a cake from an Italian bakery as well as some chocolates. We chatted for so long that Steve and I missed the last bus back to our hotel!

A fusion Christmas dinner

The trip ended 8 days later. I flew back via Minneapolis-St. Paul back to Chapel Hill, awaiting the new semester to commence on January 12.

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport

From time to time, I get myself a feedback form when I go to Starbucks for a cup of coffee. Mainly, what I write consists of compliments on their generally outstanding service and atmosphere.

Last month, I took out my pen and started writing to Starbucks customer service after a minor incident. I have a Starbucks Gold Card and I am entitled to a 10% discount on my purchases, excluding gift cards, newspapers, and CDs. I ordered my favorite Green Tea Frappuccino and the barista did not give me the discount. I informed her of the problem; she quickly apologized and offered me a free-beverage coupon for my next visit.

I recorded the incident, not in a complaining tone, of course. Two weeks later, there was a mail correspondence from Starbucks regarding my little input on their feedback form.

Starbucks certainly acknowledges the feedbacks they received, and at times they implement customers’ suggestions too. Read more at My Starbucks Idea.